Till Victory Is Won: The Staying Power Of 'Lift Every Voice And Sing'
Beyonce sang it at Coachella. Kim Weston sang it at Wattstax. The song often called the "black national anthem" is still with us — in part because the struggle it describes never went away.
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" is a song many African-Americans know from school or church. But if you didn't hear it there, you may know it from one of a few landmark performances.
Motown's Kim Weston sang it to nearly 100,000 people at the historic Wattstax in 1972. In 1990, singer Melba Moore released an that included Anita Baker, Stevie Wonder and Dionne Warwick. Gladys Knight and Bebe Winans added in 2012. And this April, Beyonce sang it at Coachella, highlighting black culture to a largely white audience.
