The best song for the Fourth of July?

Granted, there are lots of good ones -- from "God Bless America," to "America the Beautiful," to "My Country 'Tis of Thee," to "Yankee Doodle," to Aaron Copeland's "Fanfare for the Common Man."

But my current favorite is "Hymn to Freedom," music composed by Oscar Peterson, lyrics written by Harriette Hamilton.

Though my own digital ineptness prevents offering a link to it here, Oscar Peterson's instrumental rendition is truly inspired. Happily, it is readily accessible on You Tube.

Also available on You Tube is a superb vocal rendition by Dione Taylor. Here are the lyrics:

When every heart joins every heart and together yearns for liberty,

That's when we'll be free.

When every hand joins every hand and together moulds our destiny,

That's when we'll be free.

Any hour any day, the time soon will come when men will live in dignity,

That's when we'll be free.

When every man joins in our song and together singing harmony,

That's when we'll be free.

One of the things I love about "Hymn to Freedom" is this: It says to me that most black Americans have not yet given up on white Americans.

As did Martin Luther King, most Blacks still seem somehow to believe that America can yet live up to its promise: liberty and justice for all.

May that sacred promise, may that blessed dream, at long last come true.