What is the Black national anthem? Here's why the NFL plays 'Lift Every Voice and Sing' before games
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JUMP TO:
- What is the Black national anthem?
- When did 'Lift Every Voice and Sing?' become the Black national anthem?
- Black national anthem lyrics
- Why the NFL plays the Black national anthem before games
The pageantry of football games continues to grow in recent years, as the NFL created a big time atmosphere regarding its games.
One recent addition to pregame festivities at football games is the Black national anthem, which the league plays along with "The Star Spangled Banner" and "America the Beautiful. While it is a relatively new addition to football games, the Black national anthem has been a part of American history for over a century.
In a league that is largely made up of African American players, the Black national anthem is a way for the NFL to honor its players' history. Here's a breakdown of the Black national anthem and why the NFL decided to play it before games.
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What is the Black national anthem?
The Black national anthem is "Lift Every Voice and Sing," which is a song that represents equality and justice for African Americans. The song was initially written as a poem to celebrate Abraham Lincoln's birthday but has since come to represent the issues that African Americans faced throughout American history, becoming a rallying cry.
Many African American artists, including Beyonce, have performed their own versions of the song.
Who wrote 'Lift Every Voice and Sing?'
"List Every Voice and Sing" was written by a pair of brothers, James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson, in 1900. James Weldon Johnson wrote the lyrics as a hymn and poem, while John Rosamond Johnson created the music afterwards.
James Weldon Johnson was also the first African American leader of the NAACP, along with being a lawyer, professor and writer.
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When did 'Lift Every Voice and Sing?' become the Black national anthem?
The song was first performed by a children's choir at the Stanton School, a segregated school where James Weldon Johnson worked as the principal. Then, in 1919, the NAACP declared it the Black national anthem, which came over a decade before "The Star Spangled Banner" was named the United States national anthem.
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" was especially prominent during the Civil Rights era, as the Civil Rights Movement used the song as a rallying cry in the 1950s and 1960s.
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Black national anthem lyrics
Below are the lyrics to "Lift Every Voice And Sing," written by James Weldon Johnson:
Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand.
True to our God,
True to our native land.
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Why the NFL plays the Black national anthem before games
The NFL first started playing the Black national anthem before games in 2020 as part of the league's effort to recognize racial injustice. Initially, the song was performed before every Week 1 game in 2020, and it has since been played in the pregame festivities for each Super Bowl since 2021, when Alicia Keys performed the song in Super Bowl 55.