Admittedly my memories of the day are a bit fuzzy: I remember standing on the Washington Mall listening to various activist speak recall the presence of both Gil Scott-Heron (who was a big supporter of the effort) and Gladys Knight can still feel my feet getting cold in the biting January air and Wonder giving a rambling speech. for the day as part of new gig at Record World magazine, a now defunct music trade publication, where I had recently started as a staff reporter covering the black music scene. King’s January 15th birthday as a national holiday, Wonder had embraced the idea and made the effort an signature part of his legacy. While Detroit Congressman John Conyers had initiated the of marking Dr. Moreover as a child of the ‘60s Civil Rights Movement, Wonder had always had a political consciousness. Albums like ‘Talking Book,’ ‘Innervisions,’ ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ and ‘Hotter Than July’ had made Wonder pop musics leading figure. In 1981 the multi-talented singer-songwriter-musician-producer was coming off one of the greatest runs of creative and commercial success in history. Martin Luther King’s birthday to be declared a national holiday. Read that letter here and celebrate MLK Day with “Happy Birthday” by Stevie Wonder below.It was forty years ago this week that Stevie Wonder, along with a group of musicians and politicians, stood on the same area of the Capitol building that was recently overrun by Trump supporters, to argue for Dr. It is just repeating and rewriting history, just as we have for the last four hundred years. Until what we say is what we do, there is no truth. Until we turn our mouth movement into righteous action, we’re doing our nation, God, and your memory an injustice. What we say has not been what we do, and this country must reconcile our words and deeds. I am sick that truth is struggling to be heard and defended. I am sick of lies and deceit that dominate our reality. I am sick of some people using God for a convenience rather than a commitment. I am sick that politicians try to find an easy solution to a four-hundred-year problem. For 36 years, we’ve had a holiday honoring your birthday and principles, yet you would not believe the lack of progress. It is painful to know that needle has not moved one iota. More than any award that I’ve ever received, I want you to know that I’m thankful how you influenced my place of love, which allowed me to try to push the needle of love and equality forward. I’ve been blessed to write songs of love, hope, and motivation-many of them inspired by your life. You were a true hero and became an inspiration. As Stevie Wonder remembered in his letter to MLK, King in which he contemplated how far things had come, and how far we still had to go to make his dream a reality. In 2021, he published an open letter to the late Dr. Wonder, now in his ’70s, continues to use his influence to move the fight for truth and equality forward. The fact that MLK Day exists points the ship in the right direction, but anyone who’s been paying attention knows that there is still an untold amount of work to be done in order to reach King’s storied dream for our country. on the third Monday of January, every January, and several generations of Americans have grown up learning his message. Both an unfiltered rebuke of MLK Day opponents and a contagious celebratory anthem, the song quickly became a sort of rallying cry for the campaign.Īs the song grew in popularity, so did the MLK Day movement. The song was later released as a single in the U.K. In 1980, Wonder, already a veteran creator of social justice-minded music, gave the campaign a boost with “Happy Birthday”. Despite widespread efforts, however, the holiday wasn’t signed into law until 1983, and wasn’t officially observed for the first time until 1986. The famed civil rights activist had been assassinated in 1968, and the campaign to mark his birthday, January 15th, with a national holiday began not long after. The track was born of more than a decade of frustration. in “Happy Birthday”, the final track on 1980’s Hotter Than July. “You know it doesn’t make much sense, there ought to be a law against anyone who takes offense at a day in your celebration,” Stevie Wonder wonders to the late Dr.
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