Citizen Change is a political service group, founded in 2004 by musician P. Diddy, and backed by

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the ...

and

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

. The stated aim was to get young people and minorities to vote. A band named CitiZEN Change from Galveston, Texas played music together from 2001-2005, who originally owned a website domain bearing the name sold it to the campaign in 2004.

History

The campaign's message, promoted on

t-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are genera ...

s and other things, is "Vote or Die!", a phrase adapted from

Join, or Die ''Join, or Die.'' is a political cartoon showing the disunity in the American colonies. Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, the original publication by ''The Pennsylvania Gazette'' on May 9, 1754, is the earliest known pictorial representation of c ...

, a well-known cartoon by Benjamin Franklin.

2004 presidential election

P. Diddy said at the time that its mission was to make voting "hot" and "sexy." The 2004 campaign included a line of "Vote or Die" t-shirts, an album, a voter registration push in cities and campuses nationwide, and commercials on such outlets as

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and BET.

2008 presidential election

P. Diddy invoked the phrase, "Obama or Die", at the

BET Awards 2008 The 8th BET Awards took place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on June 24, 2008. The awards recognized Americans in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that hol ...

In pop culture

* In a ''South Park'' episode entitled "

Douche and Turd "Douche and Turd" is the eighth episode of the eighth season of the animated television series ''South Park'', and the 119th episode overall. Written by series co-creator Trey Parker, it first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on O ...

", P. Diddy and his associates chase

Stan Marsh Stanley Randell William Marsh is a fictional character in the adult animated television series '' South Park''. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the series' four central characters, along with ...

around with weapons and literally threaten to kill him if he doesn't vote. * In 2012, the "Vote or Die!" t-shirt concept was resurrected for the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

in the form of parody "Vote Obama" t-shirts.

References

Voter turnout organizations Youth politics {{poli-org-stub