The African American Read-In

 

Trinity celebrates the contributions of African American authors, poets, and playwrights through the NCTE’s Annual Read-In each February.

African American Read in 2020

Since 2004, Trinity on the Green has celebrated African American History Month by hosting the African American Read-In each February. Participants select books, poems, speeches or other pieces by African American authors, and read the works after the 9:00 a.m. service. The African American Read-In is coordinated at Trinity by Eleanor Q. Tignor. 

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Established and sponsored by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English, the African American Read-In has grown from a school-based educational event to encompass churches and other community organizations as a celebration of the vibrant contributions and critical role that African American literary art and artists play in American culture. 

As has become our tradition on the Sunday of the African American Read-In—thanks to Walden Moore, Trinity’s Director of Music—the mood is set for the Read-In with the singing of James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” at the end of our Sunday services.  

Now well known as the unofficial “Black National Anthem” and commonly found in many American hymnals, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” was written shortly after Johnson, then a recent graduate of Atlanta University, had returned to his hometown of Atlanta to become principal of Stanton School. “There, in February 1900, he wrote ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ for a school commemoration of Lincoln’s birthday. Set to music by his brother, Rosamond, the song resonated throughout black America, achieving within Johnson’s lifetime the unofficial title of the ‘Negro National Anthem'” (Gates and McKay 792). The hymn brings together the themes of liberty for African Americans, faith in God, and allegiance to country: “Shadowed beneath thy hand/May we forever stand,/True to our God,/True to our native land” (lines 30-33).  Listening to the writings of a number of African American authors, attendees to the African American Read-In can hear these themes as they thread their way through the literary output of African American authors and into the canon of American literature.