Power to the People!

"Power to the People!" is a political slogan that has been used in a wide variety of contexts. For other possible uses of the phrase "power to the people" see, power to the people (disambiguation).

During the 1960s in the United States, young people began saying and writing as a form of rebellion against what they perceived as the oppression of the older generation. In particular, the Black Panthers used the slogan "All Power to the People" to protest the rich, ruling class domination of society; pro-democracy students used it to protest America's military campaign in Vietnam.

In the 1974 book Computer Lib Ted Nelson connected computer use with political freedom with the rallying cry "COMPUTER POWER TO THE PEOPLE! DOWN WITH CYBERCRUD".

The 1970s television series Citizen Smith had the title character use the slogan in the title sequence.

In the mid-1980s the People Power movement arose in the Philippines to oust Ferdinand Marcos.

In the late 20th century the phrase has been most often used with regard to energy policy.

It is also a song by John Lennon and a lyric by James Brown: 'Power to the people!, people power!'

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 leftist 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.

The South African slogan "Amandla Ngawethu" or "Amandla Awethu" is also a popular variation of the Power to the People. It literally means "The power is ours" but is used in a similar way as "Power to the People".

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