When I was little I used to hate marches. Climate march, women’s march… I didn’t see the point of standing in the cold and chanting. To be honest I still struggle with this in certain instances. But in the case of BLM, I thought it was very interesting because protestors were directly coming into contact with what they were protesting against: cops.
Kundani speaks on the role of the state as complicit in exacerbating social divisions. Because of a misdiagnosis of social issues that results in racist rethoric, more cops are placed in “dangerous” neighborhoods instead of more money being poured into those communities to fix the root of the problem. Cops are also given little training and are therefore ill equipped to deal with delicate situations It is the states role to address these root issues. The police force is essentially a gang with its origins being traced back to the slave patrol. Their only job was to squash slave uprisings.
In “Th9” , the 2nd line says “the beast can’t catch me” but they are referring to the police and not the people which exemplifies how a protecting force actually harms
So we have this dichotomy of speaking out and being silenced. But the ironic nature is that it is state imposed and funded silence in a democracy that is supposed to let all voices speak. Another lyric is “Only one language that the fascist understands” which reminds me of a certain someone who can’t seem to get out of my mind. It’s interesting to think about the framing of the oppressed. People rise up because they think a great injustice has been done. “Enough is enough”. But what happens when some believe they are morally right, but in truth they are factually wrong. Ex: Jan 6th insurrection.