Stevie Wonder Was Blind To The B.S. When It Came To MLK
Black History Year
PushBlack
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 12 October 2022
⏱️ 4 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The audience fell quiet as Stevie Wonder took the stage. Soon, joyous notes reverberated through the air, filling the entire night air with hope, power and inspiration. But this was no ordinary concert – he had a bigger purpose.
Today on 2-Minute Black History, we learn about Stevie Wonder and Martin Luther King Day
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What's up, fam? This is Jay from Push Black. And as you know, over here, we're passionate |
| 0:06.3 | about building black power and taking control of our liberation. One of the ways to build |
| 0:12.8 | power together is through massive, unprecedented voter turnout. Every person in our community |
| 0:20.1 | matters. That means you, you matter, and your vote matters. Tuesday, November 8th is election |
| 0:29.0 | day. Put that in your phone, make a plan for when you're going to go vote, and help three people |
| 0:33.8 | in your life make their plans. Hold each other accountable. Make it happen. |
| 0:39.7 | Visit pushblackvotes.com for more information and the pledge to vote in 2022. Peace. |
| 0:47.3 | The audience got quiet as Stevie Wonder took the stage. |
| 1:05.1 | Soon, joyous notes reverberated through the air, filling the entire night with hope, |
| 1:11.6 | power and inspiration. But this was no ordinary concert. He had a bigger purpose. |
| 1:20.0 | I'm Sydney from Push Black, and you're tuned in to two-minute black history. What you didn't |
| 1:25.8 | learn in school. Ever since MLK was assassinated in 1968, Stevie Wonder had a mission to |
| 1:40.8 | keep the dream alive. And to him, creating a holiday for the slain hero was the best way. |
| 1:48.4 | But it didn't happen overnight. For 15 years, Wonder fought for Martin Luther King Day alongside |
| 1:56.0 | civil rights legends and other black singers. He even put his career on hold to lead nationwide rallies. |
| 2:03.5 | But his most powerful contribution was composing his famous version of Happy Birthday. |
| 2:10.4 | He and Bob Marley planned to rally for the holiday on a four-month-long tour. Though Bob Marley |
| 2:16.8 | sadly felt ill before the tour began, the concerts still happened. But a white hater was out to make trouble. |
| 2:29.2 | Ronald Reagan, who was newly elected president at the time, opposed the holiday, |
| 2:34.6 | supposedly because of the cost. Despite his efforts to stop it from happening, |
| 2:40.6 | he finally relented after Wonder's final tour stop at the National Mall in DC. |
| 2:46.4 | The very place King gave his famous, I have a dream speech. |
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