May We Forever Stand, Imani Perry
May We Forever Stand, Imani Perry
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May We Forever Stand
A History of the Black National Anthem

Author: Imani Perry

Narrator: Keyonni James

Unabridged: 11 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/15/2022


Synopsis

The twin acts of singing and fighting for freedom have been inseparable in African American history. May We Forever Stand tells an essential part of that story. With lyrics penned by James Weldon Johnson and music composed by his brother Rosamond, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was embraced almost immediately as an anthem that captured the story and the aspirations of black Americans. Since the song’s creation, it has been adopted by the NAACP and performed by countless artists in times of both crisis and celebration, cementing its place in African American life up through the present day.

In this rich, poignant, and readable work, Imani Perry tells the story of the Black National Anthem as it traveled from South to North, from civil rights to black power, and from countless family reunions to Carnegie Hall and the Oval Office. Drawing on a wide array of sources, Perry uses “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as a window on the powerful ways African Americans have used music and culture to organize, mourn, challenge, and celebrate for more than a century.

About Imani Perry

Imani Perry is the author of South to America, winner of the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction. She is the Henry A. Morss, Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. Perry's other books include Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry, winner of the 2019 Bograd-Weld Biography Prize from the Pen America Foundation; Breathe: A Letter to My Sons; Vexy Thing: On Gender and Liberation; and May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem. Perry lives between Philadelphia and Cambridge with her two sons.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Raymond on January 15, 2022

May We Forever Stand by historian Imani Perry tells the history of how the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” became the Black National Anthem and covers its rise and fall since its composition in the early 20th Century. The song was a collaboration effort by two brothers James Weldon Johnson who wrot......more

Goodreads review by Edward on July 18, 2018

A fascinating look at how black civic, social and cultural history are inextricably tied to somg that became known as the Negro National Anthem.......more

Goodreads review by Kathryn on April 16, 2022

On February 12th, 1900, when 500 students at the Edward M. Stanton School in Jacksonville, FL, debuted "Lift Every Voice and Sing," few in the audience could have guessed that they were hearing the first performance of what would become the Black National Anthem. But lyricist James Weldon Johnson—an......more