The Black National Anthem Lyrics
Rene Marie caused an uproar in Denver on Tuesday when she was asked to sing ‘The National Anthem’ at the mayor’s state of the city address and instead sang ‘The Black National Anthem’ to the surprise and shock of all in attendance.
If you are like me then you are probably curious as to what the words of the song are. Keep reading below to find out.
The Black National Anthem by James Weldon Johnson
Lift ev’ry voice and sing,
Till earth and heaven ring.
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise,
High as the list’ning skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
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;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast’ning rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet,
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by Thy might,
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee,
Shadowed beneath thy hand,
May we forever stand,
True to our God,
True to our native land.
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So I am trying not to scream, but in the last line of the anthem, it states, “True to our native land.” Well, if they want to be so true and honor their native land instead of the land that they are living in, they can go back there. I feel this on anyone who complains about this wonderful nation. What a sadness this is that people are honoring themselves instead of a wonderful country!
well i am sure that if many had a choice they would go back to their native land. no one asked to come here. so if you want to pony up some plane tickets etc. you can have a lot of your “wonderful” yet still unable to get past something like skin color country back. before you fly off the handle and call me ignorant, i am a masters degree holding patron, making very good money. i am in an unbelieveably fullfiling marriage with a caucasian man. we are raising our son who is half afro-american and half caucasian and at the age of 12 he cannot see color nor understands how others can.
Surprise Surprise Jennifer… America is not as great as you and apparently so many others think. Foreclosures, Highest prison spending and inmates of any developed country, horrible education system with abysmal test scores, a flawed health care system, and many other elements make America a not so “wonderful nation”.
Also, the Black National Anthem was written in 1900. A time when this country treated Blacks notably worse than they do now.
I’m not so sure I’d be honoring a country that would hang me for simply looking at a woman of a supposed “Superior Race”…
Read some books and learn some history…
to niya w. — your son and your whole damn family will get a sad reality check someday. You must be living in the nice suburs in a house your caucasian man bought for you.
Which only goes to prove that a 12-year old has more wisdom than a person who’s significant education, wealth, and personal security is diminished by bitterness and insecurity. It seems Jennifer’s point concerns Rene Marie bastardizing (she didn’t sign the above but rather interwove the two songs) the United States National Anthem to honor themselves rather than the nation. In your comment I read plenty of honoring of yourself yet keen insecurity about someone flying off the handle at you or calling you ignorant. Be an American first rather than an African American first and what you called “a lot of your wonderful” when addressing Jennifer can be “a lot of our wonderful” with your inclusion extremely welcome.
if the descendants of slaves from africa are called african-american, then why are not the descendants of all other immigrants called by their ancestor’s continent of origin, i.e “european-american”? seems to me the only true “african-american” would be an immigrant from africa who became a u.s. citizen, regardless of color? and if you are a u.s. citizen, then why aren’t you just an “american”? to me the term “african-american” is one more way to keep us fractured as americans.
I didn’t hear the anthem and have no idea what was said - maybe that would change my opinion. BUT. Just reading the back and forth, all I can say is “get over it.”. I AM tired of the double standard in this country. People are not supposed to judge by the color of one’s skin yet it still happens. Now thought it happens because our society is so sensitive we are trying to protect everyone’s feelings. We can’t not have the National Anthem in Spanish because it will offend our Spanish citizens. We must not put Christmas trees in public, it will offend our non-Christian citizens. We can’t say “black” because it’s rude. My children are taught to judge a person by their character and behavior NOT by the color of their skin. However, my oldest is just entering middle-school and it’s interesting that HE has figured out for himself that there is a reverse prejudice in this country. Although I try to explain and somehow justify the reasons behind this and point out the historical injustices, and I CONSTANTLY REMIND HIM that it is up to HIM to be the better person and turn the other cheek. This bright child points out that it’s time to “get over it.” As he said, no one he knows was ever treated this way so why are they being mean to HIM because he’s white? Yes, there are ignorant white people who perpetuate this hatred. But, let’s be real, there are ignorant blacks who continue to cling to a century old injustice that is REALLY NOT occurring today (except in the hearts of those ignorants who are PREVENTED by law to act on their beliefs) - thanks to the efforts of our government and our churches. I believe many people (black, spanish, arab, etc.) want to believe it’s the reason for the problems in their lives - the white man holding them back or whatever. But, let’s be real. This is America. Everyone has the same rights and entitlements and opportunities (at least for the last 50 years or so) which means this younger generation has to STOP hearing about this nonsense or we will NEVER get over it. YES, again, there are stupid people but it is on both sides. Do we stop teaching this history in our schools, NO! But, EVERY family needs to teach faith, love, patience, and kindness in their own homes. And, we need our schools to teach peace, kindness, and self-control. Only then, will we have JOY. AND, if you are unfortunate enough to NEED help to reach your goals, there are government systems that will help you. NO ONE is left out unless they want to be. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you were born, or what color your skin is. SO. PLEASE, let’s stop using it as an excuse to fail or, if you happen to be white, let’s stop using it as as excuse to perpetuate hate for your own shortcomings.
