Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice and Sing Inspired Generations

Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Award, this stirring book celebrates the Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing –and how it inspired four generations of a family.

Lyons delivers the history of a song that has inspired generations of African-Americans to persist and resist in the face of racism and systemic oppression… . A heartfelt history of a historic anthem. –Publishers Weekly

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.

In Jacksonville, Florida, two brothers, one of them the principal of a segregated, all-black school, wrote the song Lift Every Voice and Sing so his students could sing it for a tribute to Abraham Lincoln’s birthday in 1900. From that moment on, the song has provided inspiration and solace for generations of Black families. Mothers and fathers passed it on to their children who sang it to their children and grandchildren. Known as the Black National Anthem, it has been sung during major moments of the Civil Rights Movement and at family gatherings and college graduations.

Inspired by this song’s enduring significance, Kelly Starling Lyons and Keith Mallett tell a story about the generations of families who gained hope and strength from the song’s inspiring words.

–A CCBC Choice
–A Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People –An ALSC Notable Children’s Book