He Never Failed Me Yet

Robert Ray

Trust and never doubt
Jesus will surely bring you out
He never failed me yet
I will sing of God’s mercy
Every day every hour
He gives me power
I will sing And give thanks to Thee
For all the dangers, toils & snares
That He has brought me out
He is my God And I’ll serve Him
No matter what the test
Trust and never doubt
Jesus will surely bring you out
He never failed me yet
I know God is able
To deliver in time of storm
I know that He’ll keep you
Safe from all earthly harm
One day when my weary soul is at rest
I’m going home to be forever blessed
He never failed me, He never failed me yet

All That I Am

William Grant Still
Lyrics – Verna Arvey

All that I am, all I ever can be
I owe to You, Lord, for You have molded me.
All that I have, all that I call mine
I owe to You, Lord, for all things are Thine.
You are the source of light: Light that’s offered all.
In Your wisdom You give to each his due.
You are the source of love: Love that binds in unity.
In Your love and mercy I find lasting peace.
All that I love, all that’s dear to me, All of my blessings come, my Lord, from Thee. All
that I own, all that belongs to me, All I surrender, my Lord, to Thee.

To Sit and Dream

Rosephanye Powell
Text – Langston Hughes

To sit and dream, to sit and read,
To sit and learn about the world
Outside our world of here and now —
Our problem world —
To dream of vast horizons of the soul
Through dreams made whole,
Unfettered, free — help me!
All you who are dreamers too,
Help me to make our world anew.
I reach out my dreams to you.

Song for Billie Holiday

(from Afro-American Fragments)
William Averitt
Text – Langston Hughes

What can purge my heart Of the song
And the sadness?
What can purge my heart
But the song Of the sadness?
What can purge my heart
Of the sadness Of the song?
Do not speak of sorrow
With dust in her hair,
Or bits of dust in eyes
A chance wind blows there.
The sorrow that I speak of
Is dusted with despair.
Voice of muted trumpet,
Cold brass in warm air.
Bitter television blurred
By sound that shimmers –
Where?

Song

(from Dream Keeper)
William Averitt
Text – Langston Hughes

Make Them Hear You

(from the musical Ragtime)
Steven Flaherty
Lyrics – Lynn Ahrens
Arr. Mark Hayes

Go out and tell our story
Let it echo far and wide
Make them hear you
Make them hear you
How Justice was our battle
And how Justice was denied
Make them hear you
Make them hear you
And say to those who blame us
For the way we chose to fight,
That sometimes there are battles
That are more than black or white
And I could not put down my sword
When Justice was my right
Make them hear you
Go out and tell our story to your daughters and your sons
Make them hear you
Make them hear you
And tell them, “In our struggle,
We were not the only ones”
Make them hear you
Make them hear you
Your sword could be a sermon
Or the power of the pen
Teach every child to raise his voice
And then my brothers, then
Will justice be demanded by ten million righteous men
Make them hear you-
When they hear you, I’ll be near you again

Harriett Tubman

Walter Robinson
Arr. Kathleen McGuire

Come on up, mm mm mm, I got a lifeline, Come on up to this train of mine
Come on up, mm mm mm, I got a lifeline, Come on up to this train of mine.
She said her name was Harriet Tubman, And she drove for the underground railroad.
One night I dreamed I was in slavery,
‘Bout eighteen fifty was the time,
Sorrow was the only sign,
Nothing around to ease my mind.
Out of the night appeared a lady,
Leading a distant pilgrim band.
“First mate,” she yelled, pointing her hand,
“Make room on board for this young person.”
Hundreds of miles we travelled onward,
Gathering slaves from town to town,
Seeking every lost and found,
Setting those free who once were bound.
Somehow my heart was growing weaker,
I fell by the wayside’s sinking sand.
Firmly did this lady stand,
Lifted me up and took my hand.

