Black National Anthem

[Humble_Disciple]

The "black national anthem" is obviously a Christian hymn. Is the "woke" left removing any references to God when they promote it? Aren't these the same people who wanted "under God" removed from the pledge?

"Lift Every Voice and Sing" – often referred to as the Black national anthem in the United States[1] – is a hymn written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) in 1900 and set to music by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954), for the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday in 1905.[2]

"Lift Every Voice and Sing" was publicly performed first as a poem as part of a celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday by Johnson's brother John. In 1919, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) dubbed it "the Negro national anthem"[3] for its power in voicing a cry for liberation and affirmation for African-American people.[2]

The song is a prayer of thanksgiving for faithfulness and freedom, with imagery evoking the biblical Exodus from slavery to the freedom of the "promised land." It is featured in 39 different Christian hymnals, and is sung in churches across North America.[4]...

Lift ev’ry voice and sing,
’Til earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list’ning 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 ’til 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 died.
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,
’Til 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.[17]
Lift Every Voice and Sing - Wikipedia

It's because I care about black heritage, especially the heritage of black Christians, that I don't want the left appropriating the song.

Black Americans: Most Religious Ethnic Group

 

[hislegacy]

What black nation are they signing to? America is a melting pot of nations into one.

E pluribus unum
E pluribus unum – Latin for "Out of many, one" – is a traditional motto of the United States, appearing on the Great Seal

My parents and grand parents didn't immigrate (Legally) to a black America, or a white America - they came to America.

When will we stop focusing on what divides and start on what brings us together?

That is the strength of this great nation.

 

[Fantine]

A retired teacher died last week. It was played at her funeral. Beautiful.

She was white. Beautiful for all people.

 

[Hank77]

The "black national anthem" is obviously a Christian hymn. Is the "woke" left removing any references to God when they promote it? Aren't these the same people who wanted "under God" removed from the pledge?

Where did this information come from, please?

 

[Humble_Disciple]

Where did this information come from, please?

Which information specifically?

 

[hislegacy]

The "black national anthem" is obviously a Christian hymn. Is the "woke" left removing any references to God when they promote it? Aren't these the same people who wanted "under God" removed from the pledge?

Disagree, just because they have God mentioned in the song does not make it a Christian song. Reading of the authors bio there is nothing mentioned of his faith.

That point is in error.

 

[Humble_Disciple]

Disagree, just because they have God mentioned in the song does not make it a Christian song. Reading of the authors bio there is nothing mentioned of his faith.

That point is in error.

The song is like a hundred years old. Do you know the full history behind it? It makes references to the Bible.

 

[hislegacy]

The song is like a hundred years old. Do you know the full history behind it? It makes references to the Bible.

James Weldon Johnson is well documented and beyond his father being a pastor, I can find no references to him being a religious person. He has a bevy of poetic writings.

The closest is "God's Trombones - Seven Negro Sermons in verse.

I remember hearing in my boyhood sermons that were current, sermons that passed with only slight modifications from preacher to preacher and from locality to locality. Such sermons were: "The Valley of Dry Bones," which was based on the vision of the prophet in the 37th chapter of Ezekiel; the "Train Sermon," in which both God and the devil were pictured as running trains, one loaded with saints, that pulled up in heaven, and the other with sinners, that dumped its load in hell; the "Heavenly March," which gave in detail the journey of the faithful from earth, on up through the pearly gates to the great white throne. Then there was a stereotyped sermon which had no definite subject, and which was quite generally preached; it began with the Creation, went on to the fall of man, rambled through the trials and tribulations of the Hebrew Children, came down to the redemption by Christ, and ended with the Judgment Day and a warning and an exhortation to sinners.
​

He goes on to write about the faith of others - never his own.

We have a difference of opinion.

If this is a Christian Hymn then it is being misused. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a call to reconciliation and being one in Christ. Instead it is used to symbolize a divide within this nation. There is no Black National Anthem, because there is no Black Nation - there is ONE nation under God.

 

[Hank77]

Which information specifically?

The information that I quoted in my post to you.

 

[RDKirk]

The "black national anthem" is obviously a Christian hymn. Is the "woke" left removing any references to God when they promote it? Aren't these the same people who wanted "under God" removed from the pledge?

