Canadian singer Jully Black is being recognized for her bravery.
The R&B artist was invited to the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Special Chiefs Assembly, which takes place in Ottawa from Apr. 3 – 6.
On Monday she was honoured with a white, black and gold star blanket for changing the lyrics to “O Canada” during her pre-game performance at the NBA’s All-Star Weekend on Feb. 19 in Salt Lake City.
READ MORE: Jully Black Shares Racist Email She Received Amid Backlash For Changing ‘O Canada’ Lyrics
“I didn’t realize that my action would garner such a response,” said Black to the chiefs according to Windspeaker. “But on behalf of the Black community, I say we are one. We are better together.”
At the time, Black was the subject of a lot of online hate and criticism for changing the lyric in the anthem from “our home and native land” to “our home on native land.”
“It dawned on me, I was like, ‘So we we skipped over whose land it actually is.’ And we’re still saying ‘our’ and it just didn’t feel right in my belly,” Black told ET Canada about the lyric change, adding that the time was right for a game-changing anthem performance.
READ MORE: Jully Black Knew She Was Going To Change ‘O Canada’ Lyric ‘As Soon As I Got The Call’
As for the response, Black said, “It’s unreal. The support. ‘It’s a Canadian heritage moment.’ ‘Your legacy is cemented.’ Whenever people direct it towards me, the praise, I have to flip it around and deflect. It’s like, less of me, take Jully out of the equation, I was a conduit. I’m a bridge.”
