Police Terrorism Tag

Sonya Massey should be ALIVE

I dont have any incredible bites of wisdom. I just want to say that Sonya Massey should be alive. I send love to her children and her family. Rest in Peace. Justice for Sonya.

I hope people understand why activists, artists, and organizers have called for the defunding of police. Not more resources, money, and support. As a historic institution they have proven time after time that they are not only racist, but are not here to protect all people. They are here to protect some people and to carry out the orders of the ruling class. Our communities would be better served if the billions spent on policing were placed into universal health care, affordable housing, well funded public (not private) education, and more worker control and ownership of their jobs and the wealth they create.

Dig this? Check out this interview w/ Cerise Castle who reports on Police/ Sherrif Dept Gangs in LA County. Here is a post of older artwork I’ve made about Police Brutality. Listen to this joint by 80s Babies (Tall Black Guy and Dee Jackson).

Brother Ali/ Trauma from Police

Trauma warning:
Experienced this type of event as a child with my mother. We were going about our day, but we were pulled over and mistaken for two Black men who robbed (insert something). They never drew their weapons, but I never had the same sense of “safety” coming from officers ever again. When my mother looked at me and encouraged me not to move and obey instructions I could feel the fear in her voice.

This is how I remembered it but didn’t relive the trauma until last year while giving a presentation about my arts career, literacy, why I make what I make, etc. Did not mean to nearly lose it while describing some photos but I damn near did. I took a moment, excused myself , and kept going. I was 8 or 9 when the incident happened.

Not sure why it came up but this song reminded me of it today.
Trauma is wild, so is the institution of policing in a country that incarcerates more of its population that any other on the planet.

Dig this? Listen to this recounting of police interaction by Boots Riley

Cerise Castle -A History of Violence Podcast

Just started listening to this new podcast called “A Tradition of Violence” by Cerise Castle about the gangs embedded in the LA County Sheriff’s  department.

Action: Listen to and share the show

I remember hearing about her back in 2021 and she had been reporting on this for several years making herself a target by LA Cops who like most police departments in the US serve wealthy elites and to keep everyday people in check so we don’t revolt. Police have been murdering Black folks specifically for decades but until recently the public rarely knew unless it was caught on film. From NYPD to LA, cops are not the solution to safety yall, we are. All the billions that they get paid should be going to our public schools, public hospitals, jobs, and community based solutions that will actually make the communities they claim to protect safer.

Much respect and props to Cerise for continuing the legacy of journalism that exposes evils like this that are foundational to the US government’s system of control. Follow and protect her yall.

Check out this interview w/ journalist Cerise Castle where she speaks w/ the breakfast club

Police Gangs of LA

This shit is ill, and I’ve heard the same about the NYPD. Best believe that I support getting rid of the entire system of policing as it stands today in the US. no amount of reform will change how they bully, disrespect, target, and murder folks here; especially Black folks, people of color, mentally ill people, and poor people. We need to take the millions each major urban city spends on policing and put it into whhat would actually help people, reduce crime, etc. Quality housing, education, mental and physical health care, jobs.
You see this and understand why The Black Panther Party for Self Defense was created. Peep this post from a few years ago:
Respect to journalist Cerise Castle!

Character 119 – Diamond Reynolds

This is Diamond Reynolds and her daughter, the partner of Philando Castile and the woman who filmed his murder by a Minnesota Police officer. Rest in piece brother Philando, a traffic stop should not have resulted in your murder. Bless Ms Reynolds and her daughter who should have not had to witness what they did. For the nay sayers on police brutality, this is not an isolated incident. It’s not because he did not follow the law. It is because America as a continent is terrified of Black people and feels our lives are less than. Terrorism is not just abroad, it is right here in the US in Black communities. If you are outraged, get involved. Organize with folks who are invested in dismantling the system. For young creatives and artists, if you have the spirit to, speak on injustice in your work.

Character 92- Swing Back

Sometimes a thought just comes out, wasn’t thinking “self defense” but this is what i see. Imagine how folks would feel if black folks started striking back physically. You can watch your family be murdered only so many times before you fight back, right? Would the media be quick to demonize African Americans fighting, swinging, and shooting back to defend their loved ones since cops, courts, and the US justice system has never had their back?

Artists against Police Brutality- Comics Anthology

via John Jennings:
We’ve all seen the pictures. A six-year-old Ruby Bridges being escorted by U.S. marshals on her first day at an all-white, New Orleans school in 1960. A police dog attacking a demonstrator in Birmingham. Fire hoses turned on protesters. Martin Luther King Jr. addressing a crowd on the National Mall. These pictures were printed in papers, flashed across television screens, and helped to change the laws of this Nation…but not all of the attitudes.

We’ve all seen the pictures. Michael Brown lying face down in a pool of his own blood for hours. Protesters with their hands up, facing down militarized policemen. We’ve also seen the videos. Eric Garner choked to death. John Crawford III shot down in Walmart for carrying a toy gun. Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice gunned down in broad daylight for the same reason.

This time, the pictures and videos aren’t doing much to change things; if anything, they are a repeated reminder of how worthless black and brown lives are to the justice system. So we need conversations to go along with the pictures, and we’re sending out an APB to artists and writers to help jump start those conversations.

APB: Artists against Police Brutality is a comic book anthology with one primary goal: show pictures and tell stories that get people talking. We are looking for artists across the disciplines to lend their talents and critical eye for this artistic examination of the US justice system and its treatment of communities of color. We are looking for personal stories, biographies, sociopolitical and historical analysis that shed a light on shared experiences across these communities, not just to act as an echo chamber, but to be used to change minds outside of these communities.

APB will be a black and white book that collects these stories. While primarily a comic book project, we will also consider following:

ONE- AND TWO-ROW COMIC STRIPS
PIN-UPS AND SPOT ILLUSTRATIONS
PROSE STORIES
 (whatever the genre; up to 1,500 words) and analytical essays (personal, sociopolitical, historical; up to 2,000 words)

The main goal is to encourage people to talk about the persistent problems facing this country in terms of race and the justice system in an accessible and powerful medium.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
PITCH PROCESS
Please send an email to artistsagainstpolicebrutality@gmail.com to give the editors (Bill Campbell, John Jennings, and Jason Rodriguez) the general idea of the story that you want to do. Tell us a little about yourself and send samples (or a link to your website) if you have them. ALL PITCHES MUST BE RECEIVED BY JANUARY 15, 2015.

throw something in there yall.

“From Fruitvale to Florida” by Karen Seneferu


This is a powerful piece by artist Karen Seneferu
.Read her words:
This documentation is a tribute to Oscar Grant, Treyvon Martin, Andy Lopez, Alejandro Nieto, Renisha McBride, Akai Gurley, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamar Rice, and hundreds of Black and Brown people who have been killed by policer officers, security guards, and vigilantes. The people in the video were given the question how did you feel or think when you heard the verdict in some of these cases? Their facial expressions are their responses. The video challenges the idea of gazing out and into the eyes of others who refuse to recognize the genocide occurring in these communities by the judicial system.