![]() “‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ is such a powerful song. The song was adopted by the NAACP as the Negro National Anthem in 1919. The song is derived from a poem written by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson and put to music by his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, in 1899. “I think “Lift Every Voice” is one of those pieces where once you hear the lyrics and know why it was written, under the circumstances it makes it even more powerful than just something that we sing.” “It is a good thing, as long as people understand what it’s about, why it’s sung, and why it’s being done,” he says. ![]() Clarke says he cannot recall a time when the song was performed on as big a stage. With increasing awareness of Black History Month, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” has reemerged on a national scale: the NFL aired Alicia Keys’ rendition during the Super Bowl. “There’s been much more of an emphasis, and an awakening of sorts,” she says. “I think because of Black Lives Matter and all the unrest that’s happening around the country, Black History Month is taking on a little bit more of a seriousness notation than it has in the past,” he says. Her shirt reads, “I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.” Women’s basketball head coach Marisa Moseley (CAS’04) (center) has worked to create the Patriot League Anti-Racism Commission and the BU Athletics Social Justice and Inclusion Committee. Leland Clarke (Wheelock’75), a College of Fine Arts professor of the practice of musicology and ethnomusicology, says he sees a change in the way Black History Month has been viewed this year. Moseley’s words echo the sentiments of other members of the BU community. ![]() “Even though February is officially Black History Month, that doesn’t mean that’s the only time we have to, or should, speak about these issues.” “I think that has really been open to making sure that this wasn’t just a moment in time that came and went,” she says. Now in the middle of the winter sports season, she is finding ways to keep the movement alive around the games. With protests and demonstrations last summer around violence against Black Americans, Moseley spent much of her off-season organizing the Patriot League Anti-Racism Commission and pioneering a Social Justice and Inclusion Committee within BU Athletics. “I just think it offers another opportunity to dialogue around history and just get a chance to share the culture of the Black community in another way,” says women’s basketball head coach Marisa Moseley (CAS’04), who has been at the forefront of the tribute. The women’s basketball team in particular has embraced the initiative, playing the hymn before every one of its home games this month. Throughout February, BU Athletics is celebrating Black History Month by playing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known as the Black National Anthem, at several BU home games, at least once for each team.
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