Southern University: Hip-Hop & Politics

Black Lives, Blue Lines: Understanding the Rage (Makayla Elzy and Paige Crawford)

• Eugene B. Lee-Johnson • Season 2 • Episode 8

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For generations, the phrase "F*** the Police" has echoed through Black communities as more than just words—it's the vocalization of ancestral pain, systemic injustice, and a demand for recognition that Black lives should matter as much as anyone else's.

Journey with us as we unpack the profound historical context behind this statement, from the Black Panther Party's community survival programs in the 1960s to the global Black Lives Matter movement. We explore how the Panthers—far from being mere militants—created over 60 programs serving neglected communities while being labeled "the greatest threat to internal security" by the FBI. The conversation moves through watershed moments like the assassination of Fred Hampton, the killing of Trayvon Martin, and the murder of George Floyd, revealing how each instance reinforced distrust in systems meant to protect all citizens.

Cultural touchstones like NWA's groundbreaking track aren't dismissed as mere provocation but examined as testimonies to lived experiences in over-policed neighborhoods. We dissect how mechanisms like the school-to-prison pipeline, racial profiling, and cash bail systems create pathways to mass incarceration that disproportionately affect Black Americans. Through personal stories—from childhood anxiety during police encounters to the generational trauma of having incarcerated parents—we illuminate how policing impacts extend far beyond those directly involved in the justice system.

This isn't just about understanding anger; it's about recognizing legitimate grievances born from history, not hate. Join us in exploring what justice might look like in a world where calling 911 doesn't require calculating the risk that your loved one might end up in a casket. Subscribe now to continue these vital conversations about race, justice, and the path toward healing.

Paige :

all right, hello. Um, it's makayla lz and page crawford. We're here to talk to you about why people are saying if the police aren't black people in specific.

Makayla:

When black people chant after police, they're not just talking about individuals, in my opinion. They're just talking about the system, the reality where calling 911 means your brother might end up in the casket.

Paige :

Well, to me, after police is just a statement of frustration. It's not like a call to action. I think a lot of people have used it to respond to things that's going on, but not necessarily cause uproar, which a lot of people have taken it that way over over time. But to me it's not. It's not a cause for fright.

Makayla:

I guess I could say um anything else also, I personally feel like it's not born out of hate. The phrase is born out of history. Yeah, so today we're going to break it all the way down and we're going to dive deep into the history, the movements, music and music and the people and the pain that black people have faced over time. To understand the phrase of the police. We're going to start with the Black Panther Party that was founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. Police, violence and in the 1960s, black communities they were under siege. Cops weren't just patrolling, they were terrorizing them beating, shootings and unlawful arrests. The legal system it didn't protect black lives.

Paige :

It often sanctioned their destruction. So Newton and Steele said enough. They knew their rights and they studied the law and they armed themselves not to attack but to patrol, to the police.

Makayla:

They would follow officers on patrols, stand at lawful distance and monitor them, with guns slung legally over their shoulders and law books in their hands. If the cops stepped out of line, the Panthers were there as a presence, a warning that brutality would not go unanswered.

Paige :

But that mission didn't stop there. Brutality will not go unanswered, but that mission didn't stop there. The Black Panther Party also ran over 60 survival programs to meet the basic needs of Black communities that had been neglected by the state. These included free breakfast for children, programs feeding thousands of kids every day, free health clinics offering screening for sickle cell anemia and other neglected conditions, free clothing, education and transportation for the elderly. Liberation schools to teach black history, pride and political education.

Makayla:

The FBI under J Edgar Hoover labeled the Panthers the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States.

Paige :

That's right more dangerous than organized crime more dangerous than white supremacist militants. This was the beginning of a covert, illegal program designed to surveil, infiltrate, discredit and destroy black movements. The FBI planted informants, fabricated documents and even incited violence within the chapters of the Panthers to tear them apart from the inside.

Makayla:

And then there was the murder of Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Panthers. At 21 years old, hampton was a revolutionary. He was uniting poor black folks, white folks and Puerto Rican folks, organizing across race and class. What did the FBI do? They orchestrated a raid with the Chicago Police Department and shot him in his bed while he slept. Over 90 rounds were fired. He never stood a chance.

