VIDEO: Stevie Wonder ‘physically sick’ by lack of progress on Martin Luther King Day, calls for a Federal ‘Truth Commission’
Stevie Wonder is seeking higher ground and wants us all to join him there. That includes the incoming administration and the U.S. Senate.
The 70-year-old musical genius posted a Martin Luther King Day video on Twitter, calling for president-elect Joe Biden and his VP Kamala Harris to form a “truth commission” after taking office Wednesday.
The singer’s sincere video starts with his recollection of being a 14-year-old boy when he met Martin Luther King Jr. Wonder says the slain civil rights leader, who would have been 92 on Jan. 15, would be disappointed at how little progress the United States has made since an assassin’s bullet silenced King in April 1968.
In order for this country to move forward, Wonder says we must end a culture of dishonesty and deal with the people who make it that way.
“It makes me physically sick,” he said. “I am sick that politicians try to find an easy solution to a 400-year problem. I am sick of people using God for a convenience rather than a commitment. I am sick of lies and deceit that dominate our reality. I am sick that truth is struggling to be heard and defended.”
— Stevie Wonder (@StevieWonder) January 18, 2021
Wonder lamented the difference between rhetoric and reality in America and wants that gap to be bridged. He thinks the incoming administration can make that change. He also believes the U.S. Senate, which is expected soon to follow up on the House of Representatives’ historic impeachment of President Trump, needs to be a part of fixing what’s broken.
“We must define the truth and the facts that support them and declare them absolute,” Wonder said.
He called for “Those who promote lies and false truths to be held accountable,” claiming the nation can only move forward once it can “formally” accept the same set of facts.
“We need a truth commission that forces this country to look at its lies,” Wonder said. “I’m calling on President Biden and Vice President Harris to launch a formal government investigation to establish the truth of inequality in this country.”
There will be unprecedented security around Biden’s inauguration Wednesday, which comes two weeks after Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol. Law enforcement officials have been criticized for the difference between how conservatively those predominantly white rioters were treated in comparison with the strong-arming of Black Lives Matters protesters who gathered in Washington, D.C., over the summer.
Wonder performed when President Obama was sworn into office in 2009 with Biden as his vice president.
Wonder, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Obama in 2014, says a commission to set the record straight on matters of history is essential to bringing the nation together.
“Without truth we cannot have accountability, without accountability we cannot have forgiveness, (and) without forgiveness we cannot heal,” he claims.
“We cannot be afraid to confront a lie and a liar,” Wonder said. “Those in leadership who won’t or don’t acknowledge the truth should be held accountable.”
Wonder finished his message by pledging to King that he, for one, is ready to take a stand.
“On this day, a day in your honor, I pledge to have the courage to say what I see and acknowledge what I hear,” Wonder said. “In your spirit I call on all those in the Senate to speak truth to what they know.”
It is time for the leaders of this country to invoke the 25th Amendment. Isn’t it obvious? Today has made me sad with disbelief with what is happening in my country, a country that has inspired my songs of hope and love.
— Stevie Wonder (@StevieWonder) January 6, 2021
Wonder tweeted during the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol that he was “heartbroken” and called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked immediately to remove President Trump from office.
“Today has made me sad with disbelief with what is happening in my country, a country that has inspired my songs of hope and love,” he wrote.
