My colleague Ms Williams touched on this story briefly last week, but it went unnoticed, so I'd like to bring it up again, because I think it raises a lot of interesting questions.
At last Tuesday's annual State of the City address in Denver, dozens of attendants were surprised when vocalist Rene Marie, who had been hired to perform the national anthem, instead sang "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," perhaps better known as the "black national anthem." Nobody but Marie, her husband and a friend of hers knew she was going to switch the songs, and a red-faced John Hickenlooper, Denver's mayor, said he was "disappointed and confused" by the performance.
I think we can all agree that Marie is ballsy, but was she in the right? To me, sedition like hers – a surreptitious hijacking of a public event – always seems misguided and counterproductive. But in a time of a shameful dearth of public protests, perhaps I should be thankful it happened at all—beggars can't be choosers, right? What are your thoughts?
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I'm Native Hawaiian and I grew up singing the Black National Anthem in elementary school. I think it may have been a shock for the Denver population, but I think it is interchangable and should be sung in public arenas just like the other.
More power to her. She's badass.
I appreciate her protest, but if she was hired to do a job then she should have done that job. Leave the protest to her own time. I don't think a Black singer is going to get this opportunity again.
I don't agree with her actions.
Well, she didn't do what she was supposed to do, but so what? Fuck the rules, I'm glad she did it.
Big ups to her! This took maturity and courage. I wish I had the balls to do something like that. She won't be getting the mic again anytime soon though.
i am glad she did it, however i don't agree with her actions. props to her for having the gonads to do it.
I've always loved that song.
Not sure why she did it, but big props to her.
Her job was to sing the National Anthem…. not the Black National Anthem. I thought her actions were foolish.
I feel that she should have done what she was asked to do. It was very disrespectful to flip the script, especially when they had agreed that she would sing the Star Spangled Banner.
It was also very divisive. You guys should read the comments on YouTube and blogs with black people and white people (mainly) going on about all sorts of stuff. Some good points, some bad.
All that said: I love the way she sang it, I love her courage (in a way), and I love her hair.
The existence of a "Black National Anthem" is an indication that there are blacks in this country who either don't believe that they are real Americans or that "The Star Spangled Banner" is a "White National Anthem."
Now, we know that "The Star Spangled Banner" is not relegated to only white Americans, so those black Americans who embrace this "Black National Anthem" in lieu of "The Star Spangled Banner" are guilty of sedition, and I think Rene Marie should have been arrested for just that.
How would we feel here if someone sang the Mexican National Anthem instead of "The Star Spangled Banner," or sang it in Spanish?
Rene, if you don't love America, leave.