This month will be a period of transition in national politics, symbolized by the funeral of Jimmy Carter, the departure of Joe Biden and the inauguration of Donald Trump, which will occur on the same day as the federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. These overlapping events occur in the context of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.

As such, it is appropriate to consider what the transition means for Black America, and how its musicians have interpreted the “Star Spangled Banner” during times of stress in our racial politics.

It is fitting that the origin of the anthem is connected to the history of Maryland, a former slave state on the border of the North and the South. “The Star-Spangled Banner” was composed by Francis Scott Key, a Maryland attorney and poet, who was inspired by watching soldiers raise the flag over Baltimore’s Fort McHenry after a bombardment by British naval forces during the War of 1812. Composed in 1814, the song was enacted as the national anthem in 1931 during the depths of the Great Depression.

Maryland, as I have previously suggested, is arguably the new political capital of Black America. Since 2022, the state’s 30 percent Black population has propelled the historic elections of Gov. Wes Moore, Attorney General Anthony Brown and, last November, Angela Alsobrooks to the Senate. It is the only state where three of the major executive and legislative offices are held by Black politicians. They will oversee the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, demolished in a cargo ship collision last year.

© The Hill