Fear Of A Black Planet
1990 | Rock
“To revolutionize make a change nothing's strange, people, people we are the same. -- No we're not the same 'cause we don't know the game. -- What we need is awareness, we can't get careless. -- You say what is this? My beloved let's get down to business. -- Mental self defensive fitness (Yo) bum rush the show. -- You gotta go for what you know to make everybody see, in order to fight the powers that be."
Trivia
- The song hit #3 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles chart, #20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and #1 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.
- The song was conceived at the request of film director Spike Lee, who sought a musical theme for his 1989 film Do the Right Thing.
- In 2001, the song was ranked #288 in the "Songs of the Century" list compiled by the RIAA and the National Endowment for the Arts.
THE HOT TAKES
Luke Tatum
Fighting the power is a great idea! If only we could properly identify the enemy, rally together, and make things happen! But alas, this famous song seems to be entirely mislabeling the enemy. The sate codifies racism and gives it teeth. People with strong prejudices against other races tend to be ousted by their more accepting neighbors in society. It's the oppression of culture, bearing down on and minimizing bad behaviors. When the state is involved, though, you instead give these negative impulses an outlet. A fine example is the police. If you want to abuse people and get a real power trip, controlling the life or death of others, that should make you a pariah. But in today's world, you can be heralded as a hero, even as you pursue evil deeds. #BackTheBlue, don't you know?
Sherry Voluntary
The powers that be do need to be fought, but not to just be replaced with authoritarians of a different stripe. Authoritarians ARE the problem, and The State is the vehicle that gives them power.
Nicky P
I'm personally not a fan of racial based grouping. It would make my family situation difficult to say the least. That said, it's hard for me to tell anyone that they can't freely associate with whoever they want and hate whoever they want. I think racial hatred is a stupid tool used by an elite class to keep the commoners at bay. If we ever joined together they'd be fucked. The problem is I can't look at the world through my paradigm. Massive amounts of money and huge programs have been instituted to change the narrative for minorities in America. To anyone who understands history or economics it should appear to be nonsense but they've done well in the indoctrination camps to doctor history and removed economics from classrooms. It's hard to make rational decisions for yourselves or strike the appropriate enemy when you've been educated to fight the wrong target.