Delayed reaction: Civil Rights attorney
Thomas N. Todd (aka "TNT") died February 18th, 2024.
I do pilates three days a week, and every time my trainer tells me to "switch", like "switch to two springs", I think (and sometimes even say) "they would rather SWITCH, than fight!", from Public Enemy's
Fight the Power. So I finally decided to see if I could find the origin of the sample, and this is how I learned about Todd.
Quote:
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"Fight the Power" begins with a vocal sample of civil rights attorney and activist Thomas "TNT" Todd, speechifying in a resonant, agitated voice, "Yet our best trained, best educated, best equipped, best prepared troops refuse to fight. Matter of fact, it's safe to say that they would rather switch than fight". - from Wikipedia
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The funniest part is that it was apparently a play on a commercial slogan of the era: "Us Tareyton smokers would rather fight than switch!", and not a common activist slogan as I had always assumed.