[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




 
 EXAMINING THE HISTORY AND IMPORTANCE OF ``LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING''

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

  SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

                                 OF THE

                       COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                        FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2022

                               __________

                           Serial No. 117-54

                               __________

         Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
         
         
         
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]        
         


               Available via: http://judiciary.house.gov
               
               
               
               
                          ______

             U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
48-283                  WASHINGTON : 2022                

               
                       COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                    JERROLD NADLER, New York, Chair
                MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania, Vice-Chair

ZOE LOFGREN, California              JIM JORDAN, Ohio, Ranking Member
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas            STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee               LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas
HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,      DARRELL ISSA, California
    Georgia                          KEN BUCK, Colorado
THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida          MATT GAETZ, Florida
KAREN BASS, California               MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana
HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES, New York         ANDY BIGGS, Arizona
DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island     TOM McCLINTOCK, California
ERIC SWALWELL, California            W. GREG STEUBE, Florida
TED LIEU, California                 TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin
JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland               THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington          CHIP ROY, Texas
VAL BUTLER DEMINGS, Florida          DAN BISHOP, North Carolina
J. LUIS CORREA, California           MICHELLE FISCHBACH, Minnesota
MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania       VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
SYLVIA R. GARCIA, Texas              SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
JOE NEGUSE, Colorado                 CLIFF BENTZ, Oregon
LUCY McBATH, Georgia                 BURGESS OWENS, Utah
GREG STANTON, Arizona
VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
MONDAIRE JONES, New York
DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina
CORI BUSH, Missouri

          AMY RUTKIN, Majority Staff Director & Chief of Staff
              CHRISTOPHER HIXON, Minority Staff Director 
                                 ------                                

            SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS,
                          AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

                     STEVE COHEN, Tennessee, Chair
                DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina, Vice-Chair

JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland               MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana, Ranking 
HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,          Member
    Georgia                          TOM McCLINTOCK, California
SYLVIA R. GARCIA, Texas              CHIP ROY, Texas
CORI BUSH, Missouri                  MICHELLE FISCHBACH, Minnesota
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas            BURGESS OWENS, Utah

                       JAMES PARK, Chief Counsel
                       
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                        Friday, February 4, 2022

                                                                   Page

                           OPENING STATEMENTS

The Honorable Steve Cohen, Chair of the Subcommittee on the 
  Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties from the State 
  of Tennessee...................................................     1
The Honorable Mike Johnson, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on 
  the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties from the 
  State of Louisiana.............................................     2
The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Chair of the Committee on the 
  Judiciary from the State of New York...........................     3

                               WITNESSES
                                Panel I

The Honorable James E. Clyburn, House Majority Whip, House of 
  Representatives
  Oral Testimony.................................................     5
  Prepared Testimony.............................................     7

                                Panel II

Mr. Leon W. Russell, Chair, National Board of Directors, NAACP
  Oral Testimony.................................................    12
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    15
Dr. Dwandalyn R. Reece, Associate Director for Curatorial 
  Affairs, National Museum of African American History and 
  Culture, Smithsonian Institution
  Oral Testimony.................................................    20
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    22
Dr. Naomi Andre, Professor, Arts and Ideas in the Humanities 
  Program, Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, and 
  Women's Studies, University of Michigan
  Oral Testimony.................................................    24
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    26
Mr. Clarence Henderson, President, Frederick Douglass Foundation 
  of North Carolina
  Oral Testimony.................................................    31
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    33
Dr. Shana L. Redmond, Professor of English and Comparative 
  Literature, Columbia University
  Oral Testimony.................................................    36
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    39
Mr. Lloyd Washington, President, Durkeeville Historical Society 
  Museum
  Oral Testimony.................................................    41
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    42
Ms. Melanie Edwards, Office of Government and Community Affairs, 
  Columbia University
  Oral Testimony.................................................    62
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    64

          LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING

Lyrics to ``Lift Every Voice and Sing,'' submitted by the 
  Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, a Member of the Subcommittee on 
  the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties from the 
  State of Texas, for the record.................................    74


 EXAMINING THE HISTORY AND IMPORTANCE OF ``LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING''

                              ----------                              


                        Friday, February 4, 2022

                     U.S. House of Representatives

            Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights,

                          and Civil Liberties

                       Committee on the Judiciary

                             Washington, DC

    The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 9:05 a.m., via 
Zoom, Hon. Steve Cohen [Chair of the Subcommittee] presiding.
    Members present: Representatives Nadler, Cohen, Raskin, 
Ross, Johnson of Georgia, Garcia, Jackson Lee, McBath, Jordan, 
Johnson of Louisiana, Fischbach, and Owens.
    Staff present: John Doty, Senior Advisor and Deputy Staff 
Director; Moh Sharma, Director of Member Services and Outreach 
& Policy Advisor; Cierra Fontenot, Chief Clerk; John Williams, 
Parliamentarian and Senior Counsel; Keenan Keller, Senior 
Counsel; Gabriel Barnett, Staff Assistant; Merrick Nelson, 
Digital Director; Kayla Hamedi, Deputy Communications Director; 
James Park, Chief Counsel for Constitution; Will Emmons, 
Professional Staff Member/Legislative Aide for Constitution; 
Abbie Petty, Counsel for Constitution; Matt Morgan, Counsel for 
Constitution; Betsy Ferguson, Minority Senior Counsel; Caroline 
Nabity, Minority Counsel; James Lesinski, Minority Counsel; 
Andrea Woodard, Minority Professional Staff Member; and Kiley 
Bidelman, Minority Clerk.
    Mr. Cohen. The Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on 
the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties will come 
to order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare 
recesses at any time.
    Welcome, everyone, to today's hearing on Examining the 
History and Significance of ``Lift Every Voice and Sing.''
    Before we continue, we have established an email address, 
previously shared distribution to be used through that line for 
today's hearing. Members mute your microphone when you are not 
speaking unless at any time you seek recognition.
    I will now recognize myself for an opening statement.
    ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' is an inspiring and moving 
hymn, one that increasingly has gained a central and important 
place in American culture. As the Nation begins its 
commemoration of Black History Month, it is worth the 
Subcommittee's time to consider the history and continued 
cultural importance of this iconic song. The origins of the 
historical context of African Americans' struggles against the 
racism and inequality that undergirded slavery. It was later 
repeated and enforced by Jim Crow laws and racist social norms, 
as well as its universally human nature, the whole perseverance 
and face of extreme adversary, a very inspiring song.
    We will also learn about H.R. 301, a bill that designates 
this particular song or hymn, ``Lift Every Voice,'' as the 
national hymn. The proposal would not displace ``The Star-
Spangled Banner'' as the national anthem or rather add ``Lift 
Every Voice'' to an official repertoire of national songs. I 
know in Tennessee we have five or six different songs.
    Indeed, today, we find ourselves going through the latest 
round of fierce and ongoing national debate about what it means 
to be an ``American'' and who counts as part of our national 
story. This meta-debate overlays many of the policies, specific 
debates that this Committee has engaged in recent years on 
issues raised on voting rights to policing reform to hate 
crimes. Perhaps understandably this debate can become very 
heated and take on some rough edges. It has even threatened to 
pull our nation apart.
    This is all the more reason why it is perfect for us to 
embrace inclusive national symbols and patriotic customs and 
make people understand what they are about. It is not just a 
song for a particular group of Americans. It is a song that 
could be and should be for every American.
    We have national symbols and customs, history, creativity, 
and ingenuity and the American people is much broader and 
deeper with these symbols and customs embodied. Adding ``Lift 
Every Voice and Sing'' to our nation's canon of official music 
could be just the thing that serves as a form of healing, 
brings this country together. That is what Majority Whip 
Clyburn said. Its purpose is to bring this country together.
    Perhaps our Witnesses will be able to successfully make 
that case today. I thank Representative Clyburn and all our 
Witnesses for being here today. I very much look forward to the 
testimony.
    Now, I would like to recognize the Ranking Member of the 
Subcommittee, the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Johnson, for 
his opening statement.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to 
thank our Witnesses for being here this morning. This is a 
hearing, as you noted, that is focused on the song ``Lift Every 
Voice and Sing,'' for the United States to make it a national 
hymn.
    As one scholar wrote, this song is ``an omnipresent part of 
African American worship traditions and an enduring refrain.'' 
The song's first public performance was during the celebration 
of Abraham Lincoln's birthday in 1900 and it has been since 
sung by many notable people on many notable occasions over the 
last 120 years. The song honors the fact that each of us is 
made in God's image and every single person has an estimable 
dignity and value that is not related in any way to the color 
of our skin, or where we live, or what we do for a living. All 
of us are created equally in God's image. That is part of the 
DNA of America. It is what we believe. Racism and racial 
violence violate the most fundamental principles of our great 
nation and the will of our Creator and we all acknowledge it.
    America is not perfect, but it is an exceptional country, 
and we are always growing. We are always learning. We are 
always striving toward a more perfect union and that is our 
charge and that is our calling. So, at this hearing, we will 
consider and explore our history. We will learn from it, and it 
will show us in the end how exceptional our country truly is.
    In recent years, we have seen the lowest unemployment rate 
for African Americans in history. Thankfully, we have seen 
historic criminal justice reform. We've seen expanded 
educational opportunities for all children in the country and 
there is much more work to do as you know. We have to unite and 
empower all communities in America, and I love what Mr. Clyburn 
said. We have to bring this country together. So, any measure 
that will help do that we think is worthy of our time and 
discussion.
    So, I thank the Witnesses for being here. I look forward to 
hearing from you and thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield back.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Johnson, for your statement and 
the spirit contained therein.
    Mr. Nadler, you are now recognized for up to five minutes.
    Chair Nadler. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The song ``Lift Every 
Voice and Sing'' has been a beacon of hope to generations of 
Americans. Its message, while rooted it and shaped by the 
experience of African Americans and their struggles against 
racial oppression is universal, offering hope and faith in the 
face of darkness.
    I appreciate the opportunity today to examine the origins 
and the historical context in which ``Lift Every Voice and 
Sing'' was written, as well as its continuing importance to 
American culture and values. I am also pleased that we will be 
able to hear from our colleagues, the distinguished House 
Majority Whip, Congressman James Clyburn, about his 
legislation, H.R. 301 which would designate ``Lift Every Voice 
and Sing'' as our country's national hymn.
    The song, which was first sung by school children in 1900 
to commemorate Abraham Lincoln's birthday, has persisted in 
influence over the past 120 years. The brothers, James Weldon 
Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson, wrote ``Lift Every Voice and 
Sing'' at the turn of the 20th century. This was a period in 
which the promises of racial equality made by the nation to 
African Americans during Reconstruction were betrayed. Previous 
advances towards equality were being dismantled. Segregation 
had been codified through Plessy v. Ferguson and the Jim Crow 
reign of terror was gaining its foothold. All the while, the Ku 
Klux Klan wreaked havoc against African Americans, initiating a 
campaign of racist terror, violence, and murder.
    Through all this, African Americans continue to risk their 
lives for their own visions of what freedom could be in the 
aftermath of slavery. Even in the face of horrific violence, 
they never ceased in their struggle for freedom.
    ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' is a song about transcending 
those difficulties and maintaining hope for the future. To sing 
this song is not only to acknowledge the suffering in the past, 
but also to look ahead to a brighter future. It is a reminder 
that while the journey ahead may be arduous, obstacles are 
surmountable if we join together in the fight for equality.
    Although ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' is a song that 
recognizes the history and progress of African Americans, its 
influence and appeal extends beyond the boundaries of race. 
From its inception to today, ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' has 
and continues to unify individuals of all cultures. It is a 
song of uplift and solidarity. It speaks to the universal human 
condition of struggle and triumph and connects us to a common 
purpose, equality for all.
    The song's sermonic quality, coupled with powerful lyrics 
of hope and perseverance, has resonated at key gatherings such 
as presidential inaugurations of both political parties and at 
civil rights demonstrations. It was endorsed by Booker T. 
Washington in 1905 and later adopted by the NAACP becoming a 
rallying cry during the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 
1960s.
    ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' is a reminder of how far we 
have progressed as a country, while simultaneously calling upon 
us to continue our work towards a better future. The song 
represents patriotism in the best possible sense. It commands 
us to be dedicated to our nation and to honor the sacrifices of 
the generations that came before us by continuing to work 
towards the full promise of freedom for all Americans.
    I want to thank Congressman Clyburn for bringing forth this 
bill. I also welcome all our Witnesses. I look forward to their 
testimony and I yield back the balance of my time.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Nadler. I don't know if Mr. 
Jordan is present or not. I don't see on my screen.
    Mr. Jordan, do you want to be recognized for an opening 
statement? If Mr. Jordan is not with us, we will go right into 
the opening remarks that I will make. Thank you.
    We welcome our Witnesses on both panels. Thank you for 
participating in today's hearing. I warn you that we have votes 
around 9:30 a.m. or so and might have to break up during your 
testimony and come back.
    I will now introduce each of the Witnesses and after each 
introduction, will recognize that Witness for his or her oral 
testimony. Please note, each of your written statements will be 
entered into the record. If you say anything that is false, you 
could be subject to penalties under section 1001 of title 18 of 
the U.S. Code.
    There is a five-minute--please limit your remarks to five 
minutes. The timer is on the screen that has all the different 
folks on it. I don't know what you call that, but it is the 
screen where everybody's picture comes up. The feed, I guess.
    The sole Witness on the first panel is the distinguished 
House Majority Whip, the Honorable James E. Clyburn. 
Congressman Clyburn represents the Sixth Congressional District 
of South Carolina, having served in Congress since 1993. In 
2007, he was first elected the Majority Whip, the third ranking 
position in the House, and served in that position from 2007-
2011. Once again, elected Majority Whip when we came into the 
majority in 2019 and has served in that position since.
    During the times we were in the minority, 2011-2019, he was 
the Assistant House Democratic Leader. He has proudly served as 
Chair and Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and as 
Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and the recipient of 
the ``I AM A MAN'' Award.
    One of his many accomplishments, his introduction of H.R. 
301, to designate ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' as the national 
hymn.
    Whip Clyburn, I welcome you to today's hearing and I 
recognize you for your testimony.

          STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JAMES E. CLYBURN,
                      HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP

    Mr. Clyburn. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thanks to 
all of you who are joining here today, most especially our 
Witnesses this day who will be giving testimony.
    I particularly want to welcome my long-time friend, Leon 
Russell. Leon and I enjoyed almost three decades of a 
professional relationship before I came to Congress and both of 
us are still hanging in here. He is the Chair of the National 
Board of the NAACP and I welcome him and the others here today.
    I want to thank you, Mr. Chair, and the Ranking Member, Mr. 
Johnson, for calling this hearing, and I particularly want to 
associate myself with the comments made by Ranking Member 
Johnson. They were very prolific, and I did really appreciate 
them so much so that I am going to be skipping through some of 
what I had to say because he said it all for me.
    Chair Nadler, thank you, so much as well, my classmate. You 
have risen to elevated heights, and I enjoy being here with you 
today.
    So, recently, I have been reflecting on this whole notion 
of what Benjamin Franklin reported to have said when he was 
asked what he and the Founding Fathers had wrought. He is 
reported to have replied ``a Republic, if you can keep it.''
    Later, Franklin, joining with John Adams, and Thomas 
Jefferson to propose that the Latin phrase E pluribus unum, out 
of many, one, be placed on our currency as the nation's motto.
    Our nation continues to struggle with the issues of race 
and equity. The threads of our fragile democracy are frayed. As 
the people's representatives, it is incumbent upon us to make 
every effort to heed Franklin's words of concern and his and 
Adams' and Jefferson's expression of unity. It is our 
responsibility to demonstrate not only with our words, but by 
our actions that we can and will keep this republic intact and 
its people unified.
    That is why I introduced H.R. 301 to designate the iconic 
hymn, ``Lift Every Voice and Sing,'' the national hymn for the 
United States of America. Designating ``Lift Every Voice and 
Sing'' as our national hymn will be one such substantive step 
forward.
    ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' was written by James Weldon 
Johnson as a poem and set to music by his brother, John 
Rosamond Johnson. The hymn was first performed as you heard on 
February 12, 1900, by a choir of 500 school children from the 
segregated Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida. In 1905, 
Booker T. Washington recognized the hymn, and it became popular 
throughout the Black community across the United States.
    In 1919, the NAACP designated ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' 
as its official song and it was dubbed the Black national 
anthem. I and scores of people with whom I have interacted have 
never been comfortable with that designation. We believe that 
out of many backgrounds and experiences there should be but one 
national anthem. We believe ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' is a 
hymn that is so cherished by so many people of all faiths, 
creeds, backgrounds, and experiences that designated it as our 
national hymn would be very fitting and proper.
    Its wide appeal is no accident. It is currently produced 
and distributed by approximately 40 religious publishing houses 
throughout the United States. It is sung by all faiths and 
persuasions. Recent renditions have proven just how wide its 
appeal is from Alicia Keys' performance at the Super Bowl to 
Beyonce's rendition in 2018 Coachella.
    The lyrics of ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' are applicable 
to the experience of nearly every ethnic background in America. 
We also acknowledge the challenges of our future.
    Just consider the words, ``sing a song full of the faith 
that the dark past has taught us, sing a song full of the hope 
that the present has brought us, facing the rising sun of our 
new day begun, let us march on till victory is won.''
    I thank the Committee for holding this hearing and look 
forward to hearing from today's Witnesses. I am hopeful that 
this hearing and this legislation will help us more fully 
realize our nation's motto as we continue our pursuit of a more 
perfect union. I thank you for having me.
    [The statement of Mr. Clyburn follows:]
    
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
       
    
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Clyburn, as always, well 
delivered.
    Now, the second panel, if the Witnesses will come forward 
and we will recognize as our first, Leon Russell. Mr. Russell 
is the Chair of the National Board of Directors of the NAACP, a 
position he has held since 2017 after having served in various 
other roles on the Board. He previously served as President of 
NAACP Florida State Conference of Branches, and was for 35 
years the Director of the Office of Human Rights in Pinellas 
County, Florida. Mr. Russell, you are recognized for five 
minutes.

