Musical legend Stevie Wonder has been an active artist for decades, singing and working for civil rights, but as he explained on Friday to Rev. Al Sharpton during Advancing the Dream: Live from the Apollo, he believes there’s still much more work to do.
“As happy and excited as I am about what has happened, I am so eager to see us move forward and do the things that we still have yet to accomplish,” he said. “We need people to lead, to get out front on big issues, and not to be afraid. to be bold. to be courageous.”
He also spoke specifically about the need for artists to be active in helping the next generation and working to curb violence.
“I think that if artists really care about what’s happening to the youth, if artists really care about what’s happening with gun violence, if an artist really cares about what we need to do to make a difference with what is not happening and how many people that are against some sort of gun control,” he said, calling on his fellow artists to “commit ourselves as artists to confront, to write, to talk about, to deal with those things.”
He also answered questions from Rev. Sharpton about his incredible rise to overcome adversity.
“I made Dr. King’s dream my own,” he said. “God has always been the purpose for me in knowing and believing that there’s nothing bigger in life. God is bigger than life, and so in life, we just have to do great things. We just have to believe and know that nothing incredible is impossible.”
Watch more of our extended interview with all our guests, including Stevie Wonder’s special rendition of “We Shall Overcome” below.
Morgan Whitaker