People Have the Power - VOTE 2020

VOTE 2020
On September 22nd, 2020, the climate action non-profit Pathway to Paris released a new video featuring individuals from around the world singing the song ‘People Have the Power,’ written by Pathway to Paris long standing supporter Patti Smith and the late Fred Sonic Smith.
The video is being released on September 22nd, which is the 6 year anniversary of Pathway to Paris and during climate week in NYC and also during Climate Week NYC 2020, which occurs September 21-27.
Along with Patti Smith and founders of Pathway to Paris, Jesse Paris Smith and Rebecca Foon, the video includes participants from 24 countries, 38 cities, and 6 continents. Notable among the 8 minutes of an incredible diversity of faces are Joan Baez, Ben Harper, Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk, Stella McCartney, Michael Stipe, Tibetan singer and Pathway to Paris Board Member - Tenzin Choegyal, Bill McKibben, Dr. Vandana Shiva, Cyndi Lauper, Angelique Kidjo, Youssou N'Dour, Chris Stills, Forward and Captain of the Italian National Basketball Team - Gigi Datome, Italian pop singer - Giovanni Caccamo, Lenny Kaye, Micah Nelson, Nikolai Fraiture (The Strokes), Italian singer Manuel Agnelli (After Hours), Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Icelandic Singer - Olof Arnalds, French Designer - Agnes B., Pennie Opal Plant and Michael Horse, French singer Zazie, and Rain Phoenix. The video also includes special cameos including family moments from Jackson Frederick Smith and many of the organization’s friends and collaborators from around the world - students, activists, artists, mayors, musicians, writers alike. Though the video may be humble in its production, it is impressive and powerful in its energy and messaging.
Both Patti and Jesse Paris Smith have often noted the history and intention of the chosen song. Fred Sonic Smith envisioned an anthem for the world, a clarion call for anyone who might need it, hoping for the song to serve as a unifying aid and amplifier for protest movements, political campaigns, and more. Though he did not live long enough to see this happen, his family has been continuously and deeply moved watching his dream come to fruition, perhaps long surpassing his expectations as the song grows in its usage around the world. Just as he imagined, it has been claimed globally by individuals and groups, sung by choirs, children, covered by bands and well known singers during festivals and recorded on charity compilations, chanted during marches and demonstrations, its lyrics adorning handmade signs carried by protesters, sung during political campaigns, gatherings for environmental and humanitarian causes, and often serving as a closing finale song for fundraisers and global concerts, as it has for every Pathway to Paris event since 2014.
This is the simple notion of the video: ‘VOTE.’ It is a call for Americans to vote in November, and it is a call for everyone in the world to vote in their own local elections, whenever they may be. Vote often and everywhere; in your country, in your state, in your city, in your neighborhood, in your school. Vote to choose something, vote to reject something. The word itself carries a great power, and so the concept has a heavier and broader meaning than the notion of casting a ballot during a presidential election. As the song states in its closing words, it is the plea to exercise your right to ‘use your voice-’ in every way. Identifying your own platforms, abilities, and resources, and using them to your advantage. It calls to use your voice in the voting polls, by writing letters, signing petitions, calling your local government officials, creating discussion groups, making videos, holding conferences, concerts, and meetings, and speaking to your family, friends, and neighbors. Have the difficult discussions, have the hopeful discussions, and ‘vote like your life depends on it, because it does.’ This coming election serves as an enormous opportunity to help move the Paris Agreement into action.
Pathway to Paris, over the course of many months, brings together what seems to be both our finale song for the current era, and an opening song for the next. Let’s not allow 2020 to be the finale for the end of the world, but a transition into something new, as we join together like never before in human history, to start a new chapter of true unity - a new era for each other, for our children, and for future generations.