From Yahoo.com…
The first NFL regular 2021 season matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers opened up Thursday with “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the black national anthem.
The song, performed by singer Alicia Keys in conjunction with the historically black university Florida A&M Concert Choir, was aired ahead of the game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa as teammates locked arms on the field. “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played afterward.
“Tonight, the NFL as it did last year will present ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ also known as the Black national anthem,” NBC’s Mike Tirico said during the broadcast Thursday. “And it will happen at several league events during the year — the NFL continuing the attention around social justice causes.”
League executives first decided to play the song, written in 1900 by civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson and celebrates the end of slavery, last year ahead of the first 2020 season games as racial justice protests responding to George Floyd’s death continued to gain momentum and public support from various companies and organizations.
