Stevie Wonder knelt before a packed New York festival Saturday in a protest for peace as he led stars and politicians in pressing for sustained aid to eliminate the world's worst poverty. On a balmy late summer night, thousands converged on Central Park for the live-broadcast Global Citizen Festival which hands out tickets for free to fans who take actions such as petitioning their governments to support development assistance.
With President Donald Trump proposing sweeping aid cuts, the concert had set a goal of building political momentum in the world's largest donor nation. But in a deeply divided United States, another Trump controversy came to the forefront.
Wonder took the stage and knelt, emulating a gesture popularized by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the national anthem to denounce racial injustice. Trump on Friday angrily denounced such protests, using profanity to demand that teams fire the athletes.