Tongues on Fire is a remarkable musical homage to an American organization that achieved national and international impact from the mid-1960s into the 1970s. In a sublime example of one type of expression motivating another, the graphic art of Black Panther Minister of Culture Emory Douglas, whose work became an iconic representation of the Party's struggles, here inspires the poetry of Umar Bin Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole, two core members of The Last Poets (a politically charged group that arose in the same period and was dedicated to raising African-American consciousness), which in turn inspires the musical compositions of jazz luminary David Murray as conveyed by Living Colour.