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A Deeper Listen To Anthems Of All Kinds

Members of the Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indian tribe. A song about about this tradition is part of NPR's <em>American Anthem</em> series.
Erika Goldring
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Getty Images
Members of the Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indian tribe. A song about about this tradition is part of NPR's American Anthem series.

Sometimes a song is more than a song. As NPR's year long series American Anthem points out, anthems do not have to mean patriotic songs about specific nations.

Earlier this year, Alt.Latino featured anthems connected to Latin music or history. Before the series closes later this summer, we present another batch of songs that qualify as anthemic to one group of people or another. Similar themes runs through each of these stories: these songs unite us, these songs have the power to say what we feel, even when we can't say them ourselves.

Sometimes we just have to let the music speak for us.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Felix Contreras is co-creator and co-host of Alt.Latino, NPR's pioneering radio show and podcast celebrating Latin music and culture since 2010.