The Composition of James Weldon and J. Rosamond Johnson Essay

The composition of James Weldon and J. Rosamond Johnson “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (1900) is known as “The Negro National Hymn,” “The Negro National Anthem,” and “The Black National Anthem.” During the first audition, it made a huge excitement by that composition, especially among the black population of America. The composition clearly reflected that pain and suffering through which people with a dark skin color had to and have to go.

However, there is also a ray of hope for a brighter future, which will soon come that nothing will happen as before. This composition inspired and empowered African-Americans for many years after its first performance. Undoubtedly, “Raise every voice and sing” is one of the huge steps towards determining the position of black people in American society along with the rest, towards a brighter future where there are no prejudices due to skin color.

History of composition

James Weldon Johnson, the young poet, and principal of the school, began work on “Raise Every Voice,” in 1899, and finished in 1900. It was written to celebrate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln in an isolated black school and, in particular, to represent Booker Tⁱ. He was asked to give a speech, but Johnson wrote a poem instead. As W. E. B. Du Bois wrote, “He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the door of Opportunity closed roughly in his face.”ⁱⁱ It was a real and actual desire of all the Negroes of that time, which also shows all suffering and struggle of black people.

The song quickly took off, becoming a close-knit cry for black communities in the south, or, as one observer noted at the time, a “collective prayer.” “The song not only epitomizes the history of the race, and its present condition, but voices they hope for the future,” the Johnson declared in 1926.ⁱⁱⁱ According to W.E.B. Du Bois in “Of Our Spiritual Strivings” to be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships. ^iv

As W. E. B. Du Bois wrote, “Will America be poorer if she replaces her brutal dyspeptic blundering with lighthearted but determined Negro humility?”^v Today, this question is no longer relevant, but at that time, it remained unanswered for a long time, but over time everything turned out in the best way. W. E. B. Du Bois argues, in his The Souls of Black Folk, that these songs constitute the most American of all American cultural creations^vi. It was adopted as a hymn in churches and performed at graduation ceremonies and in school gatherings.

Composition analysis

Analyzing the composition “Raise every voice and sing,” you need to separately consider the lyrics and music. I would like to consider the performance of this composition using the example of Beyoncé’s performance in 2019. Speaking to tens of thousands of people, one of America’s largest pop stars pays tribute to this song by performing a few lines. Beyoncé became the first black woman to lead the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California.

Her entire set – complete with a drum line, step dances, and musicians in berets – was an ode to black culture and historically black colleges. The smooth play of violins to the accompaniment of drums looked harmoniously with the gentle voice of the singer, letting every word reach the hearts of people. The musical component quite clearly conveys the mood of the composition, which allows you to even more penetrate the thoughts that James Johnson laid.

The main idea of ​​the poem is contained in the lines, “Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.”^vii It consists in the fact that you never need to forget what you have already achieved and where you are now and what you had to go through for the sake of it. Speaking of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, it can be attributed to the “Song of Sorrow” written by Dubois, which confirmed two things: deep inner life among our enslaved ancestors and a coded language for subverting bondage with tonal espionage and melodic counter-terrorism.

In the second stanza, there is an explicit reference to the slavery of blacks and how painful and difficult they were for “days when hope unborn had died.” ^viiiThe last stanza already tells about the improvement of the situation of blacks and compares this with the gift of God in response to their prayers “Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray.” ^ixThe next few lines that follow are the prayer for the next generations.

Conclusion

The composition “Raise every voice and sing” definitely played the role of a starting point for the black population of America. She can still make the same impression and cause the same emotions at the time of the first performance. The lyrics contain those feelings and experiences that African Americans have experienced for a long time, which allows us to remember what they went through to achieve their current situation. This composition also affected the white-skinned American population, making it clear that the prejudices and harshness of the past should remain in the past. Looking at the situation of black people these days, we can say that they have reached some bright future, which was implied in the composition.

References

Dingle, D. T., Lewis, R. F., & Walker, B. S. “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” In The Cambridge Guide to African American History, 168, New York, U.S.A.: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Gilbert, D. “May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem by Imani Perry.” Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 117, no. 2 (2019): 419-421.

Hansen, D. “On the Moral Registers of Bearing Witness.” Philosophy of Education Archive 44, no. 1 (2018): 223-228.

Hinchey, P. H. The souls of Black folk by W.E.B. Du Bois: With a critical introduction by Patricia H. Hinchey. New York, U.S.A.: Stylus Publishing, 2018.

Weldon, J. and Johnson, J. R. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (1900).

1. David Gilbert. “May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem by Imani Perry,” Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 117, no. 2 (2019), 419.
2. Patricia H. Hinchey, The souls of Black folk by W.E.B Du Bois: With a critical introduction by Patricia H. Hinchey. (New York, U.S.A: Stylus Publishing, 2018), 15.
3. D. T. Dingle, Lewis, R. F., & Walker, B. S. “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” in The Cambridge Guide to African American History, (New York, U.S.A.: Cambridge University Press, 2016), 168.
4. Patricia, The souls of Black folk, 19.
5. Patricia, 23.
6. David Hansen. “On the Moral Registers of Bearing Witness,” Philosophy of Education Archive 44, no. 1 (2018), 226.
7. Weldon, J. and Johnson, J. R. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (1900).
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.