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Black Firefighters Reflect on the Long, Rocky Road to Progress in Firehouses

By SARAH DORSEY
Posted 1/25/16

Regina Wilson has long stirred audiences at FDNY events with her rendition of the national anthem. On Jan. 20, at department headquarters in Brooklyn, she followed with another tune that’s particularly meaningful to the civil-rights movement.

“Lift every voice and sing, ’til earth and heaven ring,” the lyrics begin. “Ring with the harmonies of liberty.” The powerful composition was written by a Harlem Renaissance author, and is often­ called the Black National Anthem.

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