I started each class by playing Beyoncé's epic performance of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" from Coachella in 2018. I asked my students as they watched to listen and see if they had heard this song before.
With every class, I did this, out of 10% of my students raised their hands when I asked them who knew this song. This includes students in 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th grade.
I teach in a school that is predominantly made up of students who are white. It wasn't a surprise that most of the students had not heard this song before, and I get it because I would have been one of those students.
I first heard "Lift Every Voice and Sing," when I was in graduate school. My elementary music education professor taught us a sample unit on this song. She was illustrating how to teach a song while teaching the historical context and meaning of the song. She wanted to push us to go beyond teaching notes and rhythms when educating our students. I loved her ideas, and they have shaped teaching for my entire career as an educator.
I've always wanted to teach about "Lift Every Voice and Sing" to my students, but I've unsure what it means for mostly white students to sing this song. Also, this song doesn't really fit into a middle school band curriculum with the level at which my students play. This year though, because of COVID-19 mitigations, we can't sing, and we can't play band instruments, so I figured to just go for it.
After having the students be blown away by Beyoncé's epic performance, we listened to the NPR's episode on "Life Every Voice and Sing" as part of their American Anthem series.
I explained to my students that I could tell them the same information that this news story could, but it didn't feel right. I explained that this is a song created by two African-American brothers, which has had a profound effect on Black culture and Black history. As an Asian-American, I do not have an experience with this song in the same way that the people in this story do. I told them that we should hear directly from those within a community when studying music from that community whenever we can. Even if I gave the same information, it would feel different from the Black people featured in this radio story.
Afterward, we analyzed the lyrics. We spent a lot of the time on the second verse thinking about what "Felt in the days when hope unborn had died" meant and thinking about what the "tears" and the "blood" in this verse are references to in American history. In contrast "The Star-Spangled Banner," which we had been studying, we talked about it meant to acknowledge the darkness in American history as opposed just to tell the story of American resilience. I was impressed with my students' work and their focus when working on these lyrics.
We explored other version of this song include versions by Kirk Franklin, Ray Charles, and Kim Weston:
My 8th graders thought deeply about this song. They wondered if white people singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was cultural appropriation. They wondered if we should have two official national anthems or no anthem at all, and they wondered if this was the "Black national anthem," then what was the "The Star-Spangled Banner"? The white one? I let them discuss these topics. I didn't give them an answer, and I told them that I was proud of them for asking these really important questions.
My younger students overall really like this song after we were done with the lesson.
At the end of class, one of the Black students reflected the Kirk Franklin's version reminded her of her church. The other students were intrigued. She explained how people responded to the church leaders, and the music in the church sounded just Franklin's version. She spoke with pride, and it was clear that she loved the attention and interest the others students were giving her.
It was a wonderful moment that I'll never forget.
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