[JPL] A NEW SPIN ON THE RENEE MARIE ISSUE

[MRJAZZOFNO at aol.com]

I  received this in a e-mail from a friend. It is taken from the newsletter  
of a German Organization called  Jazzinstitut Darmstadt. Funny how people get 
things screwed up,  Makes you  wonder if anything you read is reliable.   
4.  Juli 2008 
Rene  Marie & die amerikanische Nationalhymne / Rene Marie and the American  
National Anthem 
When  the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a speech in 
Denver,  Colorado, last Sunday, the singer Rene Marie - without having consulted 
the  organizers beforehand about it - sang James Weldon Johnson's "Lift Ev'ry 
Voice  and Sing", a song which can be heard in African-American churches and 
has been  called the African American national anthem, as David Montero reports 
 (_Rocky  Mountain News_ 
(http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/03/she-deceived-us-mayor-says-about-jazz-singer/) ).  Her performance led to 
irritations and angry comments that make clear that even  the singing of hymns is 
still a highly political action in the today's  USA. The scandal made the local 
 headlines: Mayor Hickenlooper feels that he had been deceived as the city 
had  asked the singer to sing the (real) national  anthem. 




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