when did lift every voice and sing became black national anthem
Lift Every Voice and Sing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was publicly performed first as a poem as part of a celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday on February 12, 1900, by 500 school children at the segregated Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida. Its principal, James Weldon Johnson, wrote the words to introduce its honored guest Booker T. Washington. The poem was set to music in 1905 by Johnson's brother John. In 1919, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) dubbed it "The Negro National Anthem"[2] for its power in voicing the cry for liberation and affirmation for African-American people.[1]
Forged from the Love of Liberty Patrick S. Castagne composed the words and music of the National Anthem in 1962.[2] Mr Castagne, a renowned West Indian songwriter, was employed at the Trinidad and Tobago Commission in London.[1] One of his compositions, called "A Song for the Islands"[2] or A Song for Federation,[1] was submitted to the West Indies Federation as a possible anthem.[2]