The Michigan Electoral College meeting began Monday with a rendition of the “black national anthem.”
Michigan Lt. Gov. Garland Gilchrist (D) began the event with the Pledge of Allegiance and the U.S. National Anthem in the state Senate chamber.
Two singers then performed “Lift Every Voice And Sing,” recognized as the black national anthem.
The spiritual, written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson, was first performed in honor of President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday in 1900, PBS reported.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)later adopted it as its official song.
The Democrat slate of electors met to cast 16 votes for Joe Biden to become president.