Kevin Mazur/WireImageShawn Mendes‘ latest video comes complete with the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The video, for Shawn’s song “Youth,” is now available on Apple Music, but you can see several clips online. If you play one of them, tweeted out by Dr. King’s son Martin Luther King III, you’ll hear the civil rights leader’s voice, from a famous speech he gave at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia in 1967.
King told the students, “However young you are, don’t be ashamed of your biological features, don’t be ashamed of your color, don’t allow anybody to make you feel that you are nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that you must be involved in the struggle for freedom and justice.”
In the caption, MLK III writes, “My father’s message 51 years ago to a jr high school in Pennsylvania is just as powerful today. We are proud to support @applemusic on this! Your Vote, Your Power, Your Generation! #YouCantTakeOurYouthAway.”
Shawn was inspired to write “Youth” after the 2017 Manchester bombing that killed 22 people at Ariana Grande‘s concert. But at this moment, the video is designed to empower young people, and encourage them to vote.
The footage shows a number of young people of all races, shapes and sizes — some of whom are disabled — pursuing their passions, such as dance, magic, debating, acting and more.
According to Billboard, the full clip runs seven minutes, and also includes footage from this year’s March For Our Lives rally, including a clip of Stoneman Douglas High School survivor David Hogg saying, “If you listen real close, you can hear the people in power shaking.”
“Youth,” a duet with Grammy-nominated R&B star Khalid, is on Shawn’s new, self-titled album.
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
