By now, most people know all about the Black-on-Black violence epidemic plaguing the United States. Many social media users and celebrities have verbally expressed their frustrations over the ongoing problem and now Stevie Wonder has given the world his opinion. Although the Songs in the Key of Life singer understands the purpose of Black Lives Matter, there’s something about it that he can’t seem to grasp and he has a compelling statement for fans.
Stop the Violence:
On Saturday, June 17, Stevie Wonder participated in the North Minneapolis Conference on Peace. The event was held to help put an end to gun violence among our youth. During the event, the legendary artist spoke to the young crowd with the hope of motivating them to put the weapons down. But, since Black Lives Matter is a very sensitive subject right now, Stevie’s delivery may have come off a bit brash for some.
“It is in your hands to stop all the killing and all the shooting wherever it might be, because you cannot say Black lives matter and then kill yourselves,” Stevie said.
Here’s a clip of Stevie’s statement:
Fans’ Reaction:
Although Stevie probably meant to shed light on the issue of Black-on-Black crime in hopes of a positive outcome, many fans aren’t exactly pleased with his statement. In fact, many have dragged the Grammy Award-winning singer for allegedly failing to see all of the issues that contribute to the deaths of so many African Americans in the United States. Needless to say, some social media users have absolutely no filter so some of the comments are quite brash as a result.
Here’s what Black Twitter has to say:
Stevie needs to see what's going on on this streets. It's terrible. #BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/3Vnz1jJoa6
— D (@dilemmv) June 20, 2017
Oh Stevie, honey…. no…
— ⛈️ (@smoochitworse) June 20, 2017
.@Blavity could one person write a memo to all black celebrities explaining why Black Lives Matter, and what it means as a reality. Urgh!
— The Realist (@XmenCoalition) June 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/PelicanDick/status/877233593612894209
Stevie Wonder has yet to respond to the backlash…we’ll keep y’all posted.
