Singing this song quickly became a way for African Americans to demonstrate their patriotism and hope for the future. In calling for earth and heaven to "ring with the harmonies of Liberty," they could subtly speak out against racism and Jim Crow laws -- and especially the huge number of lynchings that were accompanying the rise of the Ku Klux Klan at the turn of the century. In 1919, the NAACP adopted the song as "the Negro National Anthem." By the 1920s, copies of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" could be found in Black churches across the country, often pasted into the hymnals.
During and after the Civil rights movement, the song experienced a rebirth, and by the 1970s it was often sung immediately after the Star Spangled Banner at public events and performances in cities and towns across the United States with a significant African-American population.
The verse most commonly heard is the first verse:
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