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English
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7th Grade
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Practice Problem
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Medium
+14
Standards-aligned
Yolanda McCray-Taylor
Used 8+ times
FREE Resource
6 Slides • 4 Questions
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Multiple Choice
Beyonce Brings Anthem to Mainstream America
On Saturday, April 14, one of America's biggest stars sang the song. Beyonce was the first black woman to headline the Coachella musical festival in California. She performed for tens of thousands there and many more watching at home. Her entire historic set - complete with a drum line, step dancing and musicians in berets-honored black culture and historically black colleges.
Arguably the biggest moment was when she sang a few lines of "Lift Every Voice and Sing, " as it's also called. Based on social media responses, the song hit home particularly with black audiences livestreaming the concert. Many viewers grew up knowing the song by heart.
The song's inclusion was important because of the audience's size, but also because of the setting. Coachella is known to have a mostly white audience.
Why was Beyonce's performance at Coachella considered historic?
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Multiple Choice
Beyonce's performance revives interest in the "Black National Anthem."
on Twitter, some Black viewer said "Lift Every Voice and Sing" brought them to tears. They remembered singing it as children at church or school.
Playwright Nick Fury tweeted about the song. "I cannot stress how much of an important moment in music history, Black History. American History, the entire history of me-it was."
Yet others on Twitter, along with Redmond, wondered how many youngster fans knew the song.
More than 20 years ago, K. Sue Jewell studied the song. She found only 2 in 3 Black college-age students knew the song.
What is clear Beyonce's reach, "Beychella" was the number-one trending topic on Twitter, and the song title was itself a hashtag.
Based on text, what does the term "Beychella" most likely refer to?
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Open Ended
Professor Balks at Calling Song The "Black National Anthem"
Still, the song has divided in the Black community.
Timothy Askew is a professor at Clark Atlanta University, a historically black college. Askew loves the song. However, he said it shouldn't be labeled a "Black National Anthem."
He said that label suggests black people want their own nation. "This means that everything Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., believed about being one nation gets thrown out of the window."
Meanwhile, Redmond argued the song is an important way for blacks to take action as citizens.
"That's how people learn to represent themselves and see themselves in these United States," she said. "There's something already built into "Lift Every Voice and Sing' that encourages people."
Part A: According to Professor Timothy Askew, why does he resist labeling "Lift Every Voice and Sing" as the "Black National Anthem"?
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Multiple Choice
PART B: In contrast to Professor Askew, what does Redmond believe is an important aspect of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" ?
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