                 STATEMENTS OF LEON W. RUSSELL

    Mr. Russell. Thank you. Good morning, Chair Cohen, Ranking 
Member Johnson, and Members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee 
on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
    Founded on February 12, 1909, the 100th birthday of Abraham 
Lincoln, the National Association for the Advancement of 
Colored People, the NAACP, is our nation's oldest, largest, and 
most widely recognized grassroots civil rights organization. 
Our membership consists of hundreds of thousands of card-
carrying individuals representing diverse racial, ethnic, 
social, and economic backgrounds, participating in more than 
52,200 units throughout the nation. We have active units on 
college and university campuses and even units behind prison 
walls. Units are supported by millions of digital followers and 
military members serving in units throughout the world.
    I am Leon Russell, Chair of the 64-member National Board of 
Directors of the NAACP, the governing body of our national 
organization. In this capacity, I am responsible for overseeing 
the development of the Association's policies and strategy 
implementation and monitoring.
    I was delighted to receive your invitation to testify with 
respect to H.R. 301, ``Lift Every Voice and Sing.'' So, allow 
me to first thank my longtime friend who keeps changing the 
number of years we have known each other, James Clyburn, for 
introducing the bill and let me at the outset indicate that the 
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
fully support adoption of ``Lift Every Voice'' as a national 
hymn.
    I will address the history and significance of the song and 
why we at the NAACP believe it should be designated as the 
national hymn. Let me recognize that we do not call for this 
great hymn to supplant or replace the national anthem. The 
composers never intended for that to happen. It is clear that 
they wrote a song that spoke reverently to the lived experience 
of a people who were here from the beginning of this great 
experiment in democracy and that they intended through the 
words and its triumphal music to ensure that our nation be ever 
mindful of that people's role in the development of our 
democracy. The fact that this song has been sung continuously 
for more than 122 years since it was first performed in venues 
large and small, by children in school, by civil rights 
activists in mass meetings in the midst of the civil rights 
struggle, by college choirs, by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple 
Square, and even lately by crowds at National Football League 
stadiums is a testament the spiritual impact and meaning for 
millions of Americans.
    The song was written by James Weldon Johnson and set to 
music by his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, from Jacksonville 
Florida. The inspiration for the song was a request that James 
Weldon Johnson provide a poem to be included in a community 
celebration of the birthday of the Great Emancipator, Abraham 
Lincoln, in February of 1900.
    It is important to note that James Weldon Johnson was 
principal of Stanton School in Jacksonville. The school was the 
primary school serving the Black community of Jacksonville when 
Johnson became the principal, however, it added high school 
classes under his leadership. Johnson's life experience was 
reflective of the lived experience of Black folks that is so 
eloquently described in the words of the song. Facing the 
threats posed by racism in his hometown, Johnson and his 
brother would move North to New York City where he would become 
a historically recognized civil rights activist, diplomat, 
author, politician, journalist, poet, educator, lawyer, 
songwriter, and one of the prime movers of the Harlem 
Renaissance.
    He was indeed the embodiment of many early African American 
trail blazers. Most people recognize Johnson as the author of 
``Lift Every Voice and Sing,'' however, few are aware of his 
hard work and dedication to the cause of civil rights and 
social justice advocacy exemplified by his fight against racism 
and his fight for equality during the ten years that he served 
as the Executive Secretary of the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People.
    I need to note here that James Weldon Johnson succeeded 
John Shillady, a White man, who had served in the position 
until he was beaten nearly to death by a White mob in Texas 
where he had gone to investigate a lynching in 1919. Johnson 
had been hired as Field Secretary by the Association in 1916. 
When Shillady resigned, Johnson became the first Negro to hold 
the senior staff position at the Association in 1920. For 
context, I remind you that the Association was founded in 1909. 
Johnson's personal story is emblematic of much of the spiritual 
meaning that I recognize in the song. I commend it to you for 
further study.
    Asked to speak at the 1900 Abraham Lincoln birthday 
celebration, Johnson wrote a poem for the occasion. While 
reflecting on what he had written, he decided to change the 
poem to a song, so he asked his brother, music professor John 
Rosamond Johnson, to write the music. There is much speculation 
about what the Johnsons intended ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' 
to be. What is clear is that a song written as part of that 
celebration has become synonymous with, if not the very theme 
for, the modern civil rights movement.
    Although ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' was written to be 
sung as part of a program in tribute to Lincoln, Lincoln's name 
never appears in the song. What is clear, is that the 
invitation to participate in the Lincoln Day Celebration 
inspired the creation of the song. Also, clear is the fact that 
the children who sang the song were so inspired that they 
carried it with them the rest of their lives. The celebration 
included the students from across the city, 500 voices.
    After that, the song has been sung in public meetings in 
Florida and across the country. It would not be forgotten, but 
I cannot find any indication that it was promoted.
    The song became the National NAACP Hymn, and let's be 
clear, during Johnson's tenure as Executive Secretary. He 
served from 1920-1930. The Board adopted the Song in 1923 as 
the NAACP's hymn. Let me also say--
    Mr. Cohen. Mr. Russell, let me ask you to conclude your 
remarks. We have gone fairly long.
    Mr. Russell. Okay. Just let me make it clear that the NAACP 
fully endorses ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' as a national hymn 
because we feel it brings this country together. It speaks to 
oppression of any people. Let me add that we strongly urge you 
to adopt this song.
    Mr. Cohen, I would say that Maxine Smith would have loved 
your rendition, even though--
    [The statement of Mr. Russell follows:]
    
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
        
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you. That means a lot to me. Maxine Smith 
was my friend, and her picture is on my wall outside, along 
with Ben Hooks and Julian Bond and others. She was a wonderful 
woman and a treasure of the NAACP, a national treasure for 
many, many years. Thank you for remembering her today at this 
hearing.
    Our next Witness is Dr. Dwandalyn Reece. Dr. Reece is 
Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, Smithsonian's 
National Museum of African American History and Culture. She 
brings more than 30 years of knowledge and experience to the 
field of museum works and more than 10 years as Curator of 
Music at Performing Arts in the National Museum of African 
American History. In that role, she built a collection of 4,000 
objects and curated the museum's inaugural permanent exhibit, 
Musical Crossroads, for which she received the Secretary's 
Research Price in 2017. She curated the museum's grand opening 
music festival, Freedom Sounds, and served as Executive 
Committee Chair of the pan-institutional group of Smithsonian 
Music and co-curated the Smithsonian Year of Music Initiative 
in 2019. She received her Ph.D. from NYU, Master's at the 
University of Michigan, and an undergraduate degree from 
Scripps College.
    Dr. Reece, you are recognized for five minutes.

                STATEMENT OF DWANDALYN R. REECE

    Dr. Reece. Thank you. Chair Nadler, Ranking Member Jordan, 
Chair Cohen, Ranking Member Johnson, and Members of the 
Committee, I want to thank you today for giving me the 
opportunity to testify on H.R. 301.
    As was introduced, my name is Dwandalyn R. Reece and I have 
the pleasure of serving as the Smithsonian's National Museum of 
African American History and Culture's Associate Director for 
Curatorial Affairs.
    In ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' the Johnson Brothers 
captured the full story of the African American experience, 
acknowledging the emotional and physical toll of enslavement 
and the strength and faith it took to survive it and persevere. 
The poignant lyrics and majestic accompaniment galvanized the 
Black community and quickly began to make its way through 
communities across the country. By 1919, the NAACP had 
designated ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' as its official song. 
It wasn't long before you could find copies of the hymn 
inserted or pasted into the hymnals of Black churches across 
the country.
    ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' is the perfect fusion of 
poetry and music. The lyrics trace the experience of Black 
people through slavery and freedom using visual metaphors that 
capture the emotion and significance of each line. J. Rosamond 
Johnson's arrangement amplifies these lyrics. The shift from 
major to minor keys in each verse mirrors the highs and lows of 
that experience that are embodied merely through the Act of 
singing. The plodding speech-like setting of the first three 
words in each refrain provide the direct connection to the 
emotional gravity of the text.
    Johnson was steadfast in describing ``Lift Every Voice and 
Sing'' as a hymn. Hymns are used in a variety of religious 
traditions and are written to foster a shared experience as 
voices come together in song. The text can focus solely on 
religious themes or focus on universal themes that speak to the 
moral, spiritual, and emotional concerns that are part of the 
human condition. ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' is a combination 
of both. The language is largely universal, but there are also 
words and phrases that invoke the presence of God and a higher 
power.
    Johnson took great pride in the way his hymn served the 
Black community. He was also inspired in a way people across 
the world identified with his core message and embraced it as 
their own. Since its publication, ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' 
has been sung at community meetings, public events, 
conventions, conferences, schools, official gatherings, and 
ceremonial occasions. The hymn has served this nation much in 
the same way Julia Ward Howe's ``Battle Hymn of the Republic'' 
did in the Civil War.
    ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' has been in the hymnals of 
Black denominations for more than a century. However, it wasn't 
until the 1980s when the song started to show up in the hymnals 
of larger, main-line denominations. The Episcopal Church was 
one of the first to respond when it included the hymn in the 
publication of its standard 1982 hymnal. Today, the count is 44 
hymnals where ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' appear.
    James Weldon Johnson's poem honored Lincoln's legacy by 
reflecting on the symbolic meaning of his presidency and what 
it meant for African Americans and the nation overall. ``Lift 
Every Voice and Sing's'' legacy is a source of pride and 
inspiration and a meditation on the transformative power that 
resilience, hope, and a collective sense of purpose have in the 
pursuant of liberty for all.
    Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to testify 
before you today about the historical importance of ``Lift 
Every Voice and Sing''. I am happy to answer questions you 
might have.
    [The statement of Ms. Reece follows:]
    
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    Mr. Cohen. Thank you very much, Dr. Reece. Since this is 
Black History Month, I should clarify Ms. Smith was not the 
National Treasurer. That was Jesse Turner who was part of her 
team with Russell Sugarmon. She was the Executive Director of 
the local NAACP in Memphis for like 40 years.
    Our next Witness is Dr. Naomi Andre. Dr. Andre is Professor 
of Women Studies, Department of African American and African 
Studies in the Residential College of Arts, Ideas, and 
Humanities Program at the University of Michigan. Her research 
focuses on opera and issues surrounding race, voice and race 
and gender. Her publications include topics on Italian opera, 
Schoenberg, women composers, and teaching opera in prisons. She 
recently published Black Opera: History, Power, and Engagement. 
In 2019, she was named the Inaugural Scholar in Residence at 
the Seattle Opera. She has a Ph.D. and an M.A. from Harvard and 
a B.A. from Barnard College.
    Professor Andre, you are recognized for five minutes.

