This particular year, as we were twirling around singing the song, I asked, “Where is Martin Luther King now, Mother?” My mom would pick me up and dance with me in her arms. But in the Smith household, there were always two constants on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday: no one went to school or work, and the record player had Stevie Wonder’s “Hotter Than July” album blaring, with me going over to replay “Happy Birthday” again and again. And by the time I was in first grade, I was used to a very meaningful tradition in my family.Īt this point in time, MLK Day was not yet recognized as a national holiday. My brother and I knew about Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan, even. Generations just copying tradition without knowing the origin. It wasn’t until I asked a group of our student-athletes here at Cal (who were more “woke” than most) if they knew who the song was intended for, that I understood the disconnect.
We’ll appease people and sing the traditional version all the way through, then immediately bust out in the more enthusiastic rendition Stevie released in 1980.įor a long time, I thought every black person knew the meaning behind the song. The Stevie Wonder version of “Happy Birthday” is very popular in the Black community.
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