“Lift Every Voice and Sing” was written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson in 1900. Johnson, an educator, lawyer, diplomat, and civil rights activist, wrote the poem to commemorate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson, set the poem to music, and the song was first performed by a choir of 500 African American schoolchildren in Jacksonville, Florida, on February 12, 1900. It symbolized the struggle for freedom, equality, and justice for African Americans and became a rallying cry for the civil rights movement.
In 2021, the NFL announced that “Lift Every Voice and Sing” would be performed or played before major events during the season as a part of the league’s efforts to recognize and address social justice issues.
