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.

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.

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.

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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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