Carruthers, Shirley Chisolm, Septima Clark, Anna Julia Cooper, Angela Davis, Fania Davis, Patrisse Cullors, Yvonne Delk, Marian Wright Edelman, Brittany Ferrell, Alicia Garza, Nikki Giovanni, Fannie Lou Hamer, Lorraine Hansberry, Anita Hill, bell hooks, Mary Hooks, Coretta Scott King, Henrietta Lacks, Nicole Lee, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, Rosa Parks, Sonia Sanchez, Betty Shabazz, Assata Shakur, Ntozake Shange, Nina Simone, Mary Church Terrell, Opal Tometi, Emilie Maureen Townes, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Alice Walker, Tanya Watkins, Ida B. Let us rejoice and lest we forget the weary paths and silent tears of those like: Stacey Abrams, Maya Angelou, Ella Baker, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nannie Helen Burroughs, Katie Cannon, Iva B. These are the courageous ones marching for Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and George Floyd fighting for PPE (personal protective equipment) and healthcare amidst COVID-19 and fighting to dismantle systemic injustices of police brutality and poverty. We will honor the Movement for Black Lives and Black Lives Matter for insisting that candidates say their names and put forth an agenda that affirms Black humanity, Black voices and the burdensome struggle for Black bodies to carry the weight of the lynching tree upon our backs while still organizing to get out the vote. We will allow our rejoicing to rise in this unprecedented moment, recognizing the power of Black women, grassroots organizing and heroic volunteers who faced COVID-19 to ensure ballots were cast, mailed and counted. Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast Out from the gloomy past, ‘Til now we stand at last We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered How could we not lift every voice and sing?įelt in the days when hope unborn had diedĬome to the place for which our sighed? Here we are with an incoming administration boldly including racial equity, transgender rights, climate change and poverty among its top priorities for day one in office. Here we are on the eve of hope, daringly electing a Black woman with Caribbean and Asian ancestry to serve as Vice President of the United States of America. Here we are in a new moment with an opportunity to be audacious in our pursuit of justice. Now, such pestilence unapologetically sits at the resolute desk of the White House, gas lighting those who fear progress, equity, inclusion, science and the side of love. The bitterness of racism in America and the injustice of poverty is a persistent foe, uncloaked of its sheets and burning crosses in the hidden mystery of the night. This was especially poignant in the grim wake of loss due to a racial and health pandemic that continues to disproportionately affect marginalized communities in our city of Chicago, our nation and our world. Harris’ successful run for executive office, the song resonated powerfully for me as a womanist, Black woman of color, organizer, HBCU alumna (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), and also as a member of the Divine Nine. Among other rituals and rites-of-passages, the hymn signifies hopes, prayers, lessons and lamentations of the oppressed.ĭuring the weekend following the election, with the projection of Mr. The song is ubiquitous in Black culture and aptly serves as a call to worship, a call to action, and a benediction. Lowery introduced the world to that sacred hymn, but for many of us, it was a familiar song that we held close to our bosom for generations upon generations, offering us hope, affirming our resilience and resistance, and affirming Black diasporic oral record, too often excluded from the canons of history. All of the years singing those lyrics as a child in Sunday School, at a Black History Month or Kwanzaa event, and yes, at my alma mater, Howard University, came flooding back to me. Obama and how I felt goosebumps with his recitation. Lowery used it as an invocation during the inauguration of President Barack H. In this historic moment, I reflect on the lyrical and prophetic message of James Weldon Johnson’s Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing. Sing a song full of the hope that the present hasįacing the rising sun of our new day begunĬommunity Renewal Society congratulates President-elect Joseph Robinette (Joe) Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Devi Harris. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has
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