What Did You Do to My Country?

How will you explain yourself when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asks you that question? I received this email today (typos theirs):

In observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday the Black History Committe and the Tau Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. would like to inform you that on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 at 12:30PM, the Black national Anthem, entitled, "Lift Every Voice and Sing," will be played over the campus loud speaker.  Please take time to enjoy and hear the voices and words that have come to change the path of Black History today.
Often referred to as the "Negro National Anthem", this song was written by James Weldon Johnson and his brother J. Rosamond Johnson in 1900 for the celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday. It was originally performed by children at its premiere in Jacksonville, Florida. James W. Johnson was a notable poet who later went on to become one of the founders of the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The Lyrics are as follows:

LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING
by James Weldon Johnson


Lift ev'ry voice and sing,
Till earth and heaven ring.
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise,
High as the list'ning 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.

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,
Till 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.


Brought to you by the Black History Committee; Not Just One Month a Year, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated

Are you kidding me? So, uhh, when can I play the White National Anthem over the speakers?

Crispy