Tribute Concert

On Sunday, with Mick still in England, I decided to take Jack to the Mall so we could be part of a tribute concert to Marian Anderson. Anderson sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday in 1939 after being banned from singing at Constitution Hall because she was Black. Eleanor Roosevelt, angered at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR - the group overseeing Constitution Hall performances) not only resigned her membership with the DAR but also invited Anderson to sing in an outdoor concert at the Lincoln. (Go, Eleanor!) So, 70 years ago, Anderson sang before an integrated crowd of 75,000 gathered on the Mall.

This past Sunday, the tribute concert included performances by opera singer Denyce Graves (what a voice!), Sweet Honey and the Rock (women's a cappella group), the U.S. Marine Band, and the Chicago Children's Choir. Colin Powell attended and he spoke twice during the performance; he told a heartwarming story of how his parents -- both Jamaican immigrants -- came to this country. There was also a naturalization ceremony for 200 people who gained American citizenship on Sunday.

The entire event was incredible. The singing was beautiful and gave me chills. Jack loves music so he and I swayed along to the songs. (I sent my mom a video of Denyce Graves singing 'Ave Maria' but my mom had to shut her eyes while listening b/c my swaying made the video camera go back & forth, thus inducing nausea.) There's a decent video on YouTube of Graves singing "My Country Tis of Thee" (interesting enough, this song is set to the tune of the English National Anthem, God Save the Queen). Here's part of a video I took during the concert:


The naturalization ceremony was special to see and especially meaningful as I told Jack that Daddy would be doing this same thing next year. One interesting thing I learned during the ceremony is that people are sworn in by country of origin, not by name. So, instead of listening to 200 individual names being called, we heard the 55 countries from which these people hailed.

I found the oath that the new citizens were asked to recite to be quite... difficult, for lack of a better word. Here it is:

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

Seriously? That's the oath that we ask people new to this country to take? We couldn't update it? Fix some of these crazy words like "abjure" and "potentate"?

In all, it was a very nice way to spend our Sunday. With Mick's return home last night, we are looking forward to spending time together before he leaves on Sunday to head to San Diego for a few days for a business trip.