I was listening to holiday songs the other day when I had an epiphany.
You see, so often when we 'listen' to music, even when we sing along, we don't pay attention to the lyrics.
The song that came on was "Someday at Christmas", by Stevie Wonder. It's a Christmas classic, isn't it? We hear it every year. Except this year I actually heard it. Lyrics like these:
One warm December our hearts will see
A world where men are free
Or these:
someday at Christmas there'll be no tears
When all men are equal and no man has fears
One shining moment one prayer away
From our world today...
Someday at Christmas man will not fail
Hate will be gone and love will prevail
This song was released in 1967. The heart of the Civil Rights Era. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a well-known activist for equal rights. The lyrics for this song could relate closely to an MLK speech, a Black person's Christmas wish for a time where they would receive equal treatment and have the freedoms taken for granted by everyone else.
I was stupefied when I realized just how different this song must resonate with Black people. For white people, it's just another holiday song on the radio. What we should recognize is the plaintive cry of people desperate to be free of the yoke of oppression and racism lived under for so long. Just wishing for a holiday, sometime in the future where Black people can celebrate peacefully in their homes, knowing they are equal and free of oppression. Are we there yet? No, we've got a long way to go.
Someday, Stevie. We are trying. I hope in our children's lifetimes, Black people will experience the holidays of your song.
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