Paige :

Now I want you to let that sink in. The Panthers weren't a gang, they weren't terrorists. They were black people taking care of their own community because the state refused to, and for that they were targeted, framed, imprisoned and assassinated.

Makayla:

So when you hear, fuck the police, part of that rage comes from that history, from a legacy where police were just enforcers of the law for enemies of black liberation.

Paige :

So I want to fast forward a little bit and talk about Black Lives Matter. So we talked about the Panthers, the 60s, but let's fast forward because the struggle didn't stop with Fred Hampton. The police didn't stop killing black people and the system never stopped protecting In 2012,.

Makayla:

a 17-year-old boy named Trayvon Martin was walking home in a hoodie, with a bag of Skittles and Arizona Ice Team George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watchman, thought he looked suspicious. He followed Trayvon Martin and even after being told not to minutes later Trayvon was dead. Zimmerman was acquitted.

Paige :

Now think about that. A child was killed and the system said that's fine.

Makayla:

It was in the aftermath of that verdict that Alicia Garza wrote a Facebook post saying Black people, I love you, I love us. Our lives matter. Her friend Patrice Cooleyers added the hashtag Black Lives Matter. Then Oprah helped bring it to life across social media. These three women together, queer, radical visionary, gave birth to a movement that would change the world.

Paige :

Now, the world didn't listen, at least not right away.

Makayla:

In 2014, Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. His body was left in the street for over four hours. That image, it broke something in us. The protests began. Ferguson rose up.

Paige :

And the police responded with things like tear gas tanks, rubber bullets against mostly peaceful protesters that were unarmed. That was the moment many Americans realized what is this? Is this a war zone? It doesn't make any sense.

Makayla:

And in that same year, eric Gardner was choked to death by a New York police department. His last words I can't breathe. It became a rallying cry for many Black people.

Paige :

Then came Sandra Bland, found dead in her jail cell after a routine traffic stop. Sandra Bland found dead in her jail cell after a routine traffic stop. Tamir Rice, who was just 12 years old, was shot for playing with a toy gun. Philando Castile, shot for reaching for his ID with permission while his girlfriend and their child were in the car.

Makayla:

Each time we marched, we mourned and we hoped the next name would be the last.

Paige :

Then came George Floyd, may 25th 2020. A police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds while he begged, while he called for his mother, while he told them he couldn't breathe.

Makayla:

This time the world saw everything the video, the looks on the officer's faces, the stillness of George's body, and something broke in all of us again.

Paige :

The protests weren't just focused on in one state, but in every other state, Over 60 countries. The Black Lives Matter movement became not just a hashtag, but the largest social justice movement in modern history.

Makayla:

Now let's be clear about what Black Lives Matter actually stands for. It's not just saying Black Lives Matter more than other lives. It's saying Black Lives should matter at least as much as everyone else. It's about ending qualified immunity so police officers are held accountable. It's about defunding bloated police budgets and investing in mental health, education, housing and community care. It's about abolishing the idea that safety has to come from a gun and a badge.

Paige :

And despite all the pushback, blm has transformed how we talk about justice. It's made police violence a mainstream issue. It's shifted policy, it's mobilized a new generation of activists, and it's done all that while being led by the black women, queer folks and grassroots organizers, not politicians or celebrities.

Makayla:

So, when you hear the chant, fuck the police and the Black Lives Matter protest, know this it's not empty range, it's ancestral, it's strategic, it's a response to centuries of being ignored, dehumanized and killed by the very people who are supposed to serve and protect us.

Paige :

Now let's talk about culture. I feel like that's a big part of how the statement became so important, especially through hip-hop. It became a popular quote within the Black community, and the year was 1988. Straight Outta Compton Drops Five black men from South Central LA Ice Cube, dr Dre, eazy-e, mc Wren and DJ Yella take the music world by storm with one of the most controversial songs ever. But the Police.

Makayla:

Now, if you only know that title and not the context, you might think it was a shock value. But for NWA that song was a testimony.

Paige :

They weren't writing fiction. They were telling the truth about how police operate in their neighborhoods Constant harassment, racial profiling, random stops, beatings, humiliations, sometimes death.

Makayla:

Compton in the 80s was a war zone and the police were the occupying force. In the actual song, ice Cube plays a kind of courtroom role, reversal putting the LAPD on trial. He raps a young nigga on the warpath and when I'm finished it's gonna be a bloodbath of cops dying in LA.

Paige :

It was raw, it was full of anger and it was first heard by the mainstream audience when many black folks had been living silent for decades. The song hit hard. It hit the FBI harder. It seems they sent a letter to NWA's record label, ruthless Records, condemning the track. That's how angry they were. So imagine your music rattles the federal government. It ultimately led to their arrest in Detroit in 89 due to performing a song as it was banned. And I believe, since we talked about NWA being arrested, in Detroit in 89,.

Paige :

I think it's important that we go on to this next topic. It's an example of unnecessary arrest, which plays a huge part in mass incarceration. Now, to begin with this, I would like to start with the school of prison pipeline. The school of prison pipeline refers to policies and practices that push students, especially Black students, out of schools into the criminal justice system. This pipeline is heavily influenced by the presence of police officers in schools or school resource officers, who tend to over-pol, police normal childlike behavior. Instead of addressing certain behavioral issues through the likes of counseling or similar practices, the schools increasingly rely on law enforcement. Black children in particular are disproportionately disciplined, suspended and arrested, black boys especially.

Makayla:

Early involvement of law enforcement disrupts a child's education as well as affects their long-term outcomes, meaning being labeled as a criminal at a young age. It increases the likelihood of dropping out of school, future arrest and incarceration. It also destroys the trust between students and educational systems. Rather than nurturing students and preparing them for success, these systems punish them constantly for simple mistakes, especially in underfunded schools located in predominantly black neighborhoods.

Paige :

This also plays a part in racial profiling, which? Racial profiling is a common practice used by police which is completely biased. It goes unchecked all the time. Law enforcement often target black individuals based on suspicion rather than evidence, whether through traffic stops, surveillance or excessive patrolling of Black neighborhoods. Racial profiling leads to higher arrest and incarceration rates amongst Black people compared to other communities. This is a result of all police. Seeing the Black communities once again shows direct pipeline into police abusing their power and mass incarceration. The results of racial profiling are much more than a simple stop and or arrest. It often increases feelings of fear and trauma within the Black community. When residents feel that they are constantly being harassed, the trust in law enforcement decreases entirely and cooperation is often affected. Racial profiling results in a higher likelihood of use of force, wrongful convictions and long-term incarceration.

Makayla:

Even when individuals are not charged, the experience of profiling leaves long-lasting psychological scars and trauma behind Now police abuse against people of color is deeply tied to the legacy of African-American enslavement, repression and legal inequality American enslavement, repression and legal inequality.

Makayla:

During the 1967 Criminal Commission hearings, many witnesses pointed out how police officers regularly stop Black people without any clear reason, a practice that is still happening today. The Fourth Amendment is supposed to protect us from being stopped without cause, but recent Supreme Court decisions allow police officers to use traffic stops as a way to quote-unquote fish for evidence, often targeting Black and Latino communities. This racial profiling is based on the false belief that most drug crimes are committed by minorities. Because police focus on these communities, they find more drugs, reinforcing the stereotype and leading to more arrests. Reinforcing the stereotype and leading to more arrests. The result more minorities get arrested, convicted and jailed, which makes it seem like drug trafficking is mostly a minority issue. Meanwhile, white people get far less attention, allowing many to go unapprehended. This cycle of discrimination continues, fueling distress and anger towards the police. That's why many black people say of the police it's a response to years of systemic abuse and a call for real change in how law enforcement treat people of color.

Paige :

Now speaking of how they treat people of color, that also brings us to pretrial detention or bail. Pretrial and cash bail systems is another key part of mass incarceration harming black communities at an alarming rate. After an arrest, individuals are usually detained for days, weeks or even months simply because they cannot afford bail, even if they haven't been convicted of a crime. Police play an important role in this cycle. Overpolicing in Black neighborhoods once again results in an increase of low-level charges. When someone is arrested, the charges police recommend can influence decisions on bail. In many cases, black citizens are less likely to be released on bail and more likely to face higher bail amounts. Being posted Extended time in pretrial detention has severe consequences. Individuals tend to feel pressure to plead guilty to avoid prolonged incarceration, even when they are innocent. This results in increase in criminal records and disrupts families and communities' natural flow. Jails become overcrowded with people who are not there because they're guilty, but because they are poor and lack resources. Meanwhile, wealthier individuals can pay for their freedom, reinforcing inequality within the justice system.

Makayla:

To add on, there is this documentary that was made in 2016 and is titled the 13th, that explores the prison industrial complex and its connections to race justice and mass incarceration in the United States. The title refers to the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in 1865, except as a punishment for crimes. The film argues that slavery has persisted through the criminalization of behavior leading to the arrest of poor freedmen and the use of convicted leasing. There are activists and writers in the film who touch bases on the ongoing suppression of African Americans through disenfranchisement, lynching, jim Crow laws and the disproportionate impact of war on drugs on minority communities. Since the 1970s, while crime rates have declined, incarceration rates have dramatically increased. The documentary highlights how over-incarceration has harmed generations of Black and minority families.

Paige :

Now, speaking from personal experience, I haven't had many run-ins with the cops, but as someone who grew up in a pretty close-knit Black community, calling the cops wasn't usually done. We knew it came with the possibility of certain consequences if things were to go wrong, so we tended to handle things within our own community. Also, like my parents would say, I grew up with the internet, which left me with the unfortunate ability to run across police brutality videos and think pieces on unlawful behavior from cops all the time, which I think has left me with the impression that it's simply cops tend to be terrible. People. Do not call them unless you really have to. I remember an instance where I had a male relative who was in a pretty bad argument with someone. Everything stayed verbal, there was no physical fight, but I'm guessing the people around thought it would get to that point. Someone called the cops and it's like once I heard I started having a panic attack. A lot of the men in my family are taller, dark-skinned and perceived as fairly strong, which is like the layout for the beginning of something terrible. If the cops were to feel as though they are being threatened At the time I had to be around 13 or 14, so I'd seen enough in the media to know that when they got there everyone needed to be calm or at least contained to a certain extent.

Paige :

So at that age I'm left informing adults around me that the cops were called and that that relative in particular was what I considered a hothead adjacent. Once he's angry it's hard to talk with him, so it was very hard to get him to calm down. So I'm in full panic mode at 13 or 14 once again, standing in the middle of a heated argument between two adults trying to calm them down and for some reason they sent like six to seven cops for a simple argument. Somewhere in the mix they said my relative attempted to hit a cop which was fake news because I was there and that never happened. So overall I tend to have increased anxiety with police involvement and from a very young age it's been front of police and had no one been informed about the cops that day, I think that situation would have turned out entirely different, to say the least now.

Makayla:

I've never been arrested, haduffs on me or been harassed by a cop, but that doesn't mean law enforcement hasn't affected my life. It's just not through me directly. My story starts with my father, who's been in and out of jail for selling drugs, and even though I wasn't there, I lived with the aftermath. When I was younger, I was a full-on daddy's girl. He bent the world to me. But as the years passed and the patterns kept repeating jail release, jail again I just learned to stop expecting too much and at some point I stopped counting on him to be around.

Makayla:

That's the part people don't see when they talk about crime or policing. They don't see the kids who are stuck in the middle. I wasn't just losing my father to his choices. I was also losing him to a system that never gave our family a space to breathe. And I know selling drugs is illegal. But I also see the bigger picture now and I see how the cycle doesn't just lock people up. It emotionally breaks the people they leave behind. And this fight isn't just for the present. It's for the future, for the generations that will come after us, the ones who will one day ask what did you do to make the world better, and let's make sure that we have a great answer.

Paige :

So thank you so much for tuning in, support the movements that are fighting for justice and keep pushing for change. Stay strong, stay united and, as always, keep fighting for what's right. Thank you for what's right, thank you.