Glory

(from Selma)
John Stephens, Lonnie Lynn and Che Smith
Arr. Eugene Rogers

One day when the glory comes
It will be ours, it will be ours
Oh one day when the war is won
We will be sure, we will be sure
Oh glory (glory, glory)
Oh (glory, glory)
Hands to the Heavens, no man, no weapon
Formed against, yes glory is destined
Every day women and men become legends
Sins that go against our skin become blessings
The movement is a rhythm to us
Freedom is like religion to us
Justice is juxtapositionin’ us
Justice for all just ain’t specific enough
One son died, his spirit is revisitin’ us
Truant livin’ livin’ in us, resistance is us
That’s why Rosa sat on the bus
That’s why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up
When it go down we woman and man up
They say, “Stay down”, and we stand up
Shots, we on the ground, the camera panned up
King pointed to the mountain top and we ran up
Now the war is not over, victory isn’t won
And we’ll fight on to the finish, then when it’s all done
We’ll cry glory, oh glory (glory, glory)
Selma’s now for every man, woman and child
Even Jesus got his crown in front of a crowd
They marched with the torch, we gon’ run with it now
Never look back, we done gone hundreds of miles
From dark roads he rose, to become a hero
Facin’ the league of justice, his power was the people
Enemy is lethal, a king became regal
Saw the face of Jim Crow under a bald eagle
The biggest weapon is to stay peaceful
We sing, our music is the cuts that we bleed through
Somewhere in the dream we had an epiphany
Now we right the wrongs in history
No one can win the war individually
It takes the wisdom of the elders and young people’s energy
Welcome to the story we call victory
The comin’ of the Lord, my eyes have seen the glory
One day when the glory comes
It will be ours, it will be ours
Oh one day when the war is won
We will be sure, we will be sure
When the war is won, when it’s all said and done
We’ll cry glory

Testimony

Richard Danielpour
Text – Rita Dove
*World Premiere

You prefer me invisible, no more that
a crisp salute far away
from your silks and firewood and woolens.
Out of sight, I’m merely an annoyance,
one slim, obstinate wrinkle in night’s
deepening trance. When sleep fails,
you wish me shushed and back in my hole.
As usual, you’re not listening: Time stops
Only if you stop long enough to hear it
passing. This is my business:
I’ve got ten weeks left to croon through.
What you hear is a lifetime of song.

City Called Heaven

Jospehine Poelinitz

I am a pilgrim, a pilgrim of sorrow
I’m left in this wide world, this wide world alone
Ain’t got no hope, got no hope for tomorrow
Trying to make it, make heaven my home
I am a pilgrim, a pilgrim of sorrow
I’m left in this wide world, this wide world alone
Ain’t got no hope, got no hope for tomorrow
Trying to make it, make heaven my home
Sometimes I’m tossed and I’m driven, Lord
Heard of a city, a city called heaven
Trying to make it, make heaven my home
Heaven

My Lord, What a Mornin’

H.T. Burleigh

My Lord, what a morning
My Lord, what a morning
Oh, my Lord, what a morning
When the stars begin to fall.
Done quit all my worldly ways
Gonna join that heavenly band.
My Lord, what a morning
My Lord, what a morning
Oh, my Lord, what a morning
When the stars begin to fall.

Ride on, King Jesus

Moses Hogan

Ride on King Jesus
Ride on the conquering king
Oooh ride on King Jesus, ride on
No man no can a hinder thee
bottom note- Hmmm
No man no can a hinder thee
Hmmm
No man no can a hinder thee
Oooh ride on King Jesus
Ride on the conquering king
Oooh ride on King Jesus, ride on
No man no can a hinder thee
Hmmm- sorry
No man no can a hinder thee
Hmmm
No man no can a hinder thee
Oooh ride on King Jesus
Ride on the conquering king
Oooh ride on King Jesus, ride on
No man no can a hinder thee
He’s the king, lord of all
No man no can a hinder thee
Jesus is the first and he’s the last
Jesus is the Lord, Lord of Lords
Jesus is the prince, prince of peace
No man no can a hinder thee
Oooh ride on ķing Jesus- that was different
Ride on just ride on Jesus
Ride on King Jesus Ride on
No man no can a hinder thee
Oooh ride on King Jesus
Ride on just ride on Jesus
Ride on King Jesus
Ride on just ride on Jesus
Ride on King Jesus ride on
Ride on…
Ride on Jesus- breath
Ride on- breath- Jesus

Lift Every Voice and Sing

J.Rosamond Johnson
Text – James Weldon Johnson
Arr. Craig Courtney

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 has brought us thus far on the way
Thou who has 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
Our native land