No, it's not the same people. Some of you people work extra hours to find something about black people to kvetch about.

Next dumb issue....

 

[Humble_Disciple]

No, it's not the same people. Some of you people work extra hours to find something about black people to kvetch about.

Next dumb issue....

It's because I care about black heritage, especially the heritage of black Christians, that I don't want the left appropriating the song.

Black Americans: Most Religious Ethnic Group

 

[Aldebaran]

What black nation are they signing to? America is a melting pot of nations into one.

E pluribus unum
E pluribus unum – Latin for "Out of many, one" – is a traditional motto of the United States, appearing on the Great Seal

My parents and grand parents didn't immigrate (Legally) to a black America, or a white America - they came to America.

When will we stop focusing on what divides and start on what brings us together?

That is the strength of this great nation.

I'm not sure what the point of having a "black national anthem" is unless the people calling it that want to say that this isn't their country or they aren't citizens of it. They said they didn't want segregation, but this is just another example of segregating themselves. Just try to imagine an Olympic Games where we play our black national anthem and our white national anthem separately due to the black athletes wanting their own anthem. The rest of the world would be understandably be confused by the message it would send--that blacks fought to end segregation, and once they had succeeded, they proceed to demand even more segregation.

 

[iarwain]

No, it's not the same people. Some of you people work extra hours to find something about black people to kvetch about.

I'm not at all sure that it is black people who came up with this idea of pushing the "black national anthem", most notably by playing it at NFL games.

 

[RDKirk]

I'm not at all sure that it is black people who came up with this idea of pushing the "black national anthem", most notably by playing it at NFL games.

We've been singing that song for a century. It's been unofficially called the black national anthem since before white people let us into venues that they sang the Star Spangled Banner.

Y'all are just looking for stuff to be upset about black people.

Here is the 1942 version.

Lift Every Voice And Sing - James Weldon Johnson [1942] - YouTube

 

[Humble_Disciple]

We've been singing that song for a century. It's been unofficially called the black national anthem since before white people let us into venues that they sang the Star Spangled Banner.

Y'all are just looking for stuff to be upset about black people.

Here is the 1942 version.

Lift Every Voice And Sing - James Weldon Johnson [1942] - YouTube

It's because I care about black heritage, especially the heritage of black Christians, that I don't want the left appropriating the song.

Black Americans: Most Religious Ethnic Group

 

[hislegacy]

We've been singing that song for a century. It's been unofficially called the black national anthem since before white people let us into venues that they sang the Star Spangled Banner.

Y'all are just looking for stuff to be upset about black people.

Here is the 1942 version.

Lift Every Voice And Sing - James Weldon Johnson [1942] - YouTube

Yes the song has been sung for over 100 years.

When did it become the Black National anthem?

Also, what Black nation is it the anthem of? Suddenly the US is so divided that it has become two nations?

How many more nations will there be?

As for me and many others, we are one nation. I fought for one nation, I pay taxes for one nation. I pledge my loyalty to one nation. When will we follow Martin Luther King Jrs legacy and come together as one?

There is zero, no one alive today who experienced slavery and I would venture to guess not many who were around in the 60’s civil rights movements.

if you are going to involve Christianity into your cause, then you should bring Christ and His ways into it. Otherwise it is hypocrisy to claim it.

Do good to those who despitefully use you. Yeah, I remember reading that somewhere and I certainly saw it in Dr King, who changed the face of this nation.

 

[RDKirk]

It's because I care about black heritage, especially the heritage of black Christians, that I don't want the left appropriating the song.

Black Americans: Most Religious Ethnic Group

Nowhere is it your business.

 

[hislegacy]

Nowhere is it your business.

It is 100% his right to express his views and opinions though.

 

[hedrick]

The "black national anthem" is obviously a Christian hymn. Is the "woke" left removing any references to God when they promote it? Aren't these the same people who wanted "under God" removed from the pledge?

Only if the government requires people to sing it.

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

If there's a national anthem for blacks and a national anthem for whites, does there need to be a national anthem for Hispanics as well? What about Asians? Does this then imply with each different ethnicity getting their own national anthem that there should be individual nations to correspond to each ethnicity?

Or is the idea to replace the current USA national anthem with the black national anthem?