CNN Anchors Applaud Don Lemon Singing Black National Anthem On-Air, Defend Teaching ‘Full Black History’
CNN anchor Don Lemon sang the Black National Anthem on-air during an interview, drawing praise from co-anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, who related it to the teaching of “full Black history.”
On Friday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning, Lemon aired his interview with actor and singing sensation Sheryl Lee Ralph, who will sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Since Ralph was unable to provide a preview, Lemon decided to serenade her with his own unaccompanied rendition, which he went on to explain was the product of a childhood spent singing the song frequently at an all-Black Catholic school.
Harlow and Collins praised Lemon, and Harlow related his story to the raft of laws that restrict race-based conversation and analysis in education:
DON LEMON: I don’t know. I was. I felt like I should do it in the taping. Now, why did I do that?
(Laughter)
POPPY HARLOW: Well, you made our day. Our week.
DON LEMON: Yeah, Look, that we sang that every, not every day, but we sang it a lot. I went to an all Black Catholic school when I was a kid. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to parochial school, and it was an all Black school because this was right after desegregation in the South. I think it was maybe ten years or so that my high school was desegregated before I went to it. But, so I learned that song. And then when it start to become the Black national anthem. But I do have to say Sheryl Lee Ralph is a force that many people are just discovering, and she’s not new. I mean, she started with A Piece of the Action with Sidney Poitier was her first role, and Bill Cosby back in the late seventies. And in the early eighties with, she was one of the original Dreamgirls. And so most people don’t realize that she is a, she has a voice. She can sing. She’s not just an actress, but…
POPPY HARLOW: I love what she said. She and the world are finally catching up with one another. So to that, yeah, basically the world’s finally catching up with her. She’s like saying, Sounds like I’ve always been this way and you’re finally noticing more of you.
DON LEMON: We’re catching up with a lot of things, as you know, especially when it comes to women, we’re catching up with a lot of things in Africa Americans and other…
POPPY HARLOW: Can I just say something about that? I would say while watching this, I was looking back at sort of the history of the Black national anthem, and we were talking about the fact that it was first performed by 500 school kids at a segregated school in Jacksonville, Florida.
DON LEMON: Yeah.
POPPY HARLOW: She brought up educating about full Black history, and I just thought that was notable.
DON LEMON: Yeah.
DON LEMON: Nice moment. So great.
KAITLAN COLLINS:Great interview!
DON LEMON: Mr. Lathan and all the nuns and Ms.. Scott and Ms. Hebert, who taught us about Black history. We had Black history all the time, not just for one month and taught us the Black national anthem as kids. So it’s important for kids to learn the true history of their country. And I’m so glad I had that foundation for that.
POPPY HARLOW: Thank you for that!
DON LEMON: Thank you guys!
KAITLAN COLLINS: Special interview.
Watch above via CNN This Morning.
