"The Star-Spangled Banner" is a representation of the beginning of our country during war times. When it was made the National Anthem in 1931, it was fitting for how our country defined patriotism at the time. But we have grown as a nation and as a part of the world community. It is important to reflect on who we are today, and who we are trying to become. Patriotism is no longer an old-timey war effort, but a call for our nation to show that we value all of our people. That is why a modified version of "America the Beautiful," one that is inclusive and respectful of all backgrounds, religions, political preferences, and most importantly inclusive of all our people, should become our new National Anthem.

Here are the modified lyrics with an asterisk(*) where changes were made:

"O Beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties, Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

*Earth shed its* grace on thee, and crown thy good with *sister*hood from sea to shining sea!

**O Beautiful for all who live, A land that's shared in faith,

And those who serve the nation's change, make progress never wait!

America! America!

All spirits strong and free, And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!**"

To explain some of the changes, in the first verse, "God" was changed "Earth" to reflect that we value all religions and the first "brotherhood" was changed to "sisterhood" to reflect that women have equal value. The second verse is more self-explanatory, but I want to make clear that "a land that's shared in faith" refers not to faith as in religion, but to faith in each other.

This rewrite is not perfect, but it is a good place to start. This doesn't have to be the final draft but it can help us think about how we want our National Anthem to reflect who we are.