             STATEMENT OF DR. NAOMI ANDRE

    Dr. Andre. Thank you, Chair Cohen, Chair Nadler, Ranking 
Member Johnson, and Members of the Subcommittee. I am happy and 
very honored to have my voice included in this hearing 
supporting ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' to become a national 
hymn. My entrance in this discussion gets to the core of what I 
want to emphasize: The sense of belonging. While belonging 
might be a birthright of citizenship, it is not always 
experienced in the happenings of daily life. Belonging is not 
proven by statistics or enforced through surveys and in person 
and online workshops. Belonging should not be an aspiration; 
instead, it is a feeling we have when we are seen as being 
fully human.
    As a musicologist, I want to spend a moment unpacking the 
musical term, hymn. Going back to the ancient Greeks, with 
discussions by Pindar, Bacchylides, and in Homeric poems, the 
Grove Music Dictionary, and this is the gold standard for 
scholar music reference, the Grove Music Dictionary describes 
the hymn and its ability ``to weave or to combine words 
artfully.'' The Oxford English Dictionary traces its history 
from Latin, Greek, and Hebrew words with hymn being ``a 
metrical composition adapted to be sung in a religious service; 
sometimes distinguished from psalm or anthem, as not being part 
of the text of the Bible.'' In the second listing from OED, 
there is a broadening away from the religious connotations with 
the hymn being ``an ode or song of praise in honor of a deity, 
a country,'' et cetera.
    I like this term ``hymn'' because it has a long-continued 
history up through the present. In addition to the Jewish, 
Greek, and Roman uses, there are also medieval Christian and 
Byzantine versions of the hymn as a poetic object. The hymn was 
a genre that was later adapted by Protestant faiths to support 
congregational singing and worship. This is important for the 
unity it can create for belonging in a community. In the mid-
twentieth century, the hymn has a special use in the civil 
rights movement and linked the themes of devotion, praise, 
liberty, and protest all together. Hence, since antiquity and 
up to the present, as a genre, the hymn has spiritual, 
religious, political, and social capacities that center it in 
articulations of culture and community.
    ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' was written by a Black 
compositional team, James Weldon Johnson and his brother, John 
Rosamond Johnson. There is nothing in the three stanzas of the 
text that exclusively refers to African Americans. The Black 
experience is embodied while also referencing the triumph, 
struggles, and strength that all humans encounter. The text 
refers to the hard work, aspiration, motivation, and moving 
towards victory.
    National songs that have connections to a country's 
heterogeneous population present the opportunity to elevate 
voices from its larger community. When South Africa dismantled 
apartheid and created a new national anthem, the Committee was 
chaired by its most prominent Black South African composer, 
Mzilikazi Khumalo. The National Anthem of South Africa, adopted 
in 1997, brings together the five most widely spoken of South 
Africa's eleven official languages: IsiXhosa, isiZulu, Sesotho, 
Afrikaans, and English. Sections of the anthem contain previous 
national anthems from South Africa's White and Black 
populations. The intended result was for the national music, 
their national anthem, to voice the sound through language and 
music of its diverse communities.
    A nation has the potential to create its own sonic 
landscapes. Such power comes from the connectedness its people 
feel; how are their experiences embraced in emblems of national 
representation? Sounds can generate belonging. As a national 
hymn, ``Live Every Voice and Sing'' will engage familiar 
audiences while embracing new communities.
    Thank you for allowing me to testify on today's important 
topic. I will be happy to answer any questions at the 
appropriate time.
    [The statement of Ms. Naomi Andre follows:]
    
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    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Professor Andre. We have had the bell 
go off, but we will hear from our Witnesses for a few more 
minutes and then we will see what we can do.
    Our next Witness is Mr. Clarence Henderson, President of 
the Frederick Douglass Foundation of the State of North 
Carolina, a participant of the sit-ins at Woolworth's lunch 
counters in Greensboro, North Carolina during the 1960s, served 
on the Advisory Board of Black Voices for Trump. You are now 
recognized for five minutes, Mr. Henderson.

                STATEMENT OF CLARENCE HENDERSON

    Mr. Henderson. Good morning to all the Members of the 
Subcommittee. ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' will forever have a 
powerful place in American history and will be a continual 
reminder that equality and justice must be defended.
    It was written in the time of Jim Crow which was a dark 
time in our history of which I lived in and had the opportunity 
to put Jim Crow on trial when I participated in the 1960 
Woolworth Sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina.
    The song was first performed in public to celebrate the 
birthday of President Abraham Lincoln which reminds me of the 
resiliency that we exhibited when we came up out of slavery and 
continued until we eventually broke the back of Jim Crow.
    One of my concerns is that this great inspirational song is 
not used out of context as a racial divide to take us back to 
times that were and no longer are, that those who may vote 
against this measure are not viewed as racist for having a 
difference of opinion.
    History shows us the unifying progress that America has 
made since then. One of the examples of progress are the 
elections of Black Americans in some of the highest political 
positions in the land such as electing President Obama as the 
first Black President, appointing Justice Thomas to the Supreme 
Court, the election of North Carolina's first Black Lieutenant 
Governor, Mark Robinson, and Virginia's first Black female 
Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears, just to name a few. This did 
not happen within a vacuum with just the Black vote. The voting 
in of these officials is an example of forming a more perfect 
union.
    As a matter of fact, the Preamble of the Constitution is an 
introduction to the reason for forming a new nation and it 
begins with ``We the People.'' Before that, we had the 
Declaration of Independence in which the second sentence shows 
what American exceptionalism looks like, ``We hold these truths 
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they 
are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, 
that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of 
happiness.'' It ends with the reason for forming our 
government, ``that to secure these rights, governments are 
instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the 
consent of the governed.''
    For those of you have been elected, let us lean toward 
practical and essential approaches for addressing issues that 
are facing the country as a whole.
    According to the Pew Research Center as of April 15, 2021, 
America's top ten views facing the nation indicated as a very 
big problem are:

     (1)  The affordability of healthcare with 56 percent;
     (2)  the Federal budget deficit of 49 percent;
     (3)  violent crime, 48 percent;
     (4)  illegal immigration, same at 48 percent;
     (5)  gun violence at 48 percent;
     (6)  the corona virus outbreak, 47 percent;
     (7)  racism, 45 percent;
     (8)  economic inequality, 43 percent;
     (9)  unemployment, 41 percent; and
    (10)  climate change, 39 percent.

    As we see, 45 percent of Americans view racism as the very 
important issue that needs to be addressed. However, as I 
stated earlier, my concern is that we do not use ``Lift Every 
Voice and Sing'' as a symbolic gesture to further divide.
    It is my hope that we understand the progress of the 
American experience is never complete but continues to grow 
with concentrated efforts to become a unified country.
    Thank you.
    [The statement of Mr. Henderson follows:]
    
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    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Henderson, and thank you for your 
bravery for participating in the Woolworth sit-in that set the 
movement in strong action.
    I think we should take our break. There are six minutes 
remaining in the vote. Lots of people have voted and I would 
ask all Members of the Committee to vote immediately and return 
immediately. I am going to move and by the time I get back I 
hope everybody will be back with me.
    So, at this point we are going to recess for approximately 
eight minutes and return for Dr. Redmond. Thank you.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. Mr. Chair, real quick.
    Mr. Cohen. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. I got a note saying we had a 
four-vote series. Are you seeing something different? Yes. So, 
we may be stuck there for a while. We want to come back at 
four.
    Mr. Cohen. Well, I guess not. I didn't realize we had four 
votes. You did a better job than I. Let's go ahead and see if 
we can't conclude the three and maybe we can get there. And let 
me--
    Mr. Clyburn. Mr. Chair?
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. I think--
    Mr. Clyburn. Mr. Chair, I think it goes to the other two 
because we are going to have a lot of proxy voting. The other 
two Witnesses will have time to finish.
    Mr. Cohen. All right, well, let's go ahead with Professor 
Redmond. If you can exclude any matter of historical that 
others have already mentioned.
    Professor Redmond received her Ph.D. from Yale, an M.A. 
from Macalester College. She is a Professor of English and 
Comparative Literature at Columbia, author, teacher, has won 
the American Book Award from Before Columbus Foundation, 
writing about Paul Robeson. It was the best book in 2020. Co-
editor of the University of California Press series Phono: 
Black Music and the Global Imagination.
    Dr. Redmond, you are recognized for five minutes.

                 STATEMENT OF SHANA L. REDMOND

    Dr. Redmond. Thank you very much. Thank you to the 
leadership, Membership, and the staff who invited me here today 
and made this conversation possible.
    Hello, and thank you to my colleagues who are also 
Witnesses in this event today.
    It is not an exaggeration to say that the influence and 
impact of ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' is immeasurable. My 
comments today will only scratch the surface of its importance 
but will, I hope nonetheless, assist in deliberations.
    As we know, it was written at the turn of the century by 
the Brothers Johnson and was carried from its original 
Jacksonville community out into the rest of the U.S. segregated 
South via Black school teachers, faith workers, and families 
for decades before it was adopted as the hymn of the NAACP.
    It was and remains a standard performance within that 
organization, one that comes with its own official and 
unofficial rules, including standing during its performance.
    The song served as an introduction to the NAACP for many 
who knew the song but had little or no knowledge of the 
organization in the 1920s and 1930s when it began major 
organizing campaigns in the South.
    The song was a greeting, a familiar piece of Southern Black 
history and a welcome into the future of that interracial 
organization.
    The Johnsons received requests to reprint and perform 
``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' from all over the country and the 
world in the early decades of the 20th century--religious 
organizations and camps, hymnal projects, missions in Africa, 
intercultural propaganda in Japan.
    People wanted this song. They cared for it, and they wrote 
to its authors to inquire about how exactly it should be sung--
crescendo here, diminuendo here--to honor all that it signaled.
    ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' called to historical and 
present experiences of racism and other forms of dispossession, 
while also highlighting the greatest principles of democratic 
possibility, which the elder Johnson believed in 
wholeheartedly.
    As a party of Lincoln, Republican and appointed consul 
abroad, James Weldon understood that the Black experience of 
violence in the U.S. was vile but not insurmountable, distinct 
but unexcep-tional globally.
    His investment in the promises of democracy meant that 
``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' was not an end but a beginning, 
an opening into the community from which our best futures are 
made.
    When people gather to sing, things begin to change, from 
the pressure in the air to the ways in which people live. As I 
wrote in my first book, ``Anthem,'' music is a method that 
allows us to do and imagine things that may otherwise be 
unimaginable or seem impossible.
    ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' is a perfect example of this 
process. It is a song with vision that was readily accessible 
to and adopted by a wide variety of communities.
    Unlike the ``Star-Spangled Banner,'' ``Lift Every Voice and 
Sing'' is not coerced. It was and is chosen for performance by 
people invested in and inspired by its message.
    Although institutionalized by the NAACP, the song retained 
its value to people beyond the organization, who took it up in 
protest and in praise, then as well as now.
    Historically Black colleges and universities who are facing 
increasing assault, jazz musicians in protest against police 
violence in New York City, a joint recital in 2021 by gospel 
choirs at Arizona State University and York University in 
Ontario, Canada, as well as the song's appearance on stages for 
the NFL and popular music festival Coachella documents that the 
song is not a relic, but a resource that is tapped regularly 
because it means something that is reinvented with every 
performance.
    ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' is significant not because of 
its exceptional author or even its dynamic history with the 
NAACP but because it is useful to people. Regularly adopted for 
the concert stage as well as enactments of dissent, it is an 
actively sought-after song with recognizable ambitions and 
consequences.
    The investment in the song is so high that while Johnson 
consistently described the song as a hymn, it has been known 
for generations as the Black national anthem. This designation 
is a testament to its power and vision, and a strong suggestion 
that its time of usefulness is far from over.
    Thank you.
    [The statement of Ms. Redmond follows:]
    
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    Ms. Garcia. Mr. Chair, we can't hear you, sir.
    Mr. Cohen. Yeah, thank you. Our next Witness is Lloyd 
Washington. Mr. Washington is President of the Durkeeville 
Historical Society Museum in Jacksonville, Florida.
    He's held that position since 2011, active member of the 
historical society there, and he's championing the creation of 
``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' on the birth site of James Weldon 
Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson, the brothers who wrote 
``Lift Every Voice and Sing.''
    Mr. Washington, you're recognized for five minutes, sir.

