The Hip Hop Roundup: Protest Songs and Police Reform

Ryan Feyre

4 years ago

It’s year 2020 of hell and shit still hasn’t changed. The police are crooked bandits who fail to see the value in human life once again, and the system itself continues to reward murderous law enforcement with petty slaps on the wrist. A recent investigation into the decade-long corruption found within Vallejo’s task force is a perfect representation of the disproportionate murders involving Black people. Peaceful protesters sticking their hands up in solidarity, only to be senselessly executed by the captains and sergeants who throw up white supremacist signs. This is classic and modern America intertwining to form some sick and twisted demonic figure. It might be Satan himself.

As a Massachusetts resident, I’ve been heavily displeased with what’s been going on locally for reformation projects. Mayor Marty Walsh claimed racial injustice to be a public health issue, only to then haphazardly denote less than 3 percent of police overtime budget to other community efforts. That doesn’t even put a dent into the $60 million cops will most likely be making for overtime in 2021. Their actual salary wasn’t even touched, even though a whopping $414 million will be allocated to Boston’s law enforcement in the next fiscal year.

To add fuel to the fire, the BPD has been notorious for their stop-and-frisk program that heavily targets African Americans for ridiculous traffic stops. Black people made up 65 percent of these stops even though they only represent 25 percent of Boston’s overall population. The BPD continues to conceal this data as a disturbing opportunity to hide their woes. And of course, there’s the ongoing gentrification problem that ravages through cities outside of Boston, most notably Brockton. Or how about that Operation Clean Sweep from last summer that displaced many minorities from their homes. These are the people taking our tax dollars. The city literally used an environmental movement on human beings.

The same type of idea riddles the rest of the country. Government leaders trying to silence the crowds by using performative mechanisms that will only result in short-term effectiveness. This “reformation” will prove to be aimless until mayors and other leaders understand what needs to be fixed, and where the money needs to go. The system is beyond broken. It’s shattered into a million finite pieces. My own city of Agawam lives in a privileged bubble where boomers see protesters as the real virus. I witness this all the time at my work as people file in and out of the gas station. It’s disturbing, sickening, transparently sinister.

I beg anyone reading his to learn what’s going on in your community, and spread the necessary information where it matters. In the meantime, here is the ACLU Report that highlights Boston’s problematic history with law enforcement. I will also link a Google Doc that showcases the various statistics about the budget in Massachusetts, as well as chart of the ways you can help the Black Lives Matter movement; donating, petitioning, etc. Continue to protest, listen and educate. Just keep fighting. If shit hasn’t changed in 2000 years, it sure as hell won’t in three weeks.

https://www.aclum.org/en/ending-racist-stop-and-frisk#learn

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wIFigmggoxUL3R5htTiJQMySgVT-opZZ411yQzgW4zI/edit

The Hip Hop Roundup: Protest Songs and Police Reform

Drakeo the Ruler & JoogSzn – Thank You For Using GTL

YG – “FTP”

Teejay6x – “BLACK LIVES MATTER”

Tee Grizzley (feat. Queen Naija and Detroit Youth Choir) – “Mr. Officer”

Run the Jewels (feat. Gangsta Boo) – “walking in the snow”

Kadeem – “Momma”