(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Lift Every Voice And Sing - Sing It Loud and Proud [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-16 Sheryl Lee Ralph singing a song that's been around for 123 years and not since Conservatives became anti-woke. The song is called, LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING. Sorry Snowflake Conservatives. Its only REFERRED TO as the BLACK NATIONAL ANTHEM or THE NEGRO NATIONAL ANTHEM many years before. But it is sort of official. It gained the NICKNAME back in the year 1919, 12 years BEFORE the STAR SPANGLED BANNER EVEN BECAME AMERICA'S NATIONAL ANTHEM. It's not a new song that Sheryl Lee Ralph simply pulled out of her ass. THE SONG IS 123 YEARS OLD! I WAS TAUGHT THE SONG WHEN I WAS IN THE THIRD GRADE! And I've been singing it in church and at HBCU football games FOR YEARS! It is a crying shame that Conservatives finally discovered that in 2023, that BLACK FOLK have been singing this song in schools, churches, football games, and at CIVIL RIGHTS PROTEST MARCHES for OVER A CENTURY. Show's you how much they know. Try to keep up Conservatives! You're falling behind the times with your faux outrage. The song is not WOKE! If it is, then it's been Woke since the year 1900. I must have been Woke since 1975 when I started singing it. I must have been Woke when I sang it with full of a stadium full of folks at Yankee Stadium when I saw Grambling University beat Morgan State back when I was 15 or so. And at every HBCU game I've seen since! The song was written to commemorate the BIRTHDAY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN (can't get more American than that) and to signal to Black folk that the promise of RECONSTRUCTION may have faltered, but the PROMISE OF AMERICA STILL EXISTS. And I know you didn't, but if you ask me it's a HELLUVA BETTER SONG THAN THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER. It's sure a ton more inclusive. While Lift Every Voice And SING asks us to lift EVERY VOICE (that means you, me, everybody), THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER'S INFAMOUS THIRD STANZA WARNS THE HIRELING OR THE SLAVE THAT IF THEY SEEK FREEDOM (by running away or with the aid of the British) THEY WILL SUFFER THE GLOOM OF THE GRAVE! Do yourself a favor and read the third stanza of The Star Spangled Banner. Chilling, threatening stuff even by 1812 standards. Francis Scott Key was a staunch slavery institutionalist. Now I know what you're going to say. "BUT ZEEEEEEEEEEEKE, HE'S A MAN OF HIS TIME!" Nope. Sorry. Key routinely used his newspaper column to preach the glory of slavery, out abolitionists, and spar against them in the press. I mean the dude hated abolitionists with a passion. SO FUCK THAT GUY! No, really. Besides, we have much better songs than the Star Spangled Banner (a song about a single battle in a war we hardly commemorate) that deserve to be our National Anthem. Songs like AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL or GOD BLESS AMERICA or MY COUNTRY TIS OF THEE. These are songs that truly speak to America as a whole. Don't get your panties in a twist Conservatives. No one is asking you to stand for Lift Every...I'll still stand for the National Anthem because I am an American who for whatever reason still believes in the promise of America. But understand that we can do better and I will never stand for that damn third stanza! FUCK THAT! No, really. So instead of being an anti-woke snowflake asshole, I ask that you join me instead AND... Lift every voice and sing Till 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 till victory is won. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/16/2153306/-Lift-Every-Voice-And-Sing-Sing-It-Loud-and-Proud Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/