Public Enemy Influence

Public Enemy also reflected many of their Black Power-era nationalist ideas through their album covers, music videos, and overall aesthetic. Their logo was a statement in itself with the way it depicted a silhouetted figure with his back defiantly turned as he was caught in the target range of a gun. This seemed to imply that Black people were “public enemy number one” who always had a target on their backs in a white supremacist society (Watkins 98). However, the defiance that was portrayed in the posture of the figure hinted at the militant, rebellious attitude that Public Enemy celebrated in their music. Another example of how Public Enemy used visuals to express their form of nationalism was when they recreated a picture of the Black Panther Party by wearing paramilitary outfits (Decker 62). Even the overall image of the group itself was “carefully choreographed” with the leader of the group, Chuck D, crafting his public persona as “bold, serious-minded, and keenly intellectual” in order mimic images of sixties Black nationalist leaders, such as Malcolm X and the leader of the Black Panther Party, Huey Newton (Watkins). The group members would also wear clocks around their necks that were “inscribed with a red, black, and green image off the
The video shows armed struggles between Black men and police in riot gear. The final shot of the music video calls to mind images of the Black Panther Party staring down police decades before, with Sister Souljah shown staring unintimidated at the police who have their guns pointed at her. It also echoes Public Enemy’s logo of a person’s silhouette in the scope of a rifle with a defiant posture. (Decker