Art by Nile Livesey
Leonel Manzanares de la Rosa saw you rhyming from the back of a cop car.
What we’ve been seeing in the last couple of weeks has been alarming, disgusting, horrific, but not new. Hundreds of black people and people of color in the United States have been historically subject to the brutal atrocities committed by law enforcement. It is a shameful part of the past and the present in American race relations; the very representation of this power dynamic, of this structure that is designed to impoverish, criminalize and keep racial minorities in servitude. America thrives and depends on the continued marginalization of the black, the immigrant, and the poor.
Notorious racist and documented rapist Donald Trump, in search of his and his party’s dream of a oligarchic, totalitarian White ethno-state, is already responsible for the over 100,000 deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic, risking millions of lives while spreading misinformation and forcing workers to keep serving their masters so he can pretend everything’s under control. And somehow, there’s always for things to get much worse
The recent killing of George Floyd by members of the Minneapolis Police Department, an act caught on video that explicitly shows the “standard procedure” of the security forces, has sparked protests all around the world. Movements of peaceful protestors, activist organizations and general community solidarity have done incredible work in expressing their discontent and pushing for a better reality. Of course, the Governments have responded with repression, agent provocateurs, more disinformation, and more brutality. And mainstream Media has largely sided with the oppressors.
But Police killings are a global thing. In Mexico, mere days after the Floyd murder, Jalisco Police detained worker Giovanni López for allegedly being outside without wearing a face-mask. They beat him up so bad he died. Protests erupted, and Police responded with tear gas, beatings, and death threats.
All I am saying is that, no matter how awful it looks, how relentless and inhumane the State’s force is, this is just something that cops do. They will continue do it, because it’s what they exist for. It’s all about protecting property, capital interests, and the spaces of the rich. Not us. Not the people, and definitely not the most vulnerable. Cops killed George Floyd. Cops killed Giovanni López. Cops killed the 43 students in Ayotzinapa. Cops killed the hundreds of African-Americans we’re taking the streets for. They are martyrs and they have wings. And their deaths will not be in vain. We can — and we will — abolish the Police, and dismantle this bullshit system. All Cops Are Bastards. Black Lives Matter. Support the Cause.
Here’s a list of anti-cop punk and hardcore songs to get you inspired:
Tracklist:
- Dead Kennedys – Police Truck
- The Clash – Police and Thieves
- Poison Idea – The Badge
- Anti-Flag – Police Story
- F-Minus & Leftöver Crack – So You Wanna Be a Cop?
- Angelic Upstarts – Murder of Little Towers
- Millions of Dead Cops – I Remember
- Black Flag – Police Story
- Dicks – Dicks Hate The Police
- Operation Ivy – Officer
- Propagandhi – Pigs Will Pay
- The Casualties – 1312
- Dumb Fucks – a.c.a.b.
- Leftöver Crack – Burn Them Prisons / One Dead Cop
- 4 Skins – a.c.a.b
- The Unseen – Police Brutality
- Choking Victim — Hate Yer State
- Against Me! – Baby, I’m an Anarchist!
- Propagandhi – The Only Good Fascist is a Very Dead Fascist
- The Filaments – Bastard Coppers
- Discharge – Protest and Survive
- Pennywise – Fuck Authority
- Body Count – No Lives Matter
- Subhumans – No
- Trash Talk – The Great Escape
- Circle Jerks – Coup d’état
- Suicidal Tendencies – Fascist Pig
- S.O.A – Public Defender
- NOFX – Puke on Cops
- Bad Brains – Banned in DC
- Batallion of Saints – Cops are Out
- Scared Straight – Fight Back
- The Vicious – The Pigs
- Witches With Dicks – Fuck Cops Still
- Star Fucking Hipsters – Honey, I Shrunk the Cops!
- Upper Downer – Disarm the Police
- The Broadways – Police Song
- The King Blues – The Streets Are Ours
- Product of Waste – Crook with a Badge
- Strike Anywhere – Sunset on 32nd Street
- Chokehold – Conditioned
- Year of the Knife – Blue Lies
- Eskorbuto – Mucha Policía, Poca Diversión
- GG Allin – Fuck Authority
- Pig Destroyer – Army of Cops
- Agnostic Front – Police State
- Final Conflict – Abolish Police
- Doom – Police Bastard
- The Crucifucks – Cops For Fertilizer
- Dr. Know – Watch It Burn
