Earn Your Leisure - Police Brutality, taxpayers, insurance companies

 

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Follow the money. There's more to it than just racial hatred, and historic oppression even though that is the factual root of policing in the United States. Here, the good brothers over at Earn Your Leisure break down how insurance companies are making bank off of police brutality cases through cities such as Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Chicago. 

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Here in this video they go into further detail about some of the major banks and corporations profit off of police brutality and how cities ear mark or set aside a certain amount of $$$ YEARLY for police murders, brutality, and settlements. Peep this article how corporations financially support cop unions.

Dig this? Heres a portrait of Huey P Newton (co-founder of the Black Panther Party), Brutality over the years

Inspiration board 42

 

Yall, it gives me so much pleasure to share some of the things I'm seeing, hearing, feeling, reading, learning from, and getting inspired by. PLEASE check out some of these people, things, etc and get inspired!!! Here are they are left to right, top to bottom.

1. Snapdragon by Kat Leyh (graphic novel) Witches, Queer identity, etc

2. Eve Ewing (Author/Educator) writes about super heroes, school closures, and science

3. Vamos! by Raul the Third (Picture book) Bilingual literacy, Latinx, kids lit

4. A Tradition of Violence by Cerise Castle (podcast) LA Sheriff gangs, journalism, police brutality

5. Sebastian Mikael's new EP Phileo (Soul Music) Soul, hip hop

6. Pinocchio by Guillermo Del Toro (Animated film) stop motion, 

7. Alvin Irby founder of Barbershop Books (Interview) activism, literacy, black boys

8. I am the Subway by Kim Hyo Eun (Picture book) train, humanity, working class

9. Nala Sinephro's album Space 1.8 (Jazz music) jazz, experimental jazz, harp

10. Abel Cruz's fog nets (Water) BBC, World hacks, water crisis, fog nets, peru

11. Sibylline Meynet (Artist) illustration, gouache, artist

12. Afu Chan's Outer Darkness (Artist) comics, illustration

13. Ovarian Psycos (Documentary) cycling, women's rights, trauma, women

14. Noni Sessions (Activist) East Bay Permanent Real Estate Coop, coop's, land, activism

15. Coop Conversations (Podcast) Cooperative housing, podcasts, coop's, alternative housing

16. Teach the Children the Truth by Marisa Villegas (Podcast) Ethnic studies, Raza Studies, education

Did you miss the previous inspiration board? Here are a few 

Inspiration board 41

Inspiration board 40

 

What's this? This inspiration board is one of the ways I stay inspired and sane through all of life's trials, and tribulations, work, etc. I've been making inspiration boards full of films, books, music, events, people, artists, movements, and more for over a decade. Do you have an inspiration board? Please share in the comments.

Who am I? My name is Rob and I'm an artist working in kid lit, public art, and other disciplines. Go to my website, or follow me on IG or YouTube. 

You can purchase my book "Art of Rob" here

Cerise Castle -A History of Violence Podcast

 Just started listening to this new podcast called "A Tradition of Violence" by Cerise Castle about the gangs embedded in the LA County Sheriff's  department. 

Action: Listen to and share the show

I remember hearing about her back in 2021 and she had been reporting on this for several years making herself a target by LA Cops who like most police departments in the US serve wealthy elites and to keep everyday people in check so we don't revolt. Police have been murdering Black folks specifically for decades but until recently the public rarely knew unless it was caught on film. From NYPD to LA, cops are not the solution to safety yall, we are. All the billions that they get paid should be going to our public schools, public hospitals, jobs, and community based solutions that will actually make the communities they claim to protect safer. 

Much respect and props to Cerise for continuing the legacy of journalism that exposes evils like this that are foundational to the US government's system of control. Follow and protect her yall.

