 “And they want to make me public enemy number one, for what? For saying tear down white supremacy? For saying free our people? For saying that black lives matter? There is no fear here. There is no fear here. Because we are on the side of righteousness, we are on the right side of oppression, and we will have freedom.” - Hawk Newsome, ChairPerson, BLM Greater NY  “What is the source of this issue? What is the polices’ job?” Dannelly Rodriguez asked the crowd, “To protect and serve,” expressed a woman near the front. Rodriguez continued, “The queen says, “to protect and serve.” She’s damn right. But the question is what the hell are they protecting and what are they serving? I’ll tell you right now who they’re protecting and who they’re serving. Policing in America was founded on slavery. Our society is a capitalistic society where black labor has been exploited since its inception to build this country. So when a black person got out of line or fought for their freedom, guess what the police where doing. Preserving the status quo and keeping them locked up in their chains. Because what they serve is the capitalist white supremacist class in this country. What they protect is property. So let’s be clear, I don’t want to hear none of my black brothers and sisters talk about “they ain’t doing their jobs” because they’re doing their jobs. They’re capturing black bodies for free labor in the prison industrial complex. So when we talk about defund the police, we’re talking about abolition, we’re not talking about reform. You cannot expect a system that was inherently racist to be reformed. How are you going to have bad apples when the whole damn tree is rotten! We have to take it from its roots, take it out, burn it, be done with it, and build something new. And what does that look like? It looks like defunding the NYPD $3 billion on July 1st.”
 “This is real. Me being an ex-felon, being part of mass incarceration, being attacked and beat by the police. This is very much real for me. I’ve been homeless, I’m a father, a student and a vet. My people are the blood, sweat and tears, and the backbone of this country. Where nothing exists here today if it were not for black people. People of color have always been ostracized and abused in this place that they call the great United States. Fuck the United States. The United States is full of shit. They got their priorities fucked up. We got a clown for a president. And police are killing our people at random, not just our youth but our elderly too. Enough is enough. How do you kill a man when he’s telling you he can’t breathe? You keep your foot on his neck even after he done stopped breathing, you still got your foot on his neck. Something has to end. So until they give us what we ask for, we’re here, we’re not going nowhere.” - Kannon
“I feel just like the budget of the police that we pay taxes for. I feel fat. I feel oily and greasy. And I feel like a glutinous pig.” - Officer B. Acon [@nypig]
Thousands took to the streets of NYC today for the Black Lives Matter bike protest. ✊🏾 We began in Times Square, rode Uptown to 125th St, then back downtown to end at Wagner Park, just south of Battery Park City. 💥 The vibes were magical. ✊🏾✨🙏🏾✌🏾
In the midst of much despair I’m holding some space for joy this morning. This was a film I created in collaboration with The National Black Theatre for my debut photo exhibit as part of “The Alchemy of Black Joy” in 2016. ✊🏾🙏🏾💓✨
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