The song Stevie Wonder wrote for Martin Luther King Jr.
Advocacy was always at the forefront of the art made by Stevie Wonder. While the Motown king made his name on classic love songs like ‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life’ and funky workouts like ‘Superstition’, political awareness was still a prominent element that made Wonder’s music unique. In fact, at the height of his fame, Wonder took a major swipe at Richard Nixon in the song ‘You Haven’t Done Nothin’ and was rewarded with a number one single.
By the time the 1980s rolled around, Wonder was one of music’s most beloved figures. He wasn’t even an elder statesman yet – he was in his 30s throughout the decade and continued to pump out all-time classic songs like ‘Part-Time Lover’ and ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’. As a contemporary force as well as a hardened veteran of the music scene, Wonder had a lot of pull both inside and outside the industry.
Wonder’s influence was so massive that he was even able to effect legislation in the United States federal government. Starting in the late 1970s, Wonder was among a contingent of famous entertainers who began lobbying the government to make Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday a federal holiday. Wonder was on the front lines, having envisioned the holiday in a dream.
“I had a vision of the Martin Luther King birthday as a national holiday,” Wonder told Rolling Stone in 1986. “I mean I saw that. I imagined it. I wrote about it because I imagined it and I saw it and I believed it. So I just kept that in my mind till it happened.”
Wonder’s main vehicle for getting the holiday approved was, of course, through music. On his 1980 album Hotter Than July, Wonder crafted an ode to MLK that highlighted the importance of celebrating his birthday, appropriately titled ‘Happy Birthday’. Through pop melodies and funky backing tracks, Wonder laid out a compelling argument that also doubled as a new standard for anyone else who is celebrating their birthday.
“It would be a day for us to reflect upon our responsibilities as human beings. As recognizing all of those who have lived and died for the principles of peace and unity and equality for all people,” Wonder told CNN in 1983. “We as people recognize him not based on his colour or sex but basically because of what he did for moving minds to a greater and more senseful consciousness.”
Wonder was successful in getting his wish. After holding the Rally for Peace Press Conference in 1981 and continuing his advocacy, Ronald Reagan officially made MLK’s birthday a federal holiday in 1983, with the first official nationwide celebration taking place in 1986. To commemorate the occasion, Wonder staged a concert in the nation’s capital to pay tribute to the civil rights leader.
Check out ‘Happy Birthday’ down below.
