Performed for the first time by 500 school children on February 12, 1900 in Jacksonville, FL “Lift Every Voice & Sing” is a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson. Soon after adopted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as the Negro National anthem in 1919, 10yrs prior to the Star Spangled Banner becoming the official National Anthem. As one of the most cherished songs of the Black Civil Rights Movement “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is referred to as the ‘Black National Anthem’. We sing songs of our past in the future. . #lifteveryvoice #blacknationalanthem #lifteveryvoiceandsing #naacp @naacp #blackhistorymonth #blackfuture #beyonce #beyoncehomecoming #sing #anthem #blackfuturemonth #blackhistoryisamericanhistory