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"give voice to the voiceless"

Posted by Pamela on June 09, 2006

In Reply to: "Give voice to the voiceless" posted by Olya on June 08, 2006

: What is the origin and the meaning of the phrase "give voice to the voiceless"?

I don't know the origin but it usually means that someone is speaking on behalf of those who cannot be heard. These people are not literally voiceless, they simply lack the power to "speak" in the public domain (e.g. don't get on television, don't have their concerns heard by governments making laws and so on). Some examples might be a community activist lobbying the government on behalf people with psychiatric disorders or a pop star mentioning on tv the plight of people dying of malaria in Africa. Pamela

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