Black National Anthem At NFL Opening 2022
The National Football League (NFL) 2022 season opened with the ballad “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which is now largely regarded as the US Black National Anthem.
After a year of racial unrest that affected practically every aspect of American society, including professional sports, the song was performed.
It originally began as a song to honour the president who freed the slaves in America. Its author didn’t give it much attention afterwards, yet it came to have its own existence.
Origin And Significance Of The Black National Anthem
Civil rights pioneer James Weldon Johnson penned “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in 1900 as a poem, which his brother later adapted to music.
Johnson, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, claimed that the song was composed in response to a local request to hold a celebration honouring Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.
‘Lift Every Voice’ Full Performance pic.twitter.com/YLcZ6x6qBE
— Honey & Tea (@taylorstoplip) September 9, 2022
NEW: The NFL plans to play "Lift Every Voice & Sing," often referred to as the Black national anthem, before all games in the 2021-2022 season, & the move is causing mixed reactions.
READ MORE: https://t.co/tZDtr0ycEM
— WTVC NewsChannel 9 (@newschannelnine) August 2, 2021
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.James Weldon Johnson notebooks in JWJ/GNJ Papers https://t.co/Dztxk6RiXb pic.twitter.com/havVwjIBMf
— Beinecke Library (@BeineckeLibrary) September 6, 2022
He later claimed that the song was “taught to and sung by a chorus of 500 coloured school children” and that copies of it had been made for the occasion.
It became the official anthem of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation’s foremost civil rights organization, in 1919.
Why Was Black National Anthem Played In NFL?
Young black males make up the majority of players in male professional sports. Therefore, the NFL announced that it would play “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before games this season in an effort to demonstrate more support for its players. The music that has meant so much to so many people will now routinely begin American professional sports matches.
John E. Nail & James Weldon Johnson on the Concourse in JEN's Mercer Raceabout, 1915https://t.co/nIRrcqgzme
in the JWJ & Grace Nail Johnson Papers https://t.co/Dztxk6RiXb pic.twitter.com/K4NC5gArAa— Beinecke Library (@BeineckeLibrary) September 3, 2022
Last year, the NFL came under heavy fire for what was perceived as the league’s lack of support for players. Even before the nationwide racial justice protests, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick was one of the first professional American sports figures to attempt to use his or her prominence on the field to raise awareness of the issue. However, many claims that he was punished for his activism.
On this day in 1871, poet James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He wrote the lyrics to the Black National Anthem, "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing."
He said when he was finished, it brought him to tears. #blackhistoryisamericanhistory pic.twitter.com/6I03lpnjIW
— Joe Madison (@MadisonSiriusXM) June 18, 2022
Sports leagues embraced public statements of support for the movement as racial justice and police misconduct came to the forefront following the murder of George Floyd, a black man who passed away while in the custody of the police. The NFL announced during the summer that it would support the Black Lives Matter movement.
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