"Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," a song often called the Black national anthem, was sung before the Super Bowl for the fourth year in a row Sunday.

This year, Grammy winner Andra Day sang the tune after a ceremony for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

The inclusion of the Black national anthem, along with "The Star Spangled Banner" and "America The Beautiful," has been met with both praise and criticism.

But the tradition continues nonetheless. Let's take a closer look at the Black national anthem:

Why is the Black national anthem sung before the Super Bowl?

The NFL began having a singer perform "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" before the Super Bowl in 2020, in the wake of racial and social justice protests in the United States following the death of George Floyd.

At the time, t

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