Council sings out in protest of bias

CITY COUNCIL members belted out the words to a song known as the black national anthem following the Pledge of Allegiance at Thursday’s meeting — part of an ongoing protest against racial injustice and police brutality.

The lawmakers sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a famed hymn of the Civil Rights movement, at the suggestion of Robert Cornegy and the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus.

They said the move was a way for members uncomfortable with participating in the pledge protest to express solidarity with the cause.

“For African-Americans, it has been a unifying, rallying cry for support in this country. If you look at DNA FROM the unsolved murder of 14-year-old Bronx girl in 1998 finally brought her killer to justice Thursday.

James David Martin admitted to sexually assaulting and choking Marleny Cruz and dumping her partially-clothed body 18 years ago, sources said.

Already in a Pennsylvania prison for a 2005 murder, Martin pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in Bronx Supreme Court and got another 20 years, sources said. Marleny’s death was a cold case until investigators found Martin’s DNA under her fingernails and retested the evidence with new technology. the words, they’re about liberty and about justice and about freedom, and about embracing the very tenets of this country,” said Cornegy (D-Brooklyn).

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has made headlines recently for taking a knee while the national anthem plays before the start of NFL games.