From Art To Action, These Songs Were Nothing To Play With

ron and ernie isley
Via Wikimedia Commons
Adè Hennis
February 9, 2026

It was a fight against a formidable yet despicable opponent: the colonial power system. Fortunately for these artists they had a few songs in their repertoires to inspire our people.

#1: Go Down Moses - Fort Monroe Escaped Slaves 

With its earliest rendition dated to July 1862, “Go Down Moses” was a spiritual sung by Black people to tell our story from bondage to freedom. Throughout the years, popular artists like Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole would record their own versions of the song.

#2: Fight The Power - Isley Brothers 

The inspiration for Public Enemy’s sensational version, the Isley Brothers were unapologetically fed up with police brutality and inequality, that when recording the 1975 version, Ronald Isley used profanity, something rare in a hit soul song.

#3: Fight The Power - Public Enemy 

Chuck D knew that when he and Flavor Flav made their 1989 song, they wanted it to be like the Isley Brothers’ version, but edgier. And what was once a movie soundtrack became a hit.

It doesn’t matter if it’s hymns, soul, or hip-hop, the true beauty of these songs is that they all share the sweet sound of resistance. And when we all stand together we can properly tune up the band for Black liberation.

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