Chris Sankey: Changing a lyric in O Canada is not a path to reconciliation – The Hub

March 22, 2023

All Black did was make it harder for Indigenous communities to move forward in this country

She only changed one word, but Canadian R&B singer Jully Black attracted a lot of media attention when she altered the lyrics to Canada’s national anthem at this year’s NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City.

Black sang “our home on native land” instead of “our home and native land”—referencing the fact that Canada literally exists on traditional Indigenous lands.

As an Indigenous Canadian, I appreciate any efforts to help move reconciliation forward. However, changing the anthem is not how true reconciliation works. If anything, this only benefited Black’s career.

If she wanted to get noticed, what better way than to do something that would shock the world at the NBA All-Star game? I had no idea who she was until her anthem rendition made headlines. I even had to replay her performance to hear what she said because at first, I thought I was hearing things.

Read More: https://thehub.ca/2023-03-22/chris-sankey-changing-a-lyric-in-o-canada-is-not-a-path-to-reconciliation/