Revolutionary Black Liberation Leader in the U.S.
1925-1965
Police state and police brutality
“If we’re going to talk about police
brutality it’s because police brutality
exists. Why does it exist? Because our
people in this particular society live in
a police state. A black man in America
lives in a police state. He doesn’t live
in any democracy, he lives in a police
state. That’s what it is, that’s what
Harlem is.
I visited the Casbah in Casablanca
and I visited the one in Algiers, with
some of the brothers - blood brothers.
They took me all down into it and
showed me the suffering, showed me
the conditions that they had to live
under while they were being occupied
by the French. They showed me the
conditions that they lived under while
they were colonized by these people
from Europe. And they also showed
me what they had to do to get those
people off their back.
They lived in a police state, Algeria
was a police state. Any occupied
territory is a police state; and this is
what Harlem is. Harlem is a police
state; the police in Harlem, their
presence is like occupation forces,
like an occupying army. They’re not
in Harlem to protect us; they’re
not in Harlem to look out for our
welfare; they’re in Harlem to protect
the interests of the businessmen
who don’t even live there.”
May 29, 1964
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