Because Weldon uses those words the reader shows empathy for African American slaves, because he’s showing their pain and mistreatment.

That quote means that the stick the slave-owners used to beat the slaves was punishing or scolding. “Trod” means to have walked on something and chastening means scolding or punishing. In verses 11 & 12 the author uses the shortened version of “Chastening,” and uses the word rod to set a certain tone of triumph or accomplishment. Weldon sets that tone by telling us to sing and be rejoiceful.Īs we start to listen to the second stanza the tone switches to sad, because he starts talking about the African slaves past. The first stanza in the song/poem is mostly trying to persuade us that everything is good and nothing bad is going to happen. These verses have the same tone or mood they give us because Weldon uses figurative language to give us a idea of how we should sing for our ancestors and what happened to them. “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, affects the whole black community by giving them hope when times are bad and help them understand what there ancesters went threw.The tone and mood changes many times during the song, because Weldon wants us to feel hopeful ,sad ,and thankful. “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, is a song about African Americans violent past and bright future.Weldon wrote this song to shine light on African Americans and their past to show people how determined and strong we are. This song was chosen because Weldon talks about everything that was done wrong to African American Slaves and how they always had faith in god and never forgot where they came from. “Lift every Voice and Sing” is the Negro National Black Anthem. Weldon wrote this song to shine light on African Americans and their past to show people how determined and strong we are. “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” is a song about African Americans violent past and bright future.

It was first performed in public in the Johnsons’ hometown of Jacksonville, Florida as part of a celebration of Lincoln’s Birthday on Februby a choir of 500 schoolchildren at the segregated Stanton School, where James Weldon Johnson was principal. Lift Every Voice and Sing – often called “The Black National Anthem” – was written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) and then set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954) in 1899.

May we forever stand