![]() ![]() MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY CHOIR: (Singing) Stony the road we trod - sing a song - bitter the chastening rod - sing a song - felt in the days when hope - sing a song - unborn had died. LINDSAY-HABERMANN: The second verse reminds us to never forget the suffering and the obstacles of the past - stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod. MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY CHOIR: (Singing) Lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of liberty - lift every voice and sing. The first verse opens with a command to optimism, praise and freedom - lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring. LINDSAY-HABERMANN: This song is about transcending those difficulties. ![]() And so we could lift our voices and sing in spite of the difficulties and the situations. ![]() She has been singing "Lift Every Voice And Sing" since she was in elementary school. LINDSAY-HABERMANN: Shannon Patterson was in the audience. LINDSAY-HABERMANN: Eric Conway is the director of the Morgan State University Choir.ĮRIC CONWAY: What a great way to begin a concert, asking everyone in the audience to actually lift up their voice as well. MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY CHOIR: (Singing) Lift every voice and sing - let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies. LINDSAY-HABERMANN: At the Oxford Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, the entire congregation rose as one. MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY CHOIR: (Singing) Lift every voice and sing. KING: What is it about "Lift Every Voice And Sing" that speaks to people so much that it's been called the black national anthem? NPR's Claudette Lindsay-Habermann has the story for our series American Anthem.ĬLAUDETTE LINDSAY-HABERMANN, BYLINE: The Morgan State University Choir opens all its concerts with "Lift Every Voice And Sing." KING: And this year, Beyonce sang it at Coachella.īEYONCE: (Singing) High as the listening sky. MELBA MOORE: (Singing) Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening sky. KING: Singer Melba Moore released an all-star version with Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, Dionne Warwick and others in 1990. KIM WESTON: (Singing) Lift every voice and sing. Motown's Kim Weston sang it in front of almost 100,000 people in 1972 at the Wattstax concert in Los Angeles. For generations, it's been sung in schools, in churches and in dozens of recordings and landmark performances. "Lift Every Voice And Sing" is a song that has a lot of meaning for many African-Americans. ![]()
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