Songs of Protest: Challenging the Norm in “Fight the Power”
Public Enemy’s 1989 rap classic “Fight the Power” teaches us to refute unjust and corrupt powers in place and stand in solidarity against them.
Music is one of society’s best teachers. In Songs of Protest, writers analyze some of music’s greatest hits, using their findings to make sense of the world around them.
Written by Andrew Zhang
Photo courtesy of Motown Records
In the first episode of Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed 2019 miniseries “When They See Us,” five black, male teenagers walk with a group into Central Park to the ‘80s hip-hop rap beat of Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power.” These young men — Korey Wise, Raymond Santana Jr., Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, and Yusef Salaam — are eventually arrested and prosecuted in one of the most well-known demonstrations of police misconduct in U.S. history. “Fight the Power” chillingly fits with the entrance of the five into the park, considering the song’s background as an iconic power anthem.
Released alongside Spike Lee’s 1989 film “Do the Right Thing,” “Fight the Power” was destined to call attention to societal imbalances and injustices. Lee wanted a powerful tune that could match his film’s serious theme of racial tensions in Brooklyn, and commissioned the project to Public Enemy.
Though the hip hop group released “Fight the Power” 30 years ago, its message is timeless.
The song’s first verse establishes the importance of speaking out, even in the fear of being silenced:
“Our freedom of speech is freedom of death
We got to fight the powers that be”
“Fight the Power” has roots in the American struggle for civil rights equality. These lines highlight protests and periods of civil unrest in that struggle, like the Watts riots. In a democracy, the freedom of speech that Public Enemy describes is a keystone of society, the primary way that people demonstrate their disapproval of those in power.
However, freedom of speech entails that those who speak out won’t be prosecuted, a continually contested idea that meets a solution in the song:
“Fight the power
We've got to fight the powers that be”
While this hook seems to discuss police misconduct and brutality, as demonstrated in events like the Central Park jogger case, it also hints that laws and societal hierarchy help cultivate discrimination. Therefore, the song’s central message entails standing up to the powers in place — any law, person, or social norm that promotes corruption and unfairness in society.
Ultimately, this desire to rise against injustice stems from an outlook of not just wanting, but demanding, justice. It’s a way of life that needs to be enacted:
“We got to pump the stuff to make ya tough
From the heart
It's a start, a work of art
To revolutionize make a change nothing's strange
People, people we are the same”
These lines reveal that protestors, whether in the Watts riots of 1965 or the Black Lives Matter movement of today, simply want to show how their lives aren’t given the same regard as others.
“Fight the Power” also explains that oppressive powers use different methods to protect the unequal hierarchy, such as education, which subtly promotes some groups over others.
“Sample a look back you look and find
Nothing but rednecks for 400 years if you check”
While “Fight the Power” clearly expresses societal injustice and the power of rising up, it’s also a call to action. In the song’s introduction, a soundbite from a cigarette commercial calls for all people to participate:
“Yet our best trained, best educated, best equipped, best prepared troops refuse to fight. As a matter of fact, it’s safe to say that they would rather switch than fight.”
Image courtesy of Motown Records
Even beyond American society, unjust powers in place across the world have been confronted by citizens demanding change. Hong Kong has been in historic period of civil unrest, as citizens fight against a more powerful China from encroaching on their democracy. In Chile, citizens are standing strong against rising bus fares and entrenched social inequality. Iranians are protesting the country’s brutal authoritarian leadership.
For many people, including me, who are lucky enough to not have firsthand experiences with powers that contradict our very existence, “Fight the Power” motivates us to open our eyes and recognize the inequality in the world that lies in plain sight. But for every person, “Fight the Power” is a strong message that rallies us against the powers that aim to divide us along the differences that collectively define our own identities.