SING A SONG: HOW “LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING” INSPIRED GENERATIONS: Activities

Best Users: School Librarians, Public Librarians, Educators, Community Groups, Faith Groups
Best Audience: Grades 02-06

 

ACTIVITIES

On February 12, 2020, the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” turns 120 years old. Teach your students and patrons the history and meaning behind the Black National Anthem with a read aloud from Sing a Song: How “Lift Every Voice and Sing” Inspired Generations and author Kelly Starling Lyons’ suggested activities. Includes a lyric sheet.

DOWNLOAD Sing A Song: Activities (PDF)

Watch what “Life Every Voice and Sing” means to educators, librarians, children’s book creators, and others.

 

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice and Sing Inspired Generations
By Kelly Starling Lyons
Illustrated by Keith Mallett
Published by Penguin Young Readers Group
ISBN-13: 9780525516095
Age Range: 5 – 8 Years

Just in time for the 120th anniversary of the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing”–this stirring book celebrates the Black National Anthem and how it inspired five generations of a family.

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. 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.

“Tracing the history of Black Americans since 1900 through five generations of one family, this creative book also connects events and cultural shifts with particular lines in the song, underscoring their relevance during certain times. . . . With clarity and warmth, the illustrations sensitively capture the changing characters, emotions, and eras as time passes. . . . Well-structured, original story. . . . Dovetailing nicely with the books that introduce the song itself, this moving picture book celebrates it as a ‘symbol of faith, brilliance, resistance, and resilience.’”
—Booklist, starred review
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“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. . . . Vibrant, realistic illustrations and painstaking facial detail. . . . Bold colors lend emotion to scenes of hope and adversity. . . . All the while, each generation passes the lyrics along, and a final page urges readers to ‘keep singing . . . keep on keeping on.’ A heartfelt history of a historic anthem.”
—Publishers Weekly
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“Lyons writes with rhythmic warmth, weaving the lyrics into her story. . . . Mallett’s artwork charmingly illumines the faces of the singers in the book, revealing their passion and often joy in singing what’s become cherished as the African American national anthem. . . . A beautiful celebration of a song that continues to give life to African Americans.”—Kirkus Reviews
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“There are plenty of picture-book editions illustrating James Weldon Johnson’s text of ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ but the song’s historical impact is often relegated to an afterword. Lyons makes that impact the focus of this narrative. . . . Lyons deftly weaves the song into the family’s everyday life while also using that quotidian existence to emblematize historical experiences. . . . Her storytelling cadence makes rewarding use of repetition, emphasizing the generational replication and adding a lyrical lilt to the prose. . . . This may open youngsters’ eyes to the personal side of history and prompt some sharing by the adults in their lives.”
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books