“There is not a single era in United States history in which the police were not a force of violence against black people. Policing in the South emerged from the slave patrols in the 1700 and 1800s that caught and returned runaway slaves. In the North, the first municipal police departments in the mid-1800s helped quash labor strikes and riots against the rich. Everywhere, they have suppressed marginalized populations to protect the status quo. So when you see a police officer pressing his knee into a black man’s neck until he dies, that’s the logical result of policing in America. When a police officer brutalizes a black person, he is doing what he sees as his job.” — Mariame Kaba, “Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police”, NYT
Artwork by @jmofarrill for @agitarte_cultural_works
A red circle with a line through it covers the figure of a helmeted, baton-wielding cop. Above and below are the stencil style, white, lettering: “ABOLISH POLICE”, except the “ICE” in “police” is colored blue.
