500 Voices Echo Through Time: ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ celebrates 126 years in LaVilla Streets

From 500 students in Jacksonville’s LaVilla neighborhood to the Super Bowl stage, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” has carried through.  On Monday, the song returned to where it all began. Dozens gathered at Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing Park to commemorate the 126th anniversary of the song’s first performance. The park, built on the land where James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson’s family home once stood, served as the starting point for a historic walking tour through LaVilla.