The sound of 50 voices singing The Negro National Anthem at City Hall tomorrow won’t be coming from a visiting choir to the Big Apple’s house of governance, but from the city council members themselves.
That after Bedford-Stuyvesant City Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr., chair of the council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, convinced the full city council to sing the song, also known as Lift Every Voice And Sing, before their regular stated meeting as a cry to unify city lawmakers in the need to stop police brutality and the all-to-often reported police killings of unarmed black people.
Cornegy’s is a subtle, but different take on City Council Member Jumaane Williams‘ (Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood) recent decision to sit out the pledge of allegiance as a protest on the issue.
“In Bed-Stuy we don’t take a seat for anything, we take a stand for something,” said Cornegy, adding his principled belief is to never be against an issue such as police brutality, but to take a stand for an issue such as the need for police reform.
As such, he came up with the idea for the entire City Council to sing the song not only in solidarity, but to highlight the fact that black positive contributions to this country continue to go unnoticed, particularly in literature. Black literature is often separated from American literature in primary schools, despite the fact that much in Black literature addresses key American ideals such as freedom, liberty and optimism, he said.
It is for this reason that Cornegy successfully lobbied the City Council body to sing the song, whose lyrics were written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) in 1899 and set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954) in 1900.
Among those who will rise and heartedly sing the song is City Councilman David Greenfield, an Orthodox Jew, who represents the fairly conservative and white enclaves of Borough Park, Midwood and Bensonhurst.
“Like so many people throughout the country, I have been outraged by the killing of innocent black men by police officers across the United States. I was one of the first elected officials to call for an investigation into the killing of Eric Garner, and I have regularly discussed these issues on my radio show,” said Greenfield.
“Recently, in response to these ongoing tragedies, some of my colleagues have decided to remain seated while the pledge of allegiance is recited at Council meetings. While I respect their right to do this, I personally – like many others – will not protest in that manner. For that reason, I am grateful that Chair Robert Cornegy and the BLAC have provided an opportunity to show our solidarity with minority communities during these challenging times. I will be proud to join with my colleagues in singing the African-American national anthem at the next stated meeting. These tragedies must not be allowed to continue,” he added.
There are so many YouTube clips of legendary African-American singer/musicians performing The Negro National Anthem that it is hard for KCP to pick one to highlight for this story. In the end, it decided to feature the following for its’ straight-forward choir rendition, and because it includes the lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya7Bn7kPkLo
