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. 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.
