Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday was on January 15th, but we celebrated yesterday and I actually meant to have this post yesterday. Complete user error with the scheduling plug-in.
We sang this version of “Happy Birthday” when I was growing up more than we sang the traditional version, and at times it felt odd to sing the traditional slow one. I always knew that it was the Stevie Wonder version, I just didn’t find out that it was originally recorded as part of the campaign to have MLK Jr.’s birthday recognized as a national holiday until I was in middle school. In fact, I found out that one of my cousin’s didn’t know that until this weekend when I informed her.
Stevie was one of the celebrities lobbying for MLK Jr.’s birthday to be recognized as a national holiday back in the early 80’s. The song was released in 1981 as a single and also on his album ‘Hotter than July’. I’m not sure if y’all know the actual history behind having the holiday recognized, but it was signed into law by President Reagan in 1983, and celebrated for the first time in 1986. It wasn’t widely accepted, in fact many states combined it with other holidays or didn’t recognize it at all for years! It wasn’t until 2000 (yes, 14 years after it was signed into federal law) that it was recognized and celebrated in all 50 states! Crazy!
I’m sure you guys have heard the song before, but I wanted to share it again. It’s a great, catchy tune and knowing the history behind it makes me love it that much more.