The first stanza of this anthem sets the mind of the disinherited in a state of praise for the progress made to date; however, this second verse looks squarely at the atrocities of their oppression. Here, the words are an acknowledgement of the dark side of life in the land of the free. The underlying motif in this verse is a walk (march) on the road which leads to freedom for Black Americans (indeed, all the dispossessed in this land). The path to freedom is literally saturated with blood from the beatings and killings of African Americans who dared to resist the life-sucking systems of racism. Innocents were snatched, raped, maimed, lynched, or shot because of the color of their skin. Education was denied. Segregation was imposed. Economic, social, and political offers to persons of color were not equal to those given in the white community even when the law stated separate but equal. When the statute was overturned, the practices remained in place. To be ignorant of the atrocities is to be incapable of charting a course towards justice and freedom.
The walk forward to liberty never ceases. In his text, There is a River, historian and author, Vincent Harding wrote of the continuous efforts by Blacks to oppose oppression. Too often, hope was dead on arrival. Some of the people lost faith, but more held tightly to the dream of freedom for all. The march toward equal rights continued. Every victory for justice was acknowledged, but the walking did not cease. Equality in all areas of life was the goal. When the people arrived at a landmark victory like the right to vote, they rejoiced but were not complacent. The marching does not cease.
Johnson continues in this stanza to underscore the “we” on this march that keeps walking even through the blood of children, women and men continues to pour forth; their blood is the justification for the walk to freedom. The steady rhythm of the march continues so that justice and liberty will be meted out to all persons.
Now, when the dispossessed look over their shoulders, they see progress made and their dream is nourished by hope that seems almost tangible. But they have been here before in their dark past. They have witnessed dreams seemingly birthing into realities of liberty only to see a still birth. Even in the necessity of viewing the horrific acts against Blacks (and others), Johnson assures those who sing and march that there will be a time of standing in the brilliant gleam of liberty and justice attained.
Reflection
No [person] knows what [s/he] can do until he tries.
Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-education of the Negro
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died,
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
Davey Yarborough and Esther Williams. TEDx Pearl Street, Lift Every Voice and Sing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sghN7ZORkM
Dorothy Watson Tatem, D.Min., ACC
Senior Associate
Next Step, LLC
Cassandra W. Jones, Ed.D.
CEO & President
Recent Comments