Since 2021, pregame ceremonies for football’s biggest night have included a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a hymn penned in 1899 by James Weldon Johnson. Mr. Johnson was a civil rights ...

R&B vocalist Ledisi performed the black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” ahead of the 2025 Super Bowl matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

"Lift Every Voice and Sing," celebrating its 125th anniversary on Feb. 12, is one of only about 20 million flashpoints, now, between the "woke" left and the "authoritarian" right.

The NAACP dubbed “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as the Black national anthem in 1919. The decision came more than a decade before “The Star-Spangled Banner” was adopted as the national anthem ...

The performance of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by Ledisi and a chorus of New Orleans students stirred audiences. It also stirred controversy, something James Weldon Johnson was not unaccustomed Why ...

WASHINGTON (RNS) — “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a hymn many African Americans of older generations just know. They’d sung it in church, learned it in school and stood for what is dubbed ...

Millions heard ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ at the Super Bowl. The song, written in Jax, is celebrating 125 years Jacksonville civil rights icon James Weldon Johnson wrote the poem and his ...

This year’s Super Bowl featured R&B singer Ledisi performing the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” This tradition began in 2020 and has become an integral part of the NFL ...

"Lift Every Voice and Sing," often called the "Black national anthem," was performed at the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay. The song, written by James Weldon Johnson to honor Abraham Lincoln, has ...

There might not be a more polarizing pre-event song these days than “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which is also referred to as the “Black National Anthem.” The MAGA crowd tends to hate it ...

After their annual tradition of performing “Lift Every Voice,” which has varied in arrangement and performance styles over the years, the concert paid homage to Black women.

WASHINGTON (RNS) — “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a hymn many African Americans of older generations just know. They’d sung it in church, learned it in school and stood for what is dubbed ...