Racism In Stevie Wonder And The Black Power Movement

As one can see, there was a humongous amount of control that Motown and Berry Gordy had over Stevie Wonder’s youth. As result, after the contract change, Wonder was in a distinct position to change the course of his career through musical exploration. Ultimately, the freedom that he gains serves as a major reason towards the more socially conscious music to come in the mid to late 1970’s.
Stevie Wonder’s musical exploration in his albums Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness’ First Finale, and Songs in the Key of Life from the span of 1972-1976 cover a multitude of issues revolving around black empowerment and civil justice that encapsulated the social issues surrounding that time period. In a time where the Black Power movement was mainly associated with violence and black militancy, Stevie Wonder was able to capture a

The track “Superstitions”, while not making as overt of a lyrical critique of racism as “Big Brother”, with the lyrics “When you believe in things you don’t understand, you suffer/Superstition ain’t the way”, he hints at the idea that superstition will not save you in times of overt racism. It’s concrete knowledge of surroundings that will lead to safety as opposed to living on a prayer (Gaines). As Gaine’s also covers in his piece Music Is a World: Stevie Wonder and the Sound of Black Power, there is also a musical element to “Superstition” that points towards the Afro-diasporic elements of self-awareness and consciousness. He cites the “tempo of Wonder’s drum kit” that implements elements of both funk and African Highlife (Gaines). He similarly makes claim to the idea that while the song pleads for consciousness in such desperate times, both the African drum kit is and the funk-beat are utilized to create a danceable sound that ultimately can be used to create a united front towards the black power