The sound of democracy

Horses, chickens, a goddess dragged from the sea, pride marches, diversity symbolism and the divine Janelle Monáe being effortlessly cool.

Monáe's new promo dazzles with eye-grabbing imagery, intercut with historical footage of racial oppression – from police brutality during 1960s protest marches, to recent scenes from the Black Lives Matter movement. "We kicking out the old regime / Liberation, elevation, education,” sings the Grammy-winning pop heroine in a soulful hip-hop anthem created in tandem with the upcoming Amazon Prime documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy. 

The song and its promo, which was directed by Child and produced by diversity-focussed production company Little Minx, is an emotive cry for justice that ultimately sends a message of hope: “America, yousa lie' / But the whole world 'bout to testify".

Part of Amazon Studio’s larger #AllInForVoting campaign, which aims to inspire voter turnout during the 2020 presidential election, the film explores the history of voter suppression in the US, which has particularly targeted Black Americans. Central to the film is the story of the former Democratic candidate for Georgia, Stacey Abrams, who was the first Black woman in US history to have won the gubernatorial nomination of either major party. Abrams controversially lost to Republican candidate Brian Kemp in the 2018 governor elections amid allegations of voter fraud.