Patti Smith is a singer and poet. As the ‘Godmother of Punk’, she protested against social conventions, mindless factory labour and the commercialised world with her powerful and controversial music. She grew up with the music of Bob Dylan, lived together with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and became a familiar face in the turbulent art scene of New York City. In 1974 Smith started performing with guitarist Lenny Kaye, forming the core of The Patti Smith Group. Her debut album Horses (1975) is considered to be one of the most influential albums in the history of rock music. With Bruce Springsteen she wrote Because the Night, her biggest hit. In addition to many albums, Smith also published poetry and books, including Just Kids (2010), her award-winning autobiography on life in New York in the seventies and her relation with Mapplethorpe.

People have the power, is probably one of the most famous and powerful protest songs of all time. it could easily adapt to any cause and eventually inspires optimism in those who sing the song, clearly stating that we have the individual power to realize our dreams of a better society by standing together.

“We had both protested the Vietnam War when we were young. We had been part of the ’60s, where our cultural voice was really strong, and we were trying to write a song that would reintroduce that kind of energy. It’s sad for me but quite beautiful. It was really Fred’s song — even though I wrote the words, he wrote the music; the concept was his, and he wanted it to be a song that people sang all over the world to inspire them for different causes. And he didn’t live to see that happen, but I have. I’ve seen people. I’ve walked in marches all over the world where people spontaneously started singing it, you know, whether it’s been in Paris or with the Palestinians or, you know, in Spain or New York City, Washington D.C. — and it’s so moving for me to see his dream realized.”

Patti recalled the moment Fred burst into their kitchen with the idea for this song:

“It was around 1986. I was in the kitchen. My late husband was writing music, and he was a great songwriter, Fred “Sonic” Smith, and we were writing some songs together. And I was peeling potatoes, and I remember I was in a bad mood because I had, you know, I was making dinner and washing the clothes and peeling potatoes. And in the middle of it, Fred came in and said, ‘Tricia, people have the power, write it.’ And I was standing there with a potato peeler thinking I’d like to have the power to make him peel these potatoes, that’s what I’d like… but I kept him.”

“So for the next few nights, I really contemplated — because Fred was very political, and we talked about it, what we wanted to do with this line, which was Fred’s. And what we wanted to do was remind the listener of their individual power but also of the collective power of the people, how we can do anything. That’s why at the end it goes, ‘I believe everything we dream can come to pass, through our union we can turn the world around, we can turn the earth’s revolution.’ We wrote it consciously together to inspire people, to inspire people to come together.”

Basically, it is an anthem for dreamers and to love. Even if this is not the highest point reached by Patti Smith’s music, the musical composition is simple, repetitive but truly effective and powerful. It has been covered by artists such as Bruce Springsteen (her writing partner in 1978’s “Because The Night”) and U2. Recently, in December 2015, to close their show at Accorhotels Arena, U2 invited The Eagles of Death Metal to sing this song, for their first public live performance after the slaughter which occurred during their show at the Bataclan in Paris on November 13, 2015.

An online petition posted in May reached 300,000 signatures by mid-October and was followed by regular mass demonstrations beginning on 17 November.

The movement is motivated by rising fuel prices, high cost of living and claims that a disproportionate burden of the government's tax reforms were falling on the working and middle classes, especially in rural and peri-urban areas.

The protesters have called for lower fuel taxes, reintroduction of the solidarity tax on wealth, a minimum wage increase, and Emmanuel Macron's resignation as President of France. The movement spans the political spectrum. According to one poll, few of those protesting had voted for Macron in the 2017 French presidential election, and many had either not voted, or had voted for far-right or far-left candidates.

The protests have mainly involved marches and the blocking of roads and fuel depots. Some of the protests developed into major riots, described as the most violent since those of May 1968.

Yellow vests were chosen as a symbol because, since 2008, a law had required all French motorists to have high-visibility vests in their vehicles when driving. As a result, reflective vests had become widely available, inexpensive, and recognisable.

Protesters with similar grievances used the yellow vest symbol in many places around the world.

Spanish media related the movement to the economic crisis, Stéphane Hessel's Time for Outrage!, the NEET-troubled generation and current demonstrations in the Middle East and North Africa, Iran, Greece, and Portugal, as well as the 2009 Icelandic demonstrations. Demonstrators protested high unemployment rates, welfare cuts, Spanish politicians, and the two-party system in Spain, as well as the political system, capitalism, banks, and political corruption. Many called for basic rights, of home, work, culture, health and education.

According to RTVE, the Spanish public broadcasting company, between 6.5 and 8 million Spaniards participated in these events.

The Occupy movement partly inspired by the Arab Spring, 2009 Iranian Green Movement, and the Spanish Indignados Movement, as well as the overall global wave of antii-austerity protests. The movement commonly uses the slogan "We are the 99%", the #Occupy hashtag format, and organizes through websites such as Occupy Together. According to The Washington Post, the movement, which has been described as a "democratic awakening" by Cornel West, is difficult to distill to a few demands. On 12 October 2011, Los Angeles City Council became one of the first governmental bodies in the United States to adopt a resolution stating its informal support of the Occupy movement. In October 2012 the Executive Director of Financial Stability at the Bank of England stated the protesters were right to criticise and had persuaded bankers and politicians "to behave in a more moral way".