Entry · catalog no. 8404
Black national anthem
/ /blæk ˈnæʃənəl ˈænθəm/ /BLAK NASH-un-ul AN-thum
noun · Jacksonville, Florida, then nationwide · 1900s
✓ Verified
1.
The song Lift Every Voice and Sing, written by James Weldon Johnson with music by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson, sung at Black gatherings, churches, schools, and events.
“The whole room stood for the Black national anthem.”
2.
Used loosely for any song a Black community claims as a collective anthem.
“That song is the unofficial Black national anthem at every cookout.”
Origin & Attribution
James Weldon Johnson wrote the words as a poem for a 1900 Lincoln's Birthday program at the Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was principal, and his brother J. Rosamond Johnson set it to music; about 500 schoolchildren sang it on February 12, 1900. The NAACP took it up and named it the Negro National Anthem in 1919, and it spread through Black churches and schools. The term Black national anthem is the later form of the name used by the community.
1900
First sung by schoolchildren in Jacksonville, Florida
1919
NAACP adopts it as the Negro National Anthem
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
Jacksonville, Florida, then nationwide · 1900s
Spoken by
Black congregations, students, and civil rights organizations
$BLACKNThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady126 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
75/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1900
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
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Atlanta, GA
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Memphis, TN
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Citations & Sources
■
History of the Black national anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, YourClassical (2025)
article
■
Feb. 12, 1900, Mississippi Today
article
■
+ Cite a sourceLift Every Voice and Sing, Songfacts
article
See also