Check out this interview w/ journalist Cerise Castle where she speaks w/ the breakfast club

Dig this? Check out Police Gangs of LA, Brutality Over the Years

Police Gangs of LA

 

This shit is ill, and I've heard the same about the NYPD. Best believe that I support getting rid of the entire system of policing as it stands today in the US. no amount of reform will change how they bully, disrespect, target, and murder folks here; especially Black folks, people of color, mentally ill people, and poor people. We need to take the millions each major urban city spends on policing and put it into whhat would actually help people, reduce crime, etc. Quality housing, education, mental and physical health care, jobs. 

You see this and understand why The Black Panther Party for Self Defense was created. Peep this post from a few years ago: 

Brutality over the years

Respect to journalist Cerise Castle! 

Character 119 - Diamond Reynolds

This is Diamond Reynolds and her daughter, the partner of Philando Castile and the woman who filmed his murder by a Minnesota Police officer. Rest in piece brother Philando, a traffic stop should not have resulted in your murder. Bless Ms Reynolds and her daughter who should have not had to witness what they did. For the nay sayers on police brutality, this is not an isolated incident. It's not because he did not follow the law. It is because America as a continent is terrified of Black people and feels our lives are less than. Terrorism is not just abroad, it is right here in the US in Black communities. If you are outraged, get involved. Organize with folks who are invested in dismantling the system. For young creatives and artists, if you have the spirit to, speak on injustice in your work.

Character 92- Swing Back

Sometimes a thought just comes out, wasn't thinking "self defense" but this is what i see. Imagine how folks would feel if black folks started striking back physically. You can watch your family be murdered only so many times before you fight back, right? Would the media be quick to demonize African Americans fighting, swinging, and shooting back to defend their loved ones since cops, courts, and the US justice system has never had their back?

Artists against Police Brutality- Comics Anthology

via John Jennings:

We’ve all seen the pictures. A six-year-old Ruby Bridges being escorted by U.S. marshals on her first day at an all-white, New Orleans school in 1960. A police dog attacking a demonstrator in Birmingham. Fire hoses turned on protesters. Martin Luther King Jr. addressing a crowd on the National Mall. These pictures were printed in papers, flashed across television screens, and helped to change the laws of this Nation...but not all of the attitudes.

We’ve all seen the pictures. Michael Brown lying face down in a pool of his own blood for hours. Protesters with their hands up, facing down militarized policemen. We’ve also seen the videos. Eric Garner choked to death. John Crawford III shot down in Walmart for carrying a toy gun. Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice gunned down in broad daylight for the same reason.

This time, the pictures and videos aren’t doing much to change things; if anything, they are a repeated reminder of how worthless black and brown lives are to the justice system. So we need conversations to go along with the pictures, and we’re sending out an APB to artists and writers to help jump start those conversations.

APB: Artists against Police Brutality is a comic book anthology with one primary goal: show pictures and tell stories that get people talking. We are looking for artists across the disciplines to lend their talents and critical eye for this artistic examination of the US justice system and its treatment of communities of color. We are looking for personal stories, biographies, sociopolitical and historical analysis that shed a light on shared experiences across these communities, not just to act as an echo chamber, but to be used to change minds outside of these communities.

APB will be a black and white book that collects these stories. While primarily a comic book project, we will also consider following:

ONE- AND TWO-ROW COMIC STRIPS
PIN-UPS AND SPOT ILLUSTRATIONS
PROSE STORIES (whatever the genre; up to 1,500 words) and analytical essays (personal, sociopolitical, historical; up to 2,000 words)

The main goal is to encourage people to talk about the persistent problems facing this country in terms of race and the justice system in an accessible and powerful medium.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

PITCH PROCESS
Please send an email to artistsagainstpolicebrutality@gmail.com to give the editors (Bill Campbell, John Jennings, and Jason Rodriguez) the general idea of the story that you want to do. Tell us a little about yourself and send samples (or a link to your website) if you have them. ALL PITCHES MUST BE RECEIVED BY JANUARY 15, 2015.

throw something in there yall.

"From Fruitvale to Florida" by