So I was outraged to hear that black 'artist' René Marie sang the lyrics to "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" to the tune of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the State of the City address in Denver Colorado. Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing is often referred to as the Black National Anthem. The filthy lyrics are at the bottom of this post.

Digital Journal, 'Black National Anthem' Sung at Denver State of the City Address Spurs Angry Reaction

Mayor John Hickenlooper was deeply disappointed and offended at the singer's action that over shadowed his speech. He expressed a wish that Rene Marie would have discussed the song with him before hand. Marie apologized for offending, saying she was only trying to show her love for her country in a unique way.

Well, she might have apologized but that's an empty gesture when you don't regret what you've done and you would do it again:

Rocky Mountain News, 'Black National Anthem' brings City Council president hate mail

Marie said she had no regrets. She deliberately didn't tell anybody about her song choice "because I don't think it is necessary for an artist to ask permission to express themselves artistically," she said.

"I would not change a thing," Marie said.

"You have to risk things. You have to. Otherwise, you might of well live your life by a script."

I would love for Rene Marie to risk a trip to Darfur where she could, to paraphrase a line from the Black Anthem, "tread her path through the blood of the slaughtered" and thus stay "True to her native land."

Here, Marie, for your edification, is how a real artist gives expression to a song, by lifting one's soul, not blurting out some hack substitute:

Click here if the YouTube video doesn't show up.

Other Bloggers outraged:
Monkey in the Middle: "I guess that when the Democrats have their convention in Denver later this summer, they will sing this song instead of our national anthem."

Blogger Saber Point:

Misuse of The Black National Anthem

The anger comes from the impression that the song was not sung for cultural pride or inspiration, but for use as a cultural wedge, a tool to underscore division rather than unity.

Rene Marie said the traditional National Athem "does not represent me." Okay, Rene, we get it: you don't like white people, and what better way to say it than to denigrate the National Anthem that is sacred to so many Americans.

Even Earl Ofari Hutchinson:

The Huffington Post, Denver Singer's Black National Anthem Switcheroo Was a Risky Act for Obama, and Black Americans

Marie's tortured explanation for switching songs is take your pick: it was a matter of artistic expression, her way of showing her pride in being black, a veiled protest against racial mistreatment and discrimination, and her personal statement against the alleged racial hypocrisy of America. Her explanations are facile and self-serving and just about everyone with an opinion on the issue appropriately blasted her and demanded a formal apology which she hasn't as yet given. She should apologize publicly, and do it now.

Related:

Two years ago during the pro-illegal immigration marches, we recall hearing a rather loose translation of the Star Spangled Banner they called 'Nuestro Himno' (our anthem). It was an insult then as is the Black Anthem now. You can find the lyrics to Nuestro Himno at Lyrics On Demand.

LIFT EV'RY VOICE AND SING
also known as "The Black National Anthem"
by James Weldon Johnson

Lift ev'ry 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 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.

You know what's wrong with this song? To what native land are blacks supposed to be true? America? Africa? Listen Rene, if you want to sing this "Black Anthem" on some dungheap in Mozambique that's fine with me. Do not sing it in place of our Anthem.

Click here if the YouTube video doesn't show up.

Here is the Wiki history of the song. It was appropriate when blacks were still being lynched and Jim Crow Laws were in effect. Singing it today in place of our anthem renders the once spiritual and hopeful words into a filthy condemnation of our present society. But if a black person still feels as if living in chains in America and wants to sing it in their Obama-type church that's fine, sing your lungs out, but do not dare to substitute it for our National Anthem - don't you dare.

Disclaimer: I am still voting for Obama and this is not a rant against all Black Americans but specific blacks who indeed are not patriotic. How do I know that Marie is not patriotic?

MyDD, The Black National Anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner and Black folks

Marie tells The Denver Post she decided to switch the lyrics months ago and will no longer sing the national anthem because she sometimes feels like a foreigner in the USA.

When I decided to sing my version, what was going on in my head was: 'I want to express how I feel about living in the United States, as a black woman, as a black person,'" Marie tells KUSA-TV, a fellow Gannett property.

Here, Rene, is the Star Spangled Banner rendered artistically:

Click here if the YouTube video doesn't show up.