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The Power of Our Voices

Congratulations to the winning protest song writers and performers of 2013!
Read the Amnesty blog | Read winner Isla's Huffington Post blog

Performance Winner + Overall Winner

Gypsy's Anchor, Truro + Penwith College: Listen to Full Score

Lyrics Winner

Isla Ratcliff, The City of Edinburgh Music School, Edinburgh: Listen to Death Row | Lyrics (pdf) | Read article about Isla's win 

Performance runners up

Death Row, Broughton High School
How Is This Fair, Westland Community School
Protection, Harris Purley Academy
Listen to them on the playlist above | Long list

Lyrics runners up

Coming Out Of The Ghetto: Forthview Primary School, Edinburgh
Dark Room Alone: Littleover Community School, Derby
Broughton High School, Edinburgh 
Silent Participation: Alderley Edge School For Girls, Cheshire
Long list

Order your free Power Of Our Voices pack

Protest song packYour FREE digital Power of Our Voices pack will include lesson plans, PowerPoints, music and videos.

Please note: This year's protest song competition closed on 31 January 2013. Entry forms for next year's protest song competition will be made available later this summer.

Sample resources to download

Lesson Plan 1: Protest Music Through The Ages (pdf)
Lesson 1: Sample case studies (pdf)
Lesson Plan 2: Personal stories and protest songs (pdf)
Lesson Plan 3: Writing Your Own Protest Song (pdf)
Assembly: The Singer And The Song (pdf)
Booklet (pdf)
Credits (pdf)
Any questions? Contact us on student@amnesty.org.uk | +44 (0)20 7033 1596

About the Power Of Our Voices pack

From the struggles of suffragettes to recent uprisings in the Middle East explore how protest songs have inspired, informed and united movements and changed history

Meet artists like former child soldier Emmanuel Jal who are using words and music to make a stand for human rights and fight for change. 

Secondary and FE students aged 11-19 can discover the power of their own voices by writing their own protest lyrics  and developing it into a performance. Who is the pack for?

This pack has been written for teachers of 11-16 year old students:

English: Improve literacy outcomes by inspiring students to be creative and imaginative in their use of language

Citizenship/PSE/PSHEE: Make human rights relevant to students and get them involved in informed and responsible action through songwriting

Music: Encourage students to engage with music from different times, cultures and contexts, and inspire them to create their own compositions.

Cross-curricular work and drop-down days

The pack is also appropriate for:

  • Assemblies promoting students' social, moral, cultural and spiritual development
  • Amnesty youth groups in raising awareness about what they do and getting others involved
  • Students pursuing their Arts Award  

Performance Long List


The Malala Song: Belle Vue Girls School, Bradford, West Yorks 
Death Row: Broughton High School, Edinburgh 
Crying Out For Light: The Glasgow Academy, Glasgow
Protection: Harris Academy Purley, Surrey
Spare A Dime: Northgate Sixth Form, Ipswich, Suffolk
Child Soldier Reasoning: St. Andrew's School, Reading, West Berks
No Voice: St Aidans C E High School, Harrogate, North Yorks
Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Thornhill College, Londonderry, County Londonderry
Protest Song: Truro and Penwith College, Truro, Cornwall
How Is This Fair? Westergate Community School, Chichester, West Sussex
Soldier Boy: Westergate Community School, Chichester, West Sussex 

Lyrics

Click on the links below to download a pdf of the long listed lyrics:

Child Soldier Song: The Wye Valley School, Buckingham
Coming Out Of The Ghetto: Forthview Primary School, Edinburgh
Crying Out For Light: The Glasgow Academy, Glasgow
Dark Room Alone: Littleover Community School, Derby
Death Row: Broughton High School, Edinburgh 
Is It Better When I'm Not There: The Wye Valley School
Light In The Darkness: Nonsuch High School for Girls, Surrey
My Story: The Folkestone Academy
Protest Song: Truro and Penwith College, Truro, Cornwall
Silent Participation: Alderley Edge School For Girls, Cheshire
Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Thornhill College, Londonderry, County Londonderry