"When we lift every voice, we forge a deep and enduring connection to
the past--and carve a tunnel of hope to a brighter future for us all."
-Oprah Winfrey
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"This book, above all else, is a reminder of where we have been and
the debt we owe to those who came before. These Americans have not
passed the torch, but are clasping it with us, urging us to continue the
work alongside them,"-Nikole Hannah-Jones
More than 50 elders share their remarkable experiences of being Black
in America in a collection of powerful photographs and interviews
For so long, too many stories that reveal what it means and feels like
to be Black in America have been overlooked outside Black communities.
After these long years of racial reckonings and nascent awakenings,
Lift Every Voice presents interviews with the oldest generation of
Black Americans about their lives, their experiences, and the wisdom
that can carry all of us to a better future. The 54 fascinating
individuals--civil rights activists, hometown heroes, celebrities, and
many others--include:
- Andre de Shields, an actor, director, and choreographer who
discusses the essential values and lessons his parents taught him
- Clarice Freeman, an educator and community leader in Houston,
Texas who speaks about how to live a long and fulfilling life
- Fred Gray, a civil rights lawyer who represented Rosa Parks and
Claudette Colvin, also featured in the book, against disorderly
conduct charges for their refusal to give up their bus seats to white
passengers
- Patti LaBelle a singer/songwriter who shares her thoughts on aging
and her career as an internationally celebrated powerhouse singer
- Faye Wattleton, a reproductive rights activist and the first
African American and youngest president of Planned Parenthood who
recounts her experience as a nurse and midwife in the 1960s
The insightful interviews were conducted by a brilliant team, many of
whom are rising Black journalists from historically Black colleges and
universities, and the portraits were shot by a talented group of next
generation Black photographers. Lift Every Voice is named after the
James Weldon Johnson poem and hymn Lift Every Voice and Sing, which is
often referred to as the Black national anthem.
Lift Every Voice is both a testament to the strength of the elders'
stories and a triumphant beginning for a new generation of Black
journalists and photographers.