                 STATEMENT OF LLOYD WASHINGTON

    Mr. Washington. Good morning to the Chair and Members of 
the Committee.
    The song ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' has been performed 
by many popular singers such as Marian Anderson, the most 
celebrated singer of her era. It is still being performed today 
by singers such as Beyonce and Alicia Keys.
    Here in Jacksonville, Reverend James Henry and the 
Summerville Baptist Church sing it every second Sunday. During 
the month of February, the song will be performed by the 
children's choir, and the Lavilla School of the Art performed 
the song during its European tour.
    It continues to be performed in schools, faith communities, 
and civic gatherings in Jacksonville. The hymn has brought 
hope, solidarity in Jacksonville as the importance of this song 
cross different races, creed, and cultures, whether at a 
citywide celebration of Dr. King or a prayer vigil in the town 
square.
    The very Act of singing ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' 
embodies the hope, justice, and freedom that is the core of our 
democratic system. I support making this hymn our national 
anthem--I'm sorry, national hymn. Let me correct that.
    [The statement of Mr. Washington follows:]
    
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    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Washington. I appreciate your 
testimony and I appreciate your clarifying national hymn.
    Our last Witness before we break is Ms. Melanie Edwards. 
Ms. Edwards has worked for the Office of Government--works in 
the Office of Government and Community Affairs at Columbia, 
granddaughter of the distinguished Johnson--J. Rosamond 
Johnson, and grandniece of James Weldon Johnson, and is their 
last known surviving family member.
    She's currently working to have an autobiography written by 
her grandfather published. In addition, she's worked in 
education for 40 years for the Modern School, Fordham, 
Schomburg Library, and the East Harlem Council for Community 
Improvement.
    Ms. Edwards, you are recognized for five minutes.

                  STATEMENT OF MELANIE EDWARDS

    Ms. Edwards. Thank you.
    Good morning, Committee Members. My name is Melanie 
Edwards. The song that you are considering today for national 
hymn status was composed by my grandfather, J. Rosamond 
Johnson. Not John, not John Johnson, not John Rosamond. Simply, 
J. Rosamond Johnson. Thank you.
    The lyrics were written by his brother, James Weldon 
Johnson. When people have asked before this occasion, how do I 
feel about the song, I've answered honestly, much to their 
disappointment and dismay.
    This melody is one of many, some 200, according to ASCAP--
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers--that my 
grandfather created while the lyrics began ``Life is a Poem'' 
was just one of many others that my granduncle wrote.
    This song is a small part of both men's artistic output, so 
I have no sense of it being an unusually remarkable 
achievement. I am, however, always humbled and impressed by the 
staying power it has had. Few things over 100 years old are 
referenced for their relevance or timeliness.
    This quality is what I hope you, making your decision 
today, keep in mind. ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' still speaks 
to many people in this time and this place, while it speaks 
also to people of many races, faiths, and conditions around the 
world.
    Like the Black man who created it, ``Lift Every Voice and 
Sing'' comments eloquently and accurately about history, hope, 
vision, and perseverance.
    In 1913, my grandfather was working in London when he met 
my grandmother, Nora, and they conceived my mother, Mildred. 
Although Rosamond experienced the wrenching social changes of 
the post-Reconstruction and burgeoning Jim Crow era, he chose 
to return to his home, his country, so that his daughter would 
be born in America in Jacksonville.
    His brother also had opportunities to see other countries, 
but he, too, chose to stand by his native land, even when it 
didn't always stand by him.
    So, I ask for your support of bill H.R. 301, not for me--I 
get no benefit personally or financially. The song is in public 
domain. I do appeal, however, to your sense of history and 
legacy.
    I have pride in the legacy that is ``Lift Every Voice and 
Sing.'' By your designating it the national hymn, which is what 
James Weldon himself called it, you add another piece to 
America's already great cultural legacy and heft.
    Greatness is not just defined by strength or use of force. 
Great nations, like great people, are additionally magnanimous, 
self-aware, and self-correcting.
    By approving this bill, your legacy will be acknowledging 
the dark and gloomy past of American history yet, assuring 
others that grace and continued effort are rewarded by change--
social, economic, and spiritual.
    This song penned by my forbearers to America, for America, 
I invite you to claim it as your legacy and your gift from 
America to the world.
    Thank you for your time.
    [The statement of Ms. Edwards follows:]
    
