Lift Ev'ry Voice-- please

Last evening, I was thrilled to hear the indomitable Sheryl Lee Ralph sing a rousing and confident version of "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" on the 100th anniversary of the first performance of the song. Written by James Weldon Johnson with music by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson, it was performed by a group of school boys to commemorate President Lincoln's birthday in 1900. Sing then, it has become known as the "Negro National Hymn" and the NFL, in a mark of solidarity with players of color, has had the anthemic song played or sung at most of the games this season. It is not, like some mean-spirited, willfully ignorant people suggest, taking the place of the official national anthem; in fact, the fools who feel that The Star Spangled Banner ought to have come first last night clearly do not understand protocol. What a surprise. 

Lauren Boebert (R-Co.) twitter-fussed about it, as did so many others who really do not understand what it is going to take to try to heal a divide they are too busy profiting from. There is so much hatefulness in this country (one online poster said Ms. Ralph looked like a lobster in her outfit?!), and to have our representatives in government continually stoke the flames of stupidity really rankles. 

One of the issues behind kneeling during The Star Spangled Banner is the third verse. One online poster felt that it was purely "trivia" at this point, because no one sings the third verse anymore. Well, it's still in the song, isn't it? The third verse offers nothing but contempt and violence to those "hirelings and slaves" who chose to fight on the side of the British against their masters in the American Revolution. While this is potentially complicated, it's pretty clear that they were singled out in that verse, and Francis Scott Key was a slave-holder himself. This is a complex situation to be sure, but to demand that all Americans feel fulsome and glow with pride whenever it is played is asking us to, once again, forget some of the darker moments in our shared history.

I have taught "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" for years in American Literature classes. I have a preferred version performed by Imprynt acapella, although there are dozens and dozens to choose from. If you listen to it, you'll hear why I love this for teaching. For so many online posters to rant on how they'd never heard it highlights the fact that our curriculum, for generations, has had some pretty large holes in it. And now, when we are trying so hard to fill in those gaps, threats of literal imprisonment are levied against teachers who only want to make sure that our shared history is discussed, in all of its complexity. There is a lot of richness lost when we "curate" a curriculum that erases the events and contributions of so many people who would like to be heard.

That, to me, is the real crime.

Have a good day,

C