The first hip-hop song I ever loved, “Fight the Power” is arguably the greatest hip-hop song ever, but part of me thinks Spike Lee’s video for it is even better. Every time I see it I find myself astonished that such a thing ever even happened, let alone was filmed. The most powerful aspect of its rally format is exactly what people are rallying around. With the exception of the song’s title there is literally no sloganeering to be found on any of the signs and placards–each is simply emblazoned with a proper noun or a person’s photograph, as though merely asserting the presence of “BROOKLYN,” “FLAVOR FLAV,” or Malcolm X is enough of a statement in and of itself, which at the time it was. It’s what I’ve called an “image of triumph-through-simply-existing” and it wows me every time.
