There’s outrage and fury around the USA as Vanessa Williams gears up to sing the ‘Black National Anthem’ at the country’s Capitol Fourth Celebration.
According to local media outlets, the star performer and actress will be singing the song called ‘Life Every Voice and Sing’ as she hosts the PBS’s 41st celebrations of the ‘A Capitol Fourth.’ This is an event that takes place every year and will be aired on Sunday, confirmed reports.
Moreover, this song was originally written as a poem during the 1900 but has now received more recognition from the leader of the NAACP called James Weldon Johnson. Surprisingly, the song is ever so popular as the ‘Black National Anthem.’
The news sparked outrage on Twitter with many followers explaining their fury at the performance, ahead of time. This includes senator Ted Cruz who questioned how many national anthems does the USA really has. In the same way, many enraged Twitter users also questioned how the country is being divided thanks to performances.
In spite of the backlash, Williams announced how her rendition of the number had nothing to do with the anthem in the first place. She stated that the song would certainly not replace the country’s traditional anthem but would actually go about honoring it on the occasion of Independence Day as well as Juneteenth.
The event is all set to kick off with a performance of the original US anthem by Singer Renee Fleming who is scheduled to perform the ‘Star-Spangled Banner.’
In the same way, several other notable performers are being lined up to sing an array of other songs too, confirmed officials from the event.
But the controversy surrounding the ‘Black National Anthem’ is still in full swing with many feeling that the decision to include it is not only divisive but also a great contradiction to the great efforts relating to ‘unity’ too.