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    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Ms. Edwards. I appreciate your 
testimony and everybody else's testimony.
    I think--Mr. Clyburn, if you could help me with this--I'm 
guessing 20 minutes for the second vote, 20 minutes between the 
second and 20 between the second and third, 20 between the 
third and fourth.
    People can get their votes done before--First, I guess we 
should adjourn for safety. Thirty minutes should get us back. 
Everybody gets up there and votes immediately on the last one. 
We could probably get back in 30 minutes.
    So, with that, we're going to take a recess unless Mr. 
Clyburn thinks we should make it a little longer. You okay with 
30 minutes?
    Mr. Clyburn. Yes. There'll still be votes left if we did 
that. I don't know how many questions you might ask. I think 
you've got time for about 12 minutes of questions if you'd like 
to take it now, and I'll make sure you get to vote.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you. We'll go ahead with questions.
    Mr. Clyburn. I would like--
    Mr. Cohen. I think it's--
    Mr. Clyburn. Yeah.
    Mr. Cohen. It might be tight, but we'll go ahead and start.
    Mr. Clyburn. Yeah, because I don't want to keep the 
Witnesses here too long.
    Mr. Cohen. All right. Normally, I'd recognize myself, but 
I'm going to yield to other Members because of the time, and 
I'll recognize Mr. Nadler first.
    Chair Nadler. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Dr. Andre, can you discuss how the feelings of community 
and connectivity that this song engenders applies for all 
people that listen to it, not just African Americans?
    Dr. Andre. Absolutely. Thank you very much for your 
question.
    I think that the issue of community is born in a history of 
where the hymn--what it means, and it seems to just match so 
nicely on here, and it's wonderful to have it clarified that 
this was called a hymn from the beginning, although--and to get 
this history correct, because so many times people want to call 
it an anthem.
    Yet, I really appreciate what this bill--excuse me, what 
this House resolution is doing to say that it's a hymn. I think 
the hymn has enough sort of a history that makes it do many 
things but, basically, a song of praise that goes back to 
antiquity that includes areas around the world that has a very 
strong part in Christian and Byzantine liturgies.
    So, that sort of roots it in a religious setting. It's 
something that everybody is meant to sing, especially after the 
Protestant Reformation when communal singing became a thing.
    It then also becomes an issue for the civil rights era and 
what we're seeing right now as it keeps being used in political 
situations as well as just for fun.
    In my written statement, I included a link to a video of 
the U.S. Navy in Jacksonville, Florida, with a multiracial 
group of people dressed in uniform performing, ``Lift Every 
Voice and Sing.''
    So, please let me know if I can clarify that more. This 
idea of belonging for lots of people, there's--calling it a 
hymn really just hits it right on the nose and, I feel, gets it 
right.
    Chair Nadler. Thank you. Dr. Reece, can you please describe 
the significance of ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' as it relates 
to the history of this country?
    Dr. Reece. Yes. Thank you for the question.
    I think that the significance rests in, really, how it 
captures the story of this nation, the struggles that we have 
endured as a nation, and the struggles that African Americans 
have endured.
    Part of that history is a way of remembering--for the 
country, a way of remembering where we have been and a 
continual reminder that history is a part of us, but also the 
sense of possibility and be able to move beyond that history--
when the enslaved were free, when they moved into the 20th 
century and pursued elements in pursuit of self-determination, 
equality for all.
    So, it is a message to African Americans but is a message 
to all of us, and I think that's why it's embraced across the 
world. It is poetic, it is musical, and it is something that we 
can all embody and remember.
    Chair Nadler. Thank you.
    Mr. Washington, how does the city of Jacksonville continue 
to honor the legacy of ``Lift Every Voice and Sing?''
    Mr. Washington. What we're currently doing we're actually 
building a park--the ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' Park. It's 
scheduled to be started in the end of this month, and it shows 
that--fortunately for us, we found the exact first site. It's 
going to build on the birth site and the place where the song 
``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' was written. So, we bring 
Jacksonville, we bring everybody to the place, and to get 
Jacksonville involved we had some--a non-traditional hall--what 
am I looking--a non-traditional meeting. We had 350 people 
onsite with a marching band of the Ed Wallace University, a 
150-member choir, and we all sung ``Lift Every Voice and 
Sing.''
    So, does that answer your question?
    Chair Nadler. Yeah, I think it does.
    Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield back.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you.
    Mr. Johnson, you're recognized for as much time as you can 
get through with.
    You need your mic. You need to turn your mute off.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. Sorry. Sorry. I'll be very brief. 
I had a number of questions, but I'll just ask one that I'm 
just curious about.
    I used to be a religious liberty defense litigator, and I'm 
anticipating some resistance that because this is a hymn, which 
is what we all love about it, clearly, includes religious 
language.
    Do any of you anticipate that some activist groups might 
oppose its use and rendition in public schools or venues? They 
will falsely claim, of course, that it's some sort of 
establishment of religion or it's offensive to someone. Is 
that--have you all thought that through?
    Maybe Mr. Clyburn, or maybe I'd direct it to my senior 
colleague.
    Mr. Clyburn. Well, thank you very much. I'll respond to 
that this way. I was born and raised in a parsonage, and my 
church was Fundamentalist Christian Church--Protestant. We were 
right across the street from St. Jude Catholic Church.
    I learned how to box from a Catholic priest. I'll never 
forget Father Hagerty because what he taught me saved me a lot 
of pain growing up.
    So, there's always going to be differences of religious 
opinion when it comes to things like this. So, I did not say 
that you will not get that kind of a reaction from some people.
    I do say, however, that the universality of this song cuts 
across race, gender, religious grounds, and though the song 
will not be imposed on anybody, it's just that when you want to 
recognize the unity that flows from the song that you may put 
it on your programs to be sung.
    What we would love to establish and all the people with 
whom I've had this discussion, including my long-time friend, 
Leon Russell, this is all about having a national hymn as 
opposed to what could very well be divisive as a Black national 
anthem.
    We have one national anthem, and we are saying let's have 
one national hymn as a gesture of bringing us together.
    You don't impose the singing of the national anthem on 
anybody at a school or any church. This is not an imposition.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. That's well said. Anybody can opt 
out. I think you're exactly right.
    Chair Nadler. Mr. Chair, could I just add that the fourth 
verse of the ``Star-Spangled Banner,'' our national anthem, is 
chock full of references to God, to in God we trusts.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. That's exactly right, Mr. Chair.
    Chair Nadler. So, I believe, actually, on those grounds 
it's already done.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. They don't let anybody sing the 
fourth passage. That's right. That's why. Look, I'll just say, 
I could defend it in court if it was ever challenged and I 
would suggest to those who will that you would reference the 
Supreme Court in 1952, Zorach v. Clauson. It said we are a 
religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being, 
and you would suggest that this is something that recognizes 
our deep heritage and tradition in this country, and it's not 
an imposition of religion on anybody.
    So, I offer that for the good of the order. I yield back 
for the interests of time.
    Mr. Clyburn. Thank you.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Johnson, and we'll recognize--
    Mr. Clyburn. Would the gentleman--
    Mr. Cohen. Yes?
    Mr. Clyburn. My best advice is now to one more question, 
then we should go to the floor, and I think we'll have time for 
one more answer.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you.
    Mr. Raskin, you're recognized and then we put on our track 
shoes. Mr. Raskin, are you with us?
    [No response.]
    Mr. Cohen. He's already got his track shoes on, I guess.
    Mr. Clyburn. Yeah. It looks like he's already gone to the 
floor.
    Mr. Cohen. Ms. Ross, you're going to take over for Mr. 
Raskin.
    [No response.]
    Mr. Cohen. Ms. Ross has taken off as well, I think.
    Mr. Clyburn. Yeah. Well, let's just move to the floor.
    Mr. Cohen. All right. Thank you. We're going to--an hour--
we'll be in recess for an hour until 11:13 Eastern Time. Thank 
you, everybody.
    [Whereupon, a recess was taken.]
    Mr. Cohen. I'm going to declare us back in order, back in 
session and recess over. No more milk and cookies.
    Next, I guess, in our hearing--I guess the last Witness was 
going to be Mr. Raskin. Are you back with us yet, Jamie? 
Jamie's not with us. Ms. Ross, are you with us?
    All right, team, this is not good. Hank Johnson, you're not 
there. Ms. Garcia, you're there, aren't you? Sylvia? Well, she 
was. Her chair's there, it's empty.
    Ms. Bush? Ms. Jackson Lee? Well, we'll continue the 
colloquy between me and Mr. Russell on ancient Tennessee 
political history. There's Congressman Johnson making his way 
back.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. Mr. Chair, I think Burgess Owens, 
Mr. Owens would have some questions if that's in order. I don't 
know how you want to go with the timing.
    Mr. Cohen. You're doing a great job, Mr. Johnson. You were 
right about the four votes, and you're right about Mr. Owens. 
The Chair will now recognize Mr. Burgess Owens for five 
minutes.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. Great.
    Mr. Cohen. Mr. Owens? You're recognized for five minutes, 
Mr. Owens. Unmute your--somebody unmute Mr. Owens. Mr. Johnson, 
can you unmute Mr. Owens?
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. I wish. I'm at the airport.
    Mr. Cohen. Oh. Mr. Owens, are you with us? Mr. Johnson, I 
think he's still muted.
    Mr. Owens. One second--okay, how's that?
    Mr. Cohen. That's good.
    Mr. Owens. I apologize.
    Mr. Cohen. You're recognized for five minutes, Mr. Owens. 
Blow, hurricane, blow.
    Mr. Owens. Am I okay now to speak really quick?
    Mr. Cohen. You're on five minutes to question our Witnesses 
or speak--it's your five minutes.
    Mr. Owens. Okay, thank you so much. Thank you so much, 
Congressman Cohen. I won't take but a few minutes. I just want 
to say first, thank you to all the Witnesses for your comments. 
I've enjoyed it.
    I grew up in the Deep South, and I can say to Mr. 
Henderson, you're so correct, this country is all about 
becoming a more perfect union. I'm just excited about the fact 
about--I kind of reflect real quickly. I grew up in Tallahassee 
in the shadow of the Florida A&M campus.
    At 12 years old I was demonstrating in front of the Florida 
State Theater with a group of college people that really 
believed in our nation, they believed in our nonviolent 
demonstration. The effort's really showing up to be a really, 
really good [inaudible] for us.
    With that being said, I remember also in high school, those 
days where this song was actually the marching for graduating 
seniors, the marching song, the hymn for that.
    I just want to say, to fast forward, to go from there to 
where we are today, when we have this remarkable panel of 
success, of diversity, all races, creeds, and colors. We do 
need to have something that's going to bring us together.
    I tell you, and I won't take too long on this, but that 
last stanza of the song says it all to me. ``Lest, our hearts 
drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee shadowed 
beneath thy hand, may we forever stand, true to our God, true 
to our native land, true to our native land.''
    That speaks it all, to not only what's happening today, but 
what happened to that great generation that came before us, 
that believed in our nation, that succeeded. Just think what 
the author of this song, he was--he was faithful, he's writing 
about the family, free market, and about education.
    That was that great generation that gave us this stanza of 
this song that we can come together with and bring our country 
back together. This has to be something--again, it's a hymn. 
It's not to take the place of our national anthem.
    I love that part of it, too, we can agree on it, that this 
represents all Americans. The strength, the fight, the 
overcoming, the coming together is what this hymn really stands 
for.
    So, I want to thank you guys for the opportunity to speak a 
little real quickly. I'm thankful to have seen the growth we've 
had and where we've come from and where we are today.
    So, with that being said, I don't have very many--don't 
have any questions, just want to thank you for presence. 
Congressman Cohen, thank you for leading this, and of course 
Congressman Johnson, thanks for leading this process for sure. 
I yield back.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Owens, appreciate your remarks 
and your brevity. Ms. Ross, you're recognized for five minutes, 
or as much time if you need to take less than five minutes.
    Ms. Ross. Well, thank you very much, Chair Cohen. I don't 
see Whip Clyburn, but thanks to him for his initiative here.
    I am from North Carolina and long participating in 
religious services, NAACP events, and all sorts of events where 
we sing ``Lift Every Voice and Sing.'' I will just say that the 
way that it sets the tone for whatever occasion we're 
participating in, it brings people together.
    It's an honor to be here and learn even more about the 
history of this hymn, and to recognize and say out loud that 
Black Americans have experienced trauma, abuse, and inequity 
because of slavery, segregation, and racism. We have always 
have found a way to rise up. We need to celebrate that, and we 
need to do that across party lines, across race, and across 
areas of the country.
    I want to just ask a few questions of some of our 
distinguished panel Members. Dr. Andre, to you first. I really 
love how you talked about what a hymn is and what it has meant 
in every culture.
    So, why is it important for our country in particular, the 
United States, to have a hymn, and even more than one hymn, 
that are representative of our diversity and our people?
    Dr. Andre. Thank you for your question. I'm glad that the 
background of what a hymn is, it just felt like it would be a 
really relevant conversation here. Because the hymn has all, it 
goes back far and it has religious and nonreligious, and even 
in the Oxford English Dictionary talking about sort of praise 
for one's country, it feels like this is an important way to 
come together.
    When you designate--we have a wide repertory of songs that 
a lot of Americans know and songs that people that vary with 
different times. This one has shown a staying power. To elevate 
it to the space of a national hymn allows us to feel that we 
can come together.
    It's something where you don't need an instrument, you sing 
your song. It helps people have more access to the words to get 
to know the song if it has the standing.
    Just bringing every voice together, and the words seem to 
connect to experiences of being here in the U.S., of having its 
association with African Americans. With being human and having 
good times as well as having a tough history.
    Having a hymn is something that everybody can do. You don't 
need elaborate things. If it's brought to that position, it 
says that we have a lot of songs that are important to many 
people, but here is a song that has a particular importance.
    Our singing it, it's a song that is--the national anthem is 
a terrific work, but it's in the 18th century. Here's a song 
right on the dawn of the 19th, 20th century, and it feels a 
little more connected. We have relatives, with Melanie Edwards, 
who is here, who spoke so beautifully about her connection to 
these really august folks.
    It's nice to be able to have that connection when so many 
African Americans don't know sort of what their background is. 
So, it brings in a beautiful way the non-too-distant past right 
up to the present, and we can sing it together.
    So, I think there's a collectivity you have. You can stand 
in silence, but there's even more when voices come together.
    Ms. Ross. Great. Dr. Reece, how important would it be to 
have ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' be our national hymn to your 
work at the National Museum of African American History and 
Culture? What would that mean?
    Dr. Reece. Well, I can't--it's hard to predict the meaning. 
I would frame a response about what the hymn represents in the 
terms of the power of music. It crossed my mind that music, 
American music, is one of the most visible examples that we 
have of America's pluralistic society.
    ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' encapsulates that. I would 
find few people to argue about the power that music has as 
something that's universal to all human beings to bind people 
together in the spirit of creating music, singing songs, and 
just representing and binding people together and serving as a 
beacon, as guidance and moving forward.
    So, when you think about the historical and cultural 
significance of--just think about that alone, the meaning, I 
believe, speaks for itself.
    Ms. Ross. Thank you very much, and I yield back.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, thank you, Representative Ross. Next, 
I'll recognize Representative Fischbach, are you still with us? 
Representative Fischbach is not with us.
    Is Representative Jackson Lee with us? There she is. 
Representative Jackson Lee from Houston, Texas. As I always 
say, where they not only sing, but they dance.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you. There's a great history in 
Houston, Texas. Obviously, we're in right now studying an 
Emancipation Trail that starts from the announcement of the 
freed slaves by General Granger. So, thank you, Mr. Chair, for 
this hearing. Let me cite you.
    All should know that Chair Cohen has been at the forefront 
of the voting rights trial and tribulation and advocacy, and 
out of his Committee and its fine work came H.R. 40, the 
Commission to Study and Develop--Study Slavery and Develop 
Reparations.
    Now, this couldn't be more appropriate, the leadership, 
under the leadership of James Clyburn, his legislation, for it 
to come under Chair Cohen's Committee. I'm glad to be a member 
of it, as he knows. I just want to thank him very much.
    Let me quickly submit to the record, it may have already 
been, the ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' lyrics, I'd like to 
submit it the record. Ask unanimous consent.
    Mr. Cohen. Without objection.
    [The information follows:]



