SUPER BOWL LVIII
What is the Black National Anthem and what’s its origin and meaning?
Often referred to as “The Black National Anthem,” Lift Every Voice and Sing was a hymn written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson in 1900.
Music is now firmly established as an integral part of any Super Bowl event with the legendary half-time show on occasion driving more audience than the game itself with the likes of Madonna, Coldplay, Lady Gaga and Rihanna delivering much talked about performances in recent years.
This Sunday, R&B star Usher will look to wow the crowd at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Sunday during the HalfTime show with Reba McEntire set to perform the national anthem at Super Bowl LVIII as part of a pregame performance in Vegas.
Post Malone is slated to sing “America the Beautiful” before McEntire takes the stage and Andra Day will then perform a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Day on performing at Super Bowl LVII
‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ has been performed in the past at Super Bowl games by the likes of Alicia Keys and last year was performed by Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl, Andra Day stated: “I’m really excited. I want people in their spirits, to feel love and I want them to feel healed, and I want them to feel home. I want to perform well, but I really want people to feel that spirit when we’re doing this. And that’s the goal at the end of the day for myself and for Adam Blackstone who put the music together”.
The origins behind ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’
Lift Every Voice and Sing is often referred to as “The Black National Anthem” but started life as a hymn written as a poem by NAACP *National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954), composed the music for the lyrics.
A choir of 500 schoolchildren at the segregated Stanton School, where James Weldon Johnson was principal, first performed the song in public in Jacksonville, Florida to celebrate President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.
At the turn of the 20th century, Johnson’s lyrics eloquently captured the solemn yet hopeful appeal for the liberty of Black Americans. Set against the religious invocation of God and the promise of freedom, the song was later adopted by NAACP and prominently used as a rallying cry during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.