Stevie Wonder's Grammys Message Is Very Important

An important moment took place at the 2016 Grammy Awards on Monday night. When he took to the stage to present Song of the Year, Stevie Wonder delivered an important message about disabilities and accessibility. It happened in the middle of the awards presentation, as Wonder was standing on the stage with the members of Pentatonix to present the award. The award ended up going to Ed Sheeran — but before the winner could be announced, a member of Pentatonix tried to read the card in Stevie Wonder’s hand. However, she would have been unable to — the winner was written on the card in braille.

Of course, the card was written in braille for Wonder — but the best part of the whole moment happened when Wonder started to laugh and took the opportunity to lightly tease her for not being able to read braille while he could. But after the laughter died down on stage and in the audience, Wonder took the opportunity to make a point about accessibility for all people with disabilities, saying that this is why the world needs to work to make all aspects of life accessible. And his message is about more than just making things wheelchair accessible — although that’s obviously a big part of it. There are people who are otherwise not able-bodied whose lives are impacted every day by the world’s lack of accessibility.

The moment was a funny one, but it was also one of the more important moments of the evening. In between the impressive performances and expensive gowns, I appreciate that Stevie Wonder took the opportunity to speak out and make an important point about how we and our world can be better.