Song of the Day 6/19: Kim Weston, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”

I was shocked to learn this morning that Juneteenth is still being celebrated. With everything that doesn’t code as white and male under attack, I assumed Trump had done away with it, too. But no, despite insisting we rename Veterans Day, he hasn’t said a word about Juneteenth and couldn’t executive-order it away even if he wants to. So today of all days, if you want to see steam come out of his ears, have somebody remind him there’s a song known as the Black national anthem.

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” began as a poem by James Weldon Johnson that was set to music by his brother Rosamond in 1900. It spread quickly through Black churches and was promoted as the Black national anthem by the then-new NAACP. The first recording of the song was by a gospel quartet called the Manhattan Harmony Four, recording for the Black-owned Black Swan label, in 1923.

Though it was immensely popular in Black communities – it was sung instead of the national anthem in some segregated schools, and every church-goer knew it well – it wasn’t recorded again until Motown alumna Kim Weston updated the arrangement in 1968. As a single, her version charted, but barely; it didn’t make the Hot 100.

The song’s popularity has waxed and waned several times over the years; it’s been on the upswing since the George Floyd protests. In the ’80s hip-hop made it seem dated, but Melba Moore’s 1990 updated it again. Her version, along with the original, was added to the National Recording Registry in 2017. Her single didn’t make the Hot 100 either, but it did reach No. 9 on the R&B chart.

The notion of a “Black national anthem” rankles some people, and not just white supremacists. Jazz singer Rene Marie found that out back in 2008, when she was asked to sing the national anthem before a civic meeting in Denver. She sang the lyrics of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” to the tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and plenty of people, both Black and white, let her know they were offended.