LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING

With an introduction by Jim Haskins explaining how "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing'' (spelling changed only on the title page and jacket here) came to be written and became the "African- American Anthem,'' a handsome setting. Catlett (b. 1915), a black activist, made these powerful linoleum prints commemorating the black experience in 1946 and 1947; though not originally intended to illustrate the song, her images of laboring, tormented, or wearily triumphant figures enrich it with their drama and beauty. Including the art's original captions adds another dimension—the splendid figure "Facing the rising sun...till victory is won'' is Harriet Tubman; the prone, twisted, yet still stalwart man with a noose around his neck ("treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered'') had a caption with poignant multiple meanings: "...and a special fear for my loved ones.'' A moving celebration and interpretation. Music included. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 6+)