Plus, no one has created a project based on this topic, so we were all motivated to start,” said Saunders. “The fact that we were all in Baltimore, Maryland, and that Fort McHenry was close by inspired us to do the research and push forward to execute this project. This information was never taught to us in our history classes, and as a collective we all felt that this story would be the best tackle,” said Saunders. “We chose to do this documentary because we knew it was something that everyone should know. Francis Scott Key's poem 'The Star Spangled Banner' was se. Saunders said the process itself was difficult but rewarding. 'To Anacreon in Heaven' with various lyrics, was popular in the United States as a drinking song. The 14-minute documentary was completed in May 2016. Saunders, Hawkins and Hawes started the project in March 2016 before then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took his public stance against the national anthem in a preseason NFL game in August 2016. Later on, it was turned into a song based on the melody of an old English drinking song. “The Star-Spangled Banner” was originally a poem. While the documentary didn’t gain recognition as fast as we projected, once the controversy centered around the nation’s anthem arrived, we already had something educational to offer the people,” said Kendra Hawkins, interviewer and camera operator for the film. “We felt this topic would have a greater and more immediate impact on our community since Morgan State is located in the city.
What is the star spangled banner song describing free#
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave” No refuge could save the hireling and slaveįrom the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:Īnd the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave, Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution. That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,Ī home and a country, should leave us no more? “And where is that band who so vauntingly swore There is a scene in the film in which students around Morgan State’s campus read the third verse aloud: The story behind it is pretty ironic,” said Jazmine Hawes, a Morgan State student and assistant director on the documentary. “We wanted to shed light on something that people usually don’t pay attention to, like the third verse of the national anthem. They set out to research the history behind the third stanza of the anthem, which describes how slaves fled the American side and fought for the British Army in September 1814 at the Battle of Baltimore. Our nation’s anthem was never originally intended for African-Americans.ĭuane Saunders Jr., a production associate for Legacy Media Institute and a Morgan State University alumnus, directed a 2016 documentary, What So Proudly We Hail, with students examining this statement about “The Star-Spangled Banner.