weston left motown in 1967 and later sued the label over disputes about royalties. she and her then-husband william "mickey" stevenson (former a&r head at motown) both went to mgm records. weston cut a couple of singles for mgm, "i got what you need," and "nobody," which went largely unnoticed due to lack of airplay and promotion. she made an album for the label, "this is america," which included her popular version of the black national anthem, "lift every voice and sing". this was released as a single and featured in the movie wattstax. all the money from the single was donated to the united negro college fund.