JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Saturday marks 122 years since the song “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” was first performed, and it happened in Jacksonville.
Dozens of people belted out the lyrics Saturday afternoon in James Weldon Johnson Park, the place named after the man who wrote the words.
“It gives me chills when I hear it,” said Mamie Davis, who is the Historic Stanton Board of Trustees chairwoman. “The lyrics I think are so beautiful. Certainly, Jacksonville celebrates. The whole world celebrates.”
Jacksonville native James Weldon Johnson wrote the song originally as a poem. His brother, John Rosamond added music to it years later.
It depicts overcoming slavery and rejoicing in newfound freedom.
“We certainly have to know our history,” Davis said. “All of us. Certainly, we don’t want to repeat the dark parts of it or the negative parts of it. We want to learn from it. We want to grow.”
The very first performance of Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing happened Feb. 12, 1900, by about 500 school children in Jacksonville to commemorate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.
Johnson was the principal at the old Stanton School on West Ashley Street in the early 1900s. It was a segregated school at the time. There is a movement to restore the property.
Retired doctor Charles McIntosh graduated from the school in 1943.
He was the first African American pediatrician in Jacksonville. The second in Florida.
“Many people in the country do not realize that it is an African-American anthem,” McIntosh said of Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing. “Many African Americans don’t realize that it is the African-American song of inspiration and hope for millions of people.”
Saturday’s celebration comes just over a week after the House of Representatives discussed a proposed bill to make the song a national hymn. Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and Florida Rep. Al Lawson back the proposal.
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“Everyone sings it,” Davis said. “All children, all races and colors. Certainly, we see that today.”
Saturday’s event celebrating the song’s anniversary was like a festival. There were also guest speakers and an African drum and dance performance, and several fraternities and sororities participated in a Greek stroll.