Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the nation, and in this scene you can almost feel the racial tensions rising. On New Year's Day 2016, young Black protesters invaded multiple restaurants located within predominantly white Northside communities to raise awareness of the rampant police violence ravaging the city’s predominantly Black West and Southside communities. The Black youth are obviously displeased with the fact that they are spending their holiday protesting police murders, and the white restaurant patrons and staff are visibly and audibly bothered by the demonstration.
Clip 2: Meet Janae and Bella
We meet Janae, a leader of BYP100 and PhD candidate, at a community organizing event hosted by young Black activists in Chicago. Then we meet Bella, a raptivist, at a children-led #SayHerName march to amplify and uplift Black women and girls harmed by police violence. a young woman who was killed by a Chicago police officer. We see Bella perform outside of Cook County Juvenile Center, one of the largest youth jails in the country. And we learn that Bella is the daughter of formerly incarcerated parents.
Clip 3: I Am Rekia Boyd
We learn that on March 21, 2012, Rekia Boyd, a 22-year-old Black woman, was shot in the back of the head and killed by an off duty CPD officer Dante Servin on the city’s West Side. We also learn that criminal charges against Servin were vacated, and– like most police officers– he gets away with murder and keeps his job. We meet Martinez, Rekia’s brother, in 2015 at a Chicago Police Board meeting, where organizers amplify the family’s demand that Servin be fired from the police force.
Clip 4: Justice for Laquan
Protesters respond to the release of the video showing Laquan McDonald, a 17 year old Black boy, being shot 16 times by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke. We see protesters clash with police, take over streets and shut down an expressway. We hear from Bella about her experience being threatened with physical violence by an officer that night.
Sources
Authored by:
Bella BAHHS
Bella BAHHS is a revolutionary Chicago-based raptivist and columnist, nationally known for making sedition irresistible through her art, activism and advocacy for prison industrial complex abolition. https://www.bellabahhs.com/bio.
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