Artistic license my rear end. Plagerism is plagerism and anti american sentiment is anti american sentiment. Call things as they are. And kuddos to the one that wrote about the African American isn’t really an American, but fractured between the two nations. I doubt there is any race on earth that has not had hard times somewhere in history. That don’t give them license to burden the next generations with it. I don’t owe you people anything period. And if the blacks want to be angry with someone, let them get angry with the Islamics that stole their ancestors and cultures as far back as 1400 years ago. USA is only 234 years old, who do you people blame for the other 1200 years? Get real and let’s build a greater nation than we inherited and let the past die. I don’t see any group suffering today unless they choose to by their own bad choices.
Jennifer N.M. I agree with you 100%. If they are so true to their native land, let move back. Call me a racist if you want, but no matter what you do for “these people” it’s never enough. This country has it’s faults, but name just one black governed country where the standard of living is as good as The United States. Can’t do it can you.
Wow I really thought things were getting better but it is clear that the more things change the more things stay the same. Give a red neck a computer and he or she thinks they are a genius. It’s obvious that most of the comments that have been made were made by uneducated buffoons. I must be the only one who sees that racism has not died it has simply submersed it’s self and has become institutionalized. We live in a day and age when the Afro American community consists of approximately 13.5% of the total U.S. population yet we continue to make up 50% of the prison population gee I bet that’s just coincidence. I suppose you all think Afro Americans don’t watch the news too. But despite what you may think of us and what you learn of our culture through mass media such as MTV, BET (by the way is owned by whites), and FOX just to name a few; we did see what happened when Katrina hit and how you left our people out to die. We do remember watching as the police shot warning shots over our heads denying the people their only way out over the bridge because whites did not want to be bothered with our presence; no we will not forget the past as the past is the only thing we have to learn from to keep from being taken advantage of as your people and others have done for centuries. And for the idiot that made a comment about reverse racism you basically just told us you and your son are hypocrites. At this point you’re confused so let me enlighten you. Racism, by its simplest definition, is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. People with racist beliefs might hate certain groups of people according to their racial groups. So your comment leads me to believe that you are a racist but now you’re mad because we are doing it to you; in other words the position has been reversed. So in that case how does it feel? We have been dealing with it for as long as can be remembered and you want to bitch because it has happened to you a few times. All I have to say is WOW!!!!! Are where the hell are our Reparations!!!!!!!
You people all are missing the point. This is an anthem to teach blacks to praise their homeland and keep a negative light about America. Americans did not go to Africa and grab people and bring them here. The Kings and tribal leaders in Africa sold their own people to mostly Arab slave traders. The British are the ones who finally put a stop to this. And all of America had slaves, not just those “evil southerners”. You guys should all do some real history research and stop listening to racist black “leaders” and liberal school books that teach a skewed history. And to the one that says where are the plane tickets? Do you really want to go back to Africa and be butchered by a machete’ for having a opposing political view? Become a real American and not a African American. We live in the best country on the planet and can make it even better without this segregation from within.