By Tom Ozimek The NFL’s pre-Super Bowl festivities over the weekend included a performance of a song known colloquially as the “Black National Anthem,” stirring controversy and debate on social media and beyond. Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” unofficially known as the Black National Anthem, ahead of Sunday night’s Super Bowl game at […]
Tag: The Star-Spangled Banner (National Anthem)
“The Star-Spangled Banner” is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the “Defence of Fort M’Henry”, a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Outer Baltimore Harbor in the Patapsco River during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the large U.S. flag, with 15 stars and 15 stripes, known as the Star-Spangled Banner, flying triumphantly above the fort during the U.S. victory.
