A Voice That Refused to Be Silenced

In 1939, Marian Anderson was one of the most celebrated contraltos in the world. She had performed across Europe to standing ovations. But when she tried to book Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., the Daughters of the American Revolution refused her — because she was Black.

Anderson was a woman of deep faith who had grown up singing in the choir at Union Baptist Church in Philadelphia. She could have quietly accepted the insult. She could have let bitterness swallow her whole. Instead, with the support of Eleanor Roosevelt and the Department of the Interior, she stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday and sang to a crowd of seventy-five thousand people.

She opened with My Country, 'Tis of Thee. She closed with the spiritual Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen. Between those two songs, she sang with a courage that shook a nation — not with anger, but with the quiet, unshakable dignity of someone who knew exactly Whose she was.

The Almighty doesn't always remove the barriers in front of us. Sometimes He gives us the courage to sing in front of them. Joshua heard the Lord say, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).

The world will sometimes lock its doors. But courage — real courage — doesn't kick them down. It lifts its voice on the steps outside and lets the whole world hear.