Black Man by Stevie Wonder (1976)

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Songs in the Key of Life Cover

Black Man is a track written by Stevie Wonder and Gary Byrd released in 1976 from Wonder’s album Songs in the Key of Life.

The song is about Wonder’s hope and desire for worldwide interracial harmony as well as criticism of racism. As the song used color-based terminology; black, yellow, red, white, brown, it described different racial groups. [1]

Black Man is a song about all the great achievements by Americans of different colors. [2]

Stevie Wonder

Black Empowerment

Black Man reflects different races in America, over 20 individuals of different races. Well known figures mentioned: Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Sacagawea, Harriet Tubman, Cesar Chavez. The first intro stating “First man to die / For the flag we now hold high” refers to Crispus Attucks, a man of Wampanoag and African descent, an escaped slave and a martyr of the Massacre in Boston.

Racism still happens, Wonder’s Black Man remains a powerful and simple expression of love of humanity. [3]

New York producer, Brennan Williams declares that Wonder is "one of the greatest artists of humankind."

“Given the recent events of civil unrest, and the murders of innocent men and women, I felt it was necessary to acknowledge and accurately represent the immense diversity of Black men using the context and framework of Stevie’s song,” Williams said in a statement.

“In addition to paying homage to the Grammy Award winner, I wanted to recognize ancestors, influencers, and history makers, past and present. Some faces you may not recognize — including my late father, who was a producer and inspired me to pursue a career in music — but these individuals are conscious, working, influential, and servicing their communities. These are people who deserve to be celebrated.” [4]

Below is part of lyrics from Black Man performed by Stevie Wonder:

We pledge allegiance all our lives to the magic colors

Red, blue and white

But we all must be given the liberty that we defend

For with justice not for all men/History will repeat again

It’s time we learned/This world was made for all men [5]

References