      

                     MS. JACKSON LEE FOR THE RECORD

=======================================================================

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you. I'd like to read these four 
lines; I think it's four lines. ``Lift every voice and sing, 
till earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of liberty; 
let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies.''
    What a patriotic group of words. ``Ring with the harmonies 
of liberty. Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening 
skies.''
    I only have a short time, and so Witnesses, I'm going to go 
very quickly on this question. All you need to do is say yes or 
no.
    Is this an attempt to replace the Star-Spangled Banner, the 
national anthem? Chair Russell, yes or no?
    Mr. Russell. No.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Professor Reece, Director Reece? Professor 
Reece?
    Dr. Reece. I don't see it in that way, no.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Shana Redmond. Naomi Andre.
    Dr. Andre. No.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Lloyd Washington.
    Mr. Washington. No.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Melanie Edwards.
    Ms. Edwards. No.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Mr. Henderson.
    Mr. Henderson. No.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you. I think that's an important 
affirmation of what and how important this message would be.
    We have a Star-Spangled Banner, we honor it. Now, we have 
the opportunity to ensure that we have a hymn. Hymn by its very 
nature, I'm not a musician but I've had them in my family, is a 
healing and gathering piece.
    So, Chair Russell, my time is short. I am a witness to the 
scenes of the wonderful ``Lift Every Voice'' and the NAACP for 
all the decades I've gone as a life member. Can you just say 
again how powerful the beginning of your conference and what 
you see happening in the people's faces when you sing ``Lift 
Every Voice''?
    Mr. Russell. I think, Congressman Jackson Lee, that 
whenever we perform, wherever we are, it sets the tone for the 
kind of meeting that we are going to hold. As you well know, we 
never have a meeting that we don't begin or end with ``Lift 
Every Voice and Sing.''
    I wanted to bring up just one thought across the board 
here, and that is this song has a majesty. It has a majesty 
that lifts it above many other songs. I've heard it song by the 
Cookman College Choir and so many others. I've heard it sung 
for the first time by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square in 
Salt Lake City.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Russell. Thousands of voices.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you. Let me ask Associate Director 
Reece and Professor Andre, if I could get an answer from all 
the Witnesses. Hymns I view as healing, and I think the 
question that we need to present to America is that fact that 
no matter who you are, you would find a comfort of standing, 
sitting, or hearing this song.
    Because a hymn--we've voting on not the Black hymn, we're 
voting on the national hymn. I think we have to make it very 
clear what--no matter who we are, feel a healing sense or 
unifying sense in this time.
    So, if you all would go to answering that so that I get 
that on the record, what makes it more potent that this would 
be an appropriate national anthem.
    I'll start with Reece, please. Chair's indulgence. I'd 
appreciate it if you all would go quickly in your answers.
    Dr. Reece. Sure, Congresswoman Lee. I believe that is the 
sole purpose of the hymn. ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' 
functions in that way in religious settings and outside 
religious settings.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you, Redmond. I'm sorry I'm calling 
you by your last name if you're there.
    Dr. Redmond. That's fine, thank you. My apologies, I lost 
sound and had to log back on.
    There are already precedents for this song being taken up 
in communities, various communities in the United States, 
various faith traditions from Jewish to various Christian, 
Protestant as well as Catholic denominations.
    Also, being translated internationally, right. Having been 
used in Angola and being translated into Mbundu. Having been 
requested for use in Japan and being published in Japan in 
1936. So, there's already precedents for this song being used 
across cultures, across national boundaries even.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you. Professor Andre, then 
Washington--
    Dr. Andre. ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' is a national hymn 
for all American peoples, absolutely. It's being used this way, 
and it's wonderful to give it this recognition.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Professor--President Washington.
    Mr. Washington. I agree with that. As a song it speaks to 
all people, not just [inaudible].
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Melanie Edwards.
    Ms. Edwards. The song reflects the men who wrote it. They 
were African Americans in America, but they saw themselves as 
citizens of the country, and so the lyrics invite others to 
face reality, but move forward and be hopeful.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. We thank you for your family's legacy, by 
the way. We thank you for being here, and we believe this is a 
tribute for the rainbow of Americans. Isn't wonderful we've 
sung it, and not divisively, but in a unifying manner.
    I want to thank all the Witnesses that are here. Mr. 
Henderson, thank you so very much for your service to this 
nation and your civil rights legacy.
    Thanks to all those who now made an excellent record that 
no matter who you are in America, you could stand and sing this 
song and feel comforted and feel approved and affirmed and not 
divided.
    Mr. Chair, I thank you for allowing the extra for these 
Witnesses to place that on the record, and I yield back. Thank 
you so very much.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Ms. Jackson Lee. Now, I'd like to 
recognize Mr. Jamie Raskin for five minutes.
    Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair, thank you very much. I'm sorry it's 
been such a choppy day with all the voting, and it was 
especially tough for me because I was carrying proxies for, I 
think eight or nine colleagues. So, forgive me for being late, 
everybody.
    I was able to check out some of the earlier testimony, I 
want to thank the Witnesses for their excellent testimony.
    I wonder if anyone would be prepared to address the 
question of where ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' fits into 
American music generally. How it would serve to enrich our 
musical lexicon if we were to formally embrace it and adopt it 
in this way. I don't know, perhaps Ms. Andre or--could you 
address that?
    Dr. Andre. Sure, I'll jump--thank for that, and I'll jump 
in very quickly and others can add their voices.
    In American music history we have hymns, we have protest 
songs, we have songs of praise, and they overlap with different 
categories. The fact that we have this song, which started very 
connected with the Black community, and then within its first 
50 years it became very associated with other different 
American, and as Professor Redmond has shown us, even outside 
of America.
    This is a song that has already risen in music 
historiography as having a particularly important place. Our 
recognition of it as a national hymn I really feel is almost 
giving it a title that it has already fulfilled.
    Mr. Raskin. Very next then, Professor Redmond, can I come 
to you?
    Dr. Redmond. Yes, I would agree with especially that last 
sentiment. I think sonically the song actually fits very, very 
comfortably inside of many of the singing traditions that we 
already have established through our kind of civic duties as 
citizens.
    Is one that has a kind of melodic line that is in some 
respects more accessible than something like the Star-Spangled 
Banner, right. That there are levels of difficulty to all these 
songs, but that ``Lift Every Voice and Sing,'' especially 
because it was written for children, right, is already keeping 
in mind the kinds of capacities of its singers.
    So, it is accessible to people in that, even if the 
language is sometimes a little bit different, right. We're 
inheriting the kinds of linguistic traditions of the late 19th 
century in all these songs.
    So, there is some learning curve, but it fits sonically 
very beautifully inside of what our national songs are already 
accomplishing.
    Mr. Raskin. Yeah, I know a song about the late Chilean 
singer Victor Jara which goes, ``You can kill a singer, but you 
can't kill a song.'' I wonder what this song represents to you, 
Professor Redmond, let me just stick with you for a second.
    I know everybody projects different meanings and different 
interpretations onto all forms of art and all forms of music, 
so it doesn't have one single meaning. You've studied it so 
deeply and understand it in a very rich way.
    What would you say the thematic resonance is of the song 
for you?
    Dr. Redmond. I think that one of the most significant 
through-lines in the song are two-fold. One is a ``we-ness,'' 
that there is something about collectivity that is urgent and 
necessary for our best successes moving forward. That there's 
always a ``we'' in mind.
    That stems both from its four-part composition from J. 
Rosamond Johnson, all the way through the lyrics of the song 
that it is always meant to be sung together.
    Then secondly, I think the messaging of the song really is 
about perseverance and transcendence, right. That there's a 
struggle that is in front of us, but it is worthy of taking up. 
That will be fruitful, it will be successful in the final 
result.
    Mr. Raskin. Well, I love that. The point of the ``we-ness'' 
of it, the universality of it of course comes through in the 
very first line, ``Lift Every Voice and Sing.'' I remember as a 
kid the first time I sang it, and a lot of kids didn't want to 
sing it.
    I remember very clearly the teacher saying this song tells 
you we need every person's voice; we need everybody singing. 
It's not just for the kids who love to sing, it's for everybody 
even if you're a little shy about singing. That's beautiful.
    Of course, the theme of perseverance, which has been so 
much the hallmark of the African American struggle in America 
is something that speaks also universally to everybody. Because 
everybody has been experiencing struggle.
    So, I'm thrilled about this legislation, Mr. Clyburn. I 
thank you so much for bringing this forward. It's beautiful 
legislation that I hope will be unifying across every line in 
America. I thank all these Witnesses for this great testimony.
    I yield back to you, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Representative Raskin. I think 
Representative Johnson had a question or two. Since he's at the 
airport with a plane about to leave, I'm going to recognize him 
ahead of Ms. Fischbach.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. I thank you for that, Mr. Chair, 
your indulgence.
    Just, I'll be brief, but is Mr. Henderson still available? 
I'm on my phone so I can't see all streams.
    Mr. Cohen. Yes, he is.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. Let me just ask Mr. Henderson, 
it's sort of an open-ended question, but we've all--everyone 
has been very articulate this morning about what I would view 
the greatness of America. We are an exceptional nation.
    We all acknowledge, of course, that we're still in this--in 
this sometimes difficult, long process of becoming a more 
perfect union.
    So, I give you an open mic, an open platform to just share 
with us your view, I would love to hear on what are some of the 
most important things that we can and should be doing right now 
in that regard, making it a more perfect union?
    Mr. Henderson. Well, for me, it ties into the words of Dr. 
King that we should continue to live together as brothers lest 
we perish together as fools. We need as much unification as 
possible at this particular point in time in the history of 
America because of all the various things that are happening. 
First, a communication system that is ongoing, continual, 24/7. 
So, as long as we understand this song actually stands for what 
it says, its place in history cannot be taken. We need to use 
it as a message for unifying and not to be divisive.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. That's a good answer. I think 
everyone in the hearing today has acknowledged the importance 
of keeping the national anthem and making it a national hymn 
and not confusing the two. I just wonder if, and maybe this is 
a rhetorical question, but is there some risk that this effort 
will create confusion?
    In other words, that you know, the average constituent 
average, everyday American will see Congress pass something 
like this and they'll confuse it? Because there has been a lot 
of--maybe it's misleading headlines over the last year or so 
about things like this.
    So, is there going to--is there a risk that we stir up 
controversy with everyone's good faith effort here to do 
something noble, that somehow we create more confusion or 
division by this misunderstanding of this as a competing 
national anthem? Does that make sense? What would you say about 
that, Mr. Henderson?
    Mr. Henderson. In all things, we freedom of speech, we have 
risk, and we have reward. We need to be able to explain to 
whomsoever that might be adverse ``Lift Every Voice and Sing,'' 
what it really means.
    That's one of the challenges we have in this country right 
now, is that far too many people in this country do not know 
the history of this country. Therefore, they speak on opinion 
rather than fact.
    So, I'm so grateful that we've had a number of people on 
here giving the history of it so that we understand that it is 
a unifying hymn and not a divisive hymn. Even if you do hear 
someone that thinks it should not be, then to be able to 
explain to them what it really means.
    Mr. Johnson of Louisiana. I think that's well said. Look, 
one thing I'm sure we all agree on is that there's a--we have a 
problem in this country with cultural illiteracy, civic 
illiteracy, right. It transcends every socioeconomic line and 
every State and every place.
    So, maybe something like this can help in that regard to 
help educate all of us, all America again. So, with that 
regard, it could be a noble pursuit. So, I appreciate all the 
Witnesses again for the time.
    Sorry for the confusion. As Mr. Raskin said, it's been a 
crazy day on the Hill. I'm sorry for the background noise at 
the airport, and I yield back.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. I now recognize Ms. 
Garcia. Five minutes.
    Ms. Garcia. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to thank the 
sponsor of this proposal. I think it's very important that we 
move forward.
    Coming from Houston and coming from Texas, I've grown with 
this hymn, and I've grown with Juneteenth celebrations. I've 
grown with a lot of rich cultural history that adds to the 
diversity of our great city. I think this is a fitting way to 
kick-start, if you will, National Black History Month.
    Today's hearing reaffirms the unwavering commitment of this 
Committee and this congress to advance in equity, racial 
justice, and opportunity. Recognizing our African American 
history of struggles and resilience is a step in the right 
direction towards a path of healing, reconciliation, and 
reunion.
    Music does bring people together. I don't know how the 
church that doesn't at some point try to bring their 
congregation together with good music. So, I think that it's 
important that we recognize this hymn.
    So, my questions are for the historians in the group, and I 
wanted to begin with Ms. Reece. Ms. Reece, apparently, and I've 
learned today from reading all this, that a song is not a song, 
and is a song. They are hymns, they are anthems.
    Could you tell us the difference between a hymn and an 
anthem?
    Dr. Reece. Thank you for that question. In fact, the term 
hymn and anthem, they are frequently if not often used 
interchangeably. A hymn is particularly designed in a religious 
setting, in a worship setting. Anthems, people rally around for 
a particular cause.
    I think what's also interesting to note that in society, we 
can adopt anything, any piece of music, and declare that it 
serves a purpose that may not be its original intent.
    So, any piece could become an anthem, maybe not necessarily 
any piece can be a hymn. It is coalescing around the idea of 
what piece of music is supposed to symbolize.
    Ms. Garcia. Thank you for that. Ms. Andre, you've studied 
this area also. Has there ever been any other hymns that have 
been made national hymns, there's ever been a thought before to 
make a hymn a national hymn?
    Dr. Andre. I actually don't know that history in terms of 
the United States or other countries with--recognizing national 
hymns. I would like to support what my colleague Dwandalyn 
Reece has mentioned about hymns and anthems are the meaning we 
give them.
    My history before where we're going back to antiquity and 
up through the liturgy is that hymns particularly have a very 
malleable and flexible meaning. So, they can symbolize devotion 
and God, and country is one. So, I just, I'm sorry, I don't 
know the other national hymns.
    I think you don't really hear about them. Going back to an 
earlier question, would this be confusing for the American 
public. I think we all have our national anthem, and we love 
the national anthem, even if it is a little hard to sing.
    We have the complexity and the sophistication to realize 
that you can have more than one important national music, 
national song. This not being the anthem but being elevated as 
a hymn adds the sense of belonging and so many, I can think of 
any other song besides the national anthem, that people know so 
well.
    So, in terms of making--we're setting a really wonderful 
precedent to have music speak in this way.
    Ms. Garcia. Thank you. I'll then defer to Ms. Reece, do you 
happen to know the answer to my question?
    Dr. Reece. Actually, I have learned, and I can't speak to 
the specifics, but there have been several instances where 
hymns have been put forward in this country as designated 
national hymns. I don't believe they have passed, but within 
the last day or two I was informed of that very fact. I 
wouldn't like--
    Ms. Garcia. Since many of you have already testified, this 
is not meant to supplant or replace. It's a hymn, not an 
anthem. As Mr. Henderson said, we would not let this symbolic 
gesture, device--it's about division.
    Because as Mr. Clyburn has said from the beginning, if you 
hear the song, and I've heard it so many times and sung it on 
many occasions in Houston, at a swearing-in a mayor and 
funerals. I graduated from TSU, a historically Black college, 
from their law school, at the graduation.
    It is part of the culture, it's part--and not just really, 
frankly, that African American culture, but it's part of 
Houston's culture. Because it reflects the diversity of our 
city.
    So, I'm really excited about this, and I wanted to just say 
thank you to Ms. Edwards for being here and sharing your story. 
Because obviously what you have inherited and the legacy that 
you carry is so important to not only your community, but to 
the entire country. So, thank you for being here, and thank you 
to all the Witnesses.
    Mr. Chairman, I see my time has expired, so I'll have to 
yield back.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Ms. Garcia, I appreciate it. Ms. 
Fischbach, are you present and waiting, and I think you're 
still with us, I hope? No, Ms. Fischbach. I guess she must have 
needed to go catch an airplane or something.
    Well, with that I want to thank all of Witnesses for their 
testimony and their time. It was educational. Thank Mr. 
Clyburn, he's back. He was subbing for Mr. Hoyer and doing 
the--
    Mr. Clyburn. Colloquy.
    Mr. Cohen. With Mr. Scalise. In your absence, Ms. Ross 
questioned and testified how she appreciated your bringing this 
bill for us, and so did Ms. Garcia and Mr. Raskin. We 
appreciate it, it's being a very enlightening and inspiring 
committee. I'm proud to chair it. Thank you for bringing it.
    With that, this will conclude today's hearing, unless Mr. 
Clyburn has anything to close with.
    Mr. Clyburn. I just want to thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank 
all our Witnesses here today for the very enlightened 
discussion here. I assure all you, as I said in my opening 
remarks. I get a bit uncomfortable. I grew up in a little town 
in South Carolina. Mary McLeod Bethune was from Mayesville.
    I remember on one occasion her expressing a little bit of 
discomfort with the reference to ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' 
being the ``Negro National Anthem.'' We are one nation under 
God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We should 
have one national anthem for all.
    I think it would elevate the human spirit, it will help 
bring us together, and God knows we need to come together, by 
naming, making ``Lift Every Voice and Sing,'' such an iconic 
song, our national hymn. That will bring us together in a very 
significant way.
    I am hopeful that the Committee, Subcommittee and Full 
Committee, will see their way clear to report this out. I think 
the votes are in the House to pass it.
    Ms. Edwards. Could I leave you this?
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Clyburn. Yes, ma'am, Ms. Edwards?
    Ms. Edwards. Could I leave this comment quickly? I think 
you have a wonderful opportunity to remind people that the 
composers saw it as a hymn, not as an anthem.
    Mr. Clyburn. Absolutely.
    Ms. Edwards. To beat that little drum in public, that we 
never separate ourselves from the country.
    Mr. Clyburn. Absolutely. Thank you so much--absolutely.
    Ms. Edwards. Use that as a teaching point. I'm an old 
teacher. Use that as a teaching point, a learning moment.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Ms. Edwards, and thank you, Mr. Whip, 
and thank you all the Witnesses and the Members of the 
Committee who participated today.
    So, that will conclude our hearing. Without objection--our 
Witnesses, you might have somebody submit questions in writing 
which people could do up to five--I think we have five days to 
submit questions. There may be questions that are sent to you 
for a request that you answer them. Five legislative days just 
for Members to submit written questions.
    With that, the hearing is adjourned.
    [Whereupon the Subcommittee was adjourned at 12:06 p.m.]