'Lift Every Voice and Sing' performed at Super Bowl for first time
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Before Sunday's Super Bowl kicked off, Sheryl Lee Ralph performed "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
The song, which has been referred to as the Black National Anthem, was not the main attraction, but it was a moment that wowed the audience on America's biggest stage. Sunday was the first time the song was sung before the Super Bowl.
"Black women tend to be at the bottom of the racial hierarchy," said Dr. Robin Brooks, associate professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. "So I'm really excited that a Black woman was chosen to sing this song."
Written in 1900 by James Weldon Johnson, the song was originally penned as a poem celebrating Abe Lincoln's birthday and reflecting on the triumphs of Black Americans.
The song was eventually adopted by the NAACP and came to prominence during the Civil Rights Movement in the '50s and '60s.
"The battle is ongoing," Brooks said. "So it does not surprise me at all that you would be hearing a song that would be reminiscent of marches in the 1950s, 1960s."
Dr. Brooks said the song also evokes a sense of awareness for those who might be unfamiliar with it.
"Black people have been a part of this nation's founding," Brooks said. "We've been here since the beginning. So what is wrong with also celebrating and singing a song."
