D. Barbara McWhite grew up in York County, S.C., and lives in Orange Park, Fla., with her husband and cat. Her column is published here each Tuesday. Opinions expressed are solely her own.

Today, I heard the late Ray Charles sing a very moving version of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the song sometimes referred to as the "Negro National Anthem." It has been a while since I last heard it sung and even longer since I listened to and absorbed the song’s meaning.

I believe it is fitting that in this month of December, we as African Americans, read again the lyrics to this old anthem and again discover their relevance to our lives today.

It was on Dec. 18, 1865, that slavery became illegal in all 50 U.S. states. The emancipation proclamation had been signed and voted into law earlier that year, but it was in December that the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect, ending our people's legal enslavement.

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, stating: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, save as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

We have made great strides towards equality, and through education and hard work have gained many of the rights and material possessions so long denied our people.

Still, while we celebrate the spirit and work of our ancestors, we know that far too many of us are still living in slavery; bound by walls both visible and invisible. Walls of substance abuse. Walls erected from self-doubt, feelings of inferiority and fear of failure. Walls of concrete and iron, held for crimes so often against each other. Walls made by others and walls that are self-made. Relational walls that shackle us to people who debase and demean us.

Too many of us are shackled by debt, incomplete education and sexual irresponsibility. Some are shackled to unhealthy diets or are prisoners to inactivity or nicotine.

In this last month of the year, as we give gifts to others and celebrate the Christmas season, let us remember the suffering of our forefathers as we individually identify the place of our own bondage and lay out a plan for gaining our freedom.

And let us always remember that the same God that brought our people out of slavery is still the Great Emancipator and the One who sets the captive free.

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” — written by James Weldon Johnson

Lift every voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise, high as the list’ning 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 chast’ning 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
thro’ the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from a 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 hast 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.

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