Why Can’t One of America’s Most ‘Progressive’ Cities Reform Its Police Force? Why Can’t One of America’s Most ‘Progressive’ Cities Reform Its Police Force?
Although the Department of Justice and the police bureau in Portland, Oregon, reached a “groundbreaking” settlement last year, residents say racial discrimination is a problem.
Mar 16, 2015 / Zoë Carpenter
Obama’s Police Reforms Ignore the Most Important Cause of Police Misconduct Obama’s Police Reforms Ignore the Most Important Cause of Police Misconduct
These well-meaning changes will simply reproduce racial inequality.
Mar 6, 2015 / Alex S. Vitale
DOJ Report Confirms Racism Is Alive and Well in Ferguson. Now What? DOJ Report Confirms Racism Is Alive and Well in Ferguson. Now What?
We need decriminalization, not just data.
Mar 6, 2015 / Mychal Denzel Smith
It’s Not Just Ferguson It’s Not Just Ferguson
Cities nationwide are criminalizing black people to pay the bills.
Mar 5, 2015 / Raven Rakia
Three Years Later, the Legacy of Trayvon Martin and #BlackLivesMatter Three Years Later, the Legacy of Trayvon Martin and #BlackLivesMatter
The tragic death of Trayvon Martin inspired a new generation of activists who fight to make black lives matter.
Feb 26, 2015 / Mychal Denzel Smith
In Order to End Police Brutality, We Need to End the Police In Order to End Police Brutality, We Need to End the Police
Activists and organizers gathered at the Schomburg Center to interrogate the current conditions of American policing.
Feb 25, 2015 / Mychal Denzel Smith
A National Call for Criminal-Justice Reform A National Call for Criminal-Justice Reform
In the wake of nationwide cop-on-civilian violence, there is hope for criminal-justice reform.
Feb 24, 2015 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
Jesse Hagopian: ‘I Was Pepper-Sprayed by Seattle Police on MLK Day’ Jesse Hagopian: ‘I Was Pepper-Sprayed by Seattle Police on MLK Day’
What do I have to do, so that when my sons recall the sixty-third annual MLK Day celebration, it is about remembering past trials of injustice, rather than endlessly reliving them?...
Feb 2, 2015 / Jesse Hagopian
Ganzeer Versus the NYPD Ganzeer Versus the NYPD
One of the works appearing prominently in the Egyptian artist Ganzeer’s first US solo show has already been displayed to the thousands who attended this fall’s anti-police brutality protests. It’s a silkscreened print in yellow and blue, with a picture of Eric Garner being choked by an NYPD officer. Along the side, bold lettering reads: BE BRUTAL. The mock recruiting poster carries contact information at the bottom: NYPDKILLS.COM / 212-KILL-PEOPLE. Mohamed Fahmy, 32, who goes by the name Ganzeer (or “bicycle chain”) achieved international fame during the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt. For many foreign artists, a New York show might be viewed as an opportunity to focus an audience’s attention on their home country, but Ganzeer wasn’t interested. “I think that’s what they were expecting: ‘This guy’s from Egypt. He’s going to do a show about Egypt and the situation there,’” he said about being approached by the Leila Heller Gallery curator and Middle Eastern art expert Shiva Balaghi. But Ganzeer had other ideas; he wasn’t going to be Orientalized—a problem, he noted, that never seemed to be experienced by the British street artist Banksy or the Italian artist Blu. “I’m interested in making art about relevant things that are happening in the world,” he said. In other words, when in America, set your sights on America. “At first there was some hesitancy,” he said of the gallery, “but I think they really got into it.” Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50! He arrived in New York in mid-May, his first trip to the United States. He began to immerse himself in American politics and history. “He’s been reading Howard Zinn,” said Balaghi. The only link to his Egyptian work is a reference to a poster that landed him in the clink. In 2011, Ganzeer and two associates were arrested by Egyptian security forces while hanging a silkscreen called The Mask of Freedom, of a man wearing a ball-gag and blinders, wings protruding from his temples. In the new image, the ball-gag remains, the blinder is replaced by a full Captain America mask with no eye holes, and the man sports a business suit. “Great American Mask of Freedom,” the poster reads, “since 1776 and still going strong.” At least for now, Egypt’s loss is our gain. Ganzeer’s show will be on display at the Leila Heller Gallery through February 21. Read Next: Michelle Chen on police unions
Jan 21, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Ali Gharib
It’s Not Just the Cops It’s Not Just the Cops
Public defenders know that the trouble with our justice system extends far beyond abusive policing.
Jan 12, 2015 / Jonathan Rapping