Photo by Brian Rasic
At the top of 1974 opus Songs In The Key Of Life, Stevie Wonder made it perfectly clear where he stood in the battle for love over hate. 40 years later "Love's In Need Of Love Today" is still as poignant and relevant as it was in the mid-seventies, championing the only thing that seems to keep us from full-on self-destruction. This past weekend, while performing his masterpiece in full at Hyde Park in London, Wonder took a moment to remind the his at-capacity audience (65,000 deep) of those virtues, as we were reminded time and time again that fear and hate seem to be conquering the collective consciousness of those sworn to protect us. Wonder affectionately proclaimed:
"What I'm hopeful about is that we can make a difference. And if you too feel that we can make a difference, I encourage you to choose love over hate. It's just that simple. Choose love over hate, right over wrong, kind over meanness. Hope over no hope at all. Which brings me to another point, yes, all life does matter, but the reason that I say black lives matter is because we are the original people of this world."
He added, "So in essence, everyone here has some black In you! You've all got some soul in you so stop denying your culture. So love yourselves and all your family." And as we continue to barrel through the pain and frustration of seeing not one or two, but three black lives reduced to hashtags in just the past week alone, Stevie Wonder's message should be taken as a guiding principle in how to move forward. We'll update with footage as soon as it arrives.
h/t NME
