African American History Month: "Lift Every Voice and Sing"

In honor of African American History Month, I want to share this YouTube that encapsulates the struggles, triumphs, challenges, and hopes of the African American community. "Lift Every Voice and Sing" is the Negro National Hymn written by James Weldon Johnson and composed by his brother, John Rosamond Johnson. The lyrics celebrate Lincoln's birthday (February 12th) and his role in ending slavery in the United States. This five-minute video also provides a quick timeline of major events and figures in African American history. I hope you enjoy the choral masterpiece.

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,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
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.


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.


God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
Thou Who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou Who hast by Thy might, led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee.
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.

U-M: Over 1,000 Attend the United Coalition for Racial Justice Speak Out! Event

I provide below links of local and national coverage of the United Coalition for Racial Justice's SPEAK OUT! sit-in at the University of Michigan. Over 1,000 faculty, students, staff, alumni, and guests attended the event to hear the keynote speaker (Dr. Barbara Ransby, former U-M graduate student and organizer of the Black Action Movement in 1987), share their minority experiences and protest the lack of racial diversity on campus. You can also access the UCRJ's viewpoint (February 24, 2014) of campus climate here.

• All-night sit-in at the Ugli addresses the campus racial climate (Michigan Daily)
• U-M students hold all-night protest of racial climate (Detroit Free Press)
• U. of Michigan students to protest what they say is low minority enrollment, poor racial climate (WDIV Detroit)
• U-M students hold all-night protest for racial diversity (Fox News Detroit)
• 1,000-plus flock to University of Michigan 'Speak Out' to share minority experience, support activism (Ann Arbor News)
• How A Twitter Hashtag Sparked A Push For Diversity At The University Of Michigan (Huffington Post)
• The University of Michigan wants more black students (Michigan Radio)
• Black students 'feel silenced' as U-M president publicly reaffirms commitment to diversity (Ann Arbor News)
• Colorblind Notion Aside, Colleges Grapple With Racial Tension (The New York Times)
• Share Your Experience with Racism on Campus (The New York Times Blog: The Lede)
• In Diversity Gap at Michigan Flagship, 
Signs of a Lost Public Mission (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Being Black at Michigan (Michigan Today)

Sign the petition: University of Michigan -- Support Your Black Students

Today, a black alumnus from the University of Michigan launched an online petition to support the Being Black at Michigan (#BBUM) campaign and the Black Student Union's list of demands to improve African American enrollment at the University of Michigan. In November, the BBUM campaign received national attention regarding their personal experiences (positive but mostly negative) at the University of Michigan. The low black enrollment (4.1% as of Fall 2013!) has sparked disappointment and fueled protest. Black students expressed feelings of alienation, marginalization, invisibility, and the need to prove that they deserve to be at U-M even though Proposition 2 (2006) banned the use of race and gender in college admissions and state hiring. IF U-M truly wants to sustain its commitment to diversity, then it must take appropriate actions within the law to address the claims of Michigan's black student population. Sign the petition and share it with your friends and allies! #moveblueforward

My name is Lester Spence. I am an Associate Professor of Political Science and Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University. I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1991, and my PhD from the University of Michigan in 2001.

I worked hard for both of those degrees. But contrary to stories of “individual initiative,” I know my degrees didn’t come from my hard work alone. Student protest created the Comprehensive Studies Program that accepted me in 1987. Student protest created the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies where I took many of my classes, where I wrote the undergraduate paper in 1989 that led to my first book 22 years later. Student protest led to the hires of every single letter writer I had for grad school. Black students (and their allies) risked their academic careers. Risked their academic careers so years later people like me could find themselves and their purpose. Risked their careers to force the university to live up to its highest principles and values.

When I saw that black students at Michigan were forced to protest again, forced to issue demands protesters issued almost thirty years ago, I couldn’t stand by silently. We know what they’re risking. We know what they’re fighting for.

Our petition accomplishes two goals: First, the petition tells students they aren’t alone. They have received hate mail and threats. This in addition to the stress they’re already undergoing as students. Second, the university recently named Dr. Mark Schlissel (current Brown University provost) its next President. This petition tells incoming President Schlissel and other university officials that the issue of racial and economic equity are critical concerns they should not ignore.

The University of Michigan, like all prestigious institutions, is sensitive to public pressure. Adding your name will turn up the heat on university leadership and further enable students organizing for a Michigan that truly represents the leaders and best.

Tell the University of Michigan that it’s time they stand up and support student demands for more racial diversity and more economic support for poorer students.

Related Links

• Black Student Union at U-M: Change needs to happen
• U-M to boost racial diversity following social media outpouring
• Online petition urges University of Michigan to act on black students' demands
• Black Student Union, U-M officials meet to talk solutions to students' diversity concerns
• Being Black at Michigan (Michigan Today)