"Power to the people" is a cultural expression and political slogan that has been used in a wide variety of contexts.
"Power to the people" is a cultural expression and political slogan that has been used in a wide variety of contexts.
During the 1960s in the United States, young people began speaking and writing this phrase as a form of rebellion against what they perceived as oppression by the older generation, especially The Establishment. The Black Panthers used the slogan "All Power to the People" to protest the rich, ruling class domination of society. [1] Pro-democracy students used it to protest American involvement in the Vietnam War. [2]
In his 1974 book Computer Lib , Ted Nelson connected computer use with political freedom with the rallying cry "Computer power to the people! Down with the cybercrud." In the mid-1980s the People Power movement arose in the Philippines to oust Ferdinand Marcos. In the late 20th century and early 21st century the phrase has been used with regard to energy policy. [3]
The Pakistan Peoples Party has as its creed, "Islam is our faith; democracy is our politics; socialism is our economy; all power to the people." [4]
During the Anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa, the terms Amandla and Matla were used frequently during speeches and rallies, this was followed by the crowd responding with Awethu or Kee A Rona. These terms respectively mean "Power" and "To the people". These terms are still frequently used in ANC meetings and conferences as well as among student activist groups such as SASCO and the ANC Youth League.
Margaret Thatcher criticised the use of the slogan by the left in a 1986 speech: "Socialists cry 'Power to the people', and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean - power over people, power to the State." [5]
It is also the name of the left-wing to far-left Italian coalition Potere al Popolo.
In the 2016 film Captain Fantastic , the phrase "Power to the people" (with the response "Stick it to the man!") is used at a pivotal point near the climax of the film. [6]
The 1970s television series Citizen Smith had the title character use the slogan in the title sequence. [7]
"Power to the people" is the title of a 1971 song [8] by John Lennon and a lyric by James Brown: "Power to the people, people power!". "Power to the people, 'cause the people want peace" is also chanted on the Public Enemy album New Whirl Odor . Rage Against the Machine quoted the slogan in their song "Year of tha Boomerang". The Jamaican reggae band Rootz Underground wrote a song entitled "Power to the People" in which they quote this slogan in both English and South African versions.
Saxophonist Joe Henderson released his album Power to the People in 1969.
One of the more politically extreme singer-songwriters is Quino, the lead singer of the reggae band Big Mountain who also wrote a song entitled "Power to the People" and then had a tattoo of "Power to the People" along with the fist placed on his chest.
The glam metal rock band Poison released a single titled Power to the People as a single on May 23, 2000. [9] The song served as the lead single and title track for their fifth studio album Power to the People that was released on June 13, 2000, via the band's independent label, Cyanide Music. [10] It marked the return of the band's original lineup, together for the first time since 1991's Swallow This Live with the return of C.C. DeVille who replaced Blues Saraceno. [11]
The electronic house music artist Basement Jaxx released a song titled "Power to the People" on their album Junto in 2014. [12]
A popular variation of the slogan is "Power to the Poor People!" Amongst others, the South African social movement the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign uses the slogan to express the need for poor people to control their own movements rather than have wealthy donors or NGOs control or speak for them. The divide between South Africa's independent social movements and many leftist and vanguard organisations in South Africa has become a point of contention. [14] [15]
The South African slogan "Amandla Ngawethu" or "Amandla Awethu" is also a popular variation of the Power to the People. It means "The power is ours" but is used in a similar way as "Power to the People". It is often used in a call and response format, with the speaker shouting "Amandla" and the crowd replying "Awethu".
Another variation of the slogan was "Power to the People at Home," used for advertising purposes by Village Roadshow's home video division, Roadshow Entertainment in the mid-1990s. [16]
The slogan of video game retailer GameStop, "Power to the Players", is a variation of the "Power to the People" slogan.
"There is no alternative" (TINA) is a political slogan originally arguing that liberal capitalism is the only viable system. At the turn of the 21st century the TINA rhetoric became closely tied to neoliberalism, and its traits of liberalization and marketization. Politicians used it to justify policies of fiscal conservatism and austerity.
Toyi-toyi is a Southern African dance used in political protests in South Africa.
Cloud cuckoo land is a state of absurdly, over-optimistic fantasy or an unrealistically idealistic state of mind where everything appears to be perfect. Someone who is said to "live in cloud cuckoo land" is a person who thinks that things that are completely impossible might happen, rather than understanding how things really are. It also hints that the person referred to is naive, unaware of realities or deranged in holding such an optimistic belief.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) was a South African popular front that existed from 1983 to 1991. The UDF comprised more than 400 public organizations including trade unions, students' unions, women's and parachurch organizations. The UDF's goal was to establish a "non-racial, united South Africa in which segregation is abolished and in which society is freed from institutional and systematic racism." Its slogan was "UDF Unites, Apartheid Divides." The Front was established in 1983 to oppose the introduction of the Tricameral Parliament by the white-dominated National Party government, and dissolved in 1991 during the early stages of the transition to democracy.
"¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!" is a Chilean protest song, whose music was composed by Sergio Ortega Alvarado and the text written in conjunction with the Quilapayún band. Together with the song "Venceremos", also by Ortega, it is one of the most successful songs of the Nueva canción chilena movement. The theme has a marching rhythm, highlighting its chorus, which is a shout or slogan with only percussion. The song has been used in various protests around the world against either left or right-wing dictatorships, most of which have no direct connection to the Chilean coup or Latin America. The lyrics have been adapted or translated into many languages.
Amandla in the Nguni languages Xhosa and Zulu means "power". The word was a popular rallying cry in the days of resistance against apartheid, used by the African National Congress and its allies. The leader of a group would call out "Amandla!" and the crowd would respond with "Awethu" or "Ngawethu!", completing the South African version of the rallying cry "power to the people!". The word is still associated with struggles against oppression.
Radio Freedom also called Radio Zambia was a South African radio arm of the African National Congress (ANC) and its fighting wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) during the anti-Apartheid struggle from the 1970s through the 1990s. It was the oldest liberation radio station in Africa. Listening to Radio Freedom in Apartheid-era South Africa was a crime carrying a penalty of up to eight years in prison.
Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 4 May 1979 when she accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, succeeding James Callaghan of the Labour Party, and ended on 28 November 1990 upon her resignation. She was elected to the position in 1979, having led the Conservative Party since 1975, and won landslide re-elections for the Conservatives in 1983 and 1987. She gained intense media attention as Britain's first female prime minister, and was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. Her premiership ended when she withdrew from the 1990 Conservative leadership election. As prime minister, Thatcher also served simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Leader of the Conservative Party.
Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. Her portrayal in the arts and popular culture has been mixed. In the words of one critic she attracted "musical opprobrium like no other British political leader". Such opinion is divergent from mainstream opinion polling which tends to place her as the most popular British prime minister since Winston Churchill.
No Land! No House! No Vote! is the name of a campaign by a number of poor people's movements in South Africa that calls for the boycotting of the vote and a general rejection of party politics and vote banking. The name is meant to imply that if government does not deliver on issues important to affected communities these movements will not vote.
The South African Unemployed Peoples' Movement is a social movement with branches in Durban, Grahamstown and Limpopo Province in South Africa. It is often referred to as the Unemployed People's Movement or UPM. The organisation is strongly critical of the ruling African National Congress government.
South Africa has been dubbed "the protest capital of the world", with one of the highest rates of public protests in the world.
On 2 February 1990, the State President of South Africa F. W. de Klerk delivered a speech at the opening of the 1990 session of the Parliament of South Africa in Cape Town in which he announced sweeping reforms that marked the beginning of the negotiated transition from apartheid to constitutional democracy. The reforms promised in the speech included the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) and other anti-apartheid organisations, the release of political prisoners including Nelson Mandela, the end of the state of emergency, and a moratorium on the death penalty.
"Sing Our Own Song" is a song written and performed by British reggae group UB40. It features backing singers Jaki Graham, Mo Birch and Ruby Turner and appeared as the ninth and final track on their seventh album, Rat in the Kitchen (1986). Released in 1986, it reached number five on the UK Singles Chart and became a number-one hit in the Netherlands.
The appearance of Ronald Reagan in music includes mentions and depictions of the actor-turned-politician in songs, albums, music videos, and band names, particularly during his two terms as President of the United States. Reagan first appeared on a few album covers during his time as a Hollywood actor, well before his political career. During the 1960s, folk, rock, and satirical musicians criticized Reagan in his early years as Governor of California for his red-baiting and attacking of the Berkeley-based Free Speech Movement. In the 1980s, songs critiquing Reagan became more widespread and numerous once he ascended to national office and involved himself in the renewal of the Cold War, the nuclear arms race, social conservatism, right-wing evangelicalism, and his economic policies in relation to low-income people. While references to Reagan during his presidency appear in pop music, his presence in song lyrics and on album covers is often associated with the hardcore punk counter-culture of the 1980s.
The apartheid regime in South Africa began in 1948 and lasted until 1994. It involved a system of institutionalized racial segregation and white supremacy, and placed all political power in the hands of a white minority. Opposition to apartheid manifested in a variety of ways, including boycotts, non-violent protests, and armed resistance. Music played a large role in the movement against apartheid within South Africa, as well as in international opposition to apartheid. The impacts of songs opposing apartheid included raising awareness, generating support for the movement against apartheid, building unity within this movement, and "presenting an alternative vision of culture in a future democratic South Africa."
There have been incidents of racism in the Conservative Party since at least 1964. Conservative shadow defence minister Enoch Powell's "Rivers of Blood" speech in 1968 was both influential and widely regarded as anti-immigrant with racist overtones; the party's leader at the time, Edward Heath, condemned it, although some Conservative MPs defended Powell's speech. Since then, accusations have been made about several leading members of the party and its policies; these have related to prejudice against non-white people.
"Dubul' ibhunu", translated as shoot the Boer, as kill the Boer or as kill the farmer, is a controversial anti-apartheid South African song. It is sung in Xhosa or Zulu. The song originates in the struggle against apartheid when it was first sung to protest the Afrikaner-dominated apartheid government of South Africa.
The call to Make South Africa ungovernable was a political slogan of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. It is closely associated with mass mobilisation against apartheid in the latter half of the 1980s. The slogan originated in a series of speeches by African National Congress (ANC) leader Oliver Tambo in 1984 and 1985, but it was adopted inside South Africa by the supporters of the United Democratic Front and associated civic organisations.