Sad week in America. COVID-19 deaths increasing, George Floyd's senseless death, and violent protests against police brutality exposing a systemic failure of leadership and a culture of racism nationwide. All this against a backdrop of civil unrest, looting and destruction, in many cities demonstrating just how thin the line between good and evil is in this country. The politics of outrage will not be a satisfactory response to the wounds of racism ripped open this week fanned by the occupant of the White House. Regardless of your political affiliation certainly you should be able to see the injustice institutionalized in the militarized police forces against persons of color. Certainly you should be able to see that George Floyd's death was wrong. The data is shocking and disturbing. Police violence is also not isolated. As this week's George Floyd protests have highlighted, police violence is a nationwide problem and it is multi-generational. NWA's "Fuck tha Police" (August 9, 1988) was not the only song pointing out the obvious, the Dead Kennedys, eight years earlier, identified the police as a criminal gang in "Police Truck" (May 1980). "Police Truck" was inspired by an incident in Los Angeles in the late 1970s in which two police officers performed illegal activities such as drinking on the job, beating up drunks, and raping prostitutes. Continue reading →