René Marie: A Voice of Independence
By Timothy Sandefur
Jazz singer René Marie sparked controversy in 2008 when—just before a speech by Denver mayor (later governor) John Hickenlooper—she sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” but replaced Francis Scott Key’s original lyrics with the lines of James Weldon Johnson’s 1900 poem “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”1 Irate citizens deluged city hall with hate mail. The governor …
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