Posted on 07/01/2008 4:13:18 PM PDT by BulletBobCo
As Denver dignitaries gathered today for Mayor John Hickenlooper's State of the City address, City Council President Michael Hancock introduced singer Rene Marie to perform the national anthem.
But that's not what she did.
Instead, Marie performed the song "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," which is also known as the "Black National Anthem."
When she finished, the proceedings moved forward, and few seemed to notice that the Star Spangled Banner was never performed.
One who did notice was Councilman Charlie Brown, and he took to local talk radio Tuesday afternoon to blast the lack of the nation's anthem at the proceedings.
"There's no replacement for the national anthem," Brown said. "They should have sung it."
Brown said Hancock has told talk radio stations he only introduced the singer from prepared remarks handed to him and was unaware that she would not be performing the Star Spangled Banner. Hancock did not immediately return a call seeking comment, nor did Hickenlooper or his staff.
I remember singing that song in elementary school—in music class.
Lift ev’ry voice and sing,
‘Til earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening 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 ‘til 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,
‘Til 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.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Mayor Chickeneffer and the city council step in doo-doo again.
“Instead, Marie performed the song “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” which is also known as the “Black National Anthem.”
I love that Charlie Brown noticed.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
If you know any other Coloradans who might be interested in the latest BS from Mayor Chickeneffer of Denver please ping them.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
“True to our native land.”
America or Africa?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I was just posting this, but you beat me to it. We’re in Denver right now on a trip, and the talk radio audience is all over it, they’re outraged. The hosts of the evening drive time show had the mayor on to talk about it, and he tap danced around it big time, was sure it was just a misunderstanding, he’s sure she didn’t mean to offend anyone. Bullshit! The libs and the dems here in Denver are all pissed.
Rocky Mountain bump.
Sheesh.
Nail on the head.
The last two lines are interesting.
“True to our God,” ——— Allah?
“True to our native land.”——— Africa?
***Its beautiful but its not our country’s anthem.***
If Obama is elected it will be.
I heard Hickenlooper “talking” on KOA a little while ago. He was as incoherent as Obama is away from the teleprompter. He sounded almost like Porky Pig.
One of the most notable incidents from Tuesday's State of the City address occurred even before the mayor's speech began.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, Rene Marie was introduced to sing the national anthem.
But that's not what she sang.
Martin actually sang the tune of the traditional national anthem with the lyrics to "Lift Every Voice and Sing." It's a song some have called the National Black Anthem, the Negro National Anthem or the Black National Anthem.
Once she finished performing, there was a moment of awkward silence and then the crowd gave her mild applause. Marie said she understood why the audience was confused, since the song sounded familiar but the lyrics were different.
"Art is supposed to make you think. I wanted to express how I felt, being a black woman living in this country," Marie told 7NEWS.
Once again the black activists hold themselves separate from this country. This isn't going to help Obama...
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
OBAMBI: “That’s not the national anthem I knew!”
or..... “That’s not the black nationalist fanaticism I knew!”
Nice song....very bad idea.
The words are great—written by James Weldon Johnson around 1900.
Unfortunately, his warning seems not to have been heeded:
“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.”
I think a community which has never in 30 years elected someone to Congress who is anti-abortion, anti-same-sex marriage, or anti-gay rights; which tolerates an immense amount of anti-semitism in its ranks; which tolerates large cults which hate whites, Jews, Asians, etc; which
spurns education as ‘acting white’; etc.
couldn’t be said to have been “true to our God”.
When America finally blows (and it WILL), it’s going to be horrendous.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Go back and read my post again, we are on the same side of this issue.
Welcome to Colorado.
Ping
The tune of “Lift up your voice and sing” is a very nice one; I suspect a good many Black Americans and quite a few white ones who know that tune were not pleased to have the words jazzily superimposed on the tune of the Star Spangled Banner. And for that matter, the singer did not sing the latter tune all that well either. Presumptuous little twit, I’d say. She won’t get far on American Idol.
Thanks for the ping DC. Hadn’t heard about this. Disgusting that our national anthem wouldn’t be sung. They want to totally remake this country from top to bottom or have several Americas depending on what skin color you are.
Ping.
I don't believe that's POSSIBLE. You'd have to slur a bunch of words to make it fit, and even then it's an ugly, broken thing.
Aside from the profound insult it would offer.
Funny how much it's like Obama thinking he can just hijack the Great Seal for his purposes, isn't it????
Obama's been fantasizing about taking Colorado - this just brings right back to the front all the Wright and black liberation theology nonsense. Won't help.
If Obama gets elected get used to it.
Good grief, Charlie Brown - it’s liberal country, don’t ya know?
“When America finally blows (and it WILL), it’s going to be horrendous.”
Yup. It won’t be a time for the squeamish. Can you say “Lock and Load?”
Thanks for the ping. I’m glad I was working all day and missed the news and talk radio today...at least I was in a GREAT mood most of the day!
I’ve sung the song in church as a hymn. It’s not bad, and there could be worse songs as an informal “national anthem.”
Yes, that’s what I remember; it was melodious and easy to sing. I still remember the first verse. And my music teacher didn’t push it on us as a substitute for the National Anthem. She just explained the historical significance of the song and why we were learning it. This was in the late ‘60s.
Thanks, just visiting for a week. Was a little bit surprised at what happened today, however my hubby and I had noticed when we were here for the first time last year that Denver seemed a bit ‘blue’ for our taste. We’ll see how much the MSM picks up on this story, or if Rush/Hannity/O’Reilly picks up on it.
I checked and it’s finally listed on Google news, and I noticed that the Denver Post has amended it’s original story, claiming that most people ‘didn’t even notice that the national anthem hadn’t been sung’. There’s a poll on their website about it, and it’s currently sitting at 85% of the respondents say that they disliked/hated it. I think THEY NOTICED.
Was it appropriate to sing the Black National Anthem at the State of the City address today in Denver?
Response Percent Votes
yes ...10%... 21
no ... 87%... 167
unsure ... 1%... 3
Total ... 191
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/polls/2008/jul/black-national-anthem/results/
and HIckenlooper, when questioned about it, came up with this gem. He said - “people seemed to enjoy it”
Totally clueless, as usual
The city is blue, but the burbs are quite red (except for the peoples republic of Boulder, of course) And Colorado springs, about 45 min to the South, is the heart of conservatism.
Post Poll - Alternate Anthem
What do you think of the song sung at Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s State of the City speech, which surprised organizers by adapting the words of a song known as “the black national anthem” to the tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner?”
Total Votes = 375
Loved it 8.799 %
Liked it 1.066 %
Neutral 6.133 %
Didn’t like it 15.46 %
Hated it 68.53 %
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_9756253?source=rss&_requestid=8678422
.
Not even a coat nor a tie
.
From what I’ve heard Rene Marie interpolates one set of lyrics onto other tunes often. This time, it was totally inappropriate and not what she was hired to do.
Too bad because she is really a good singer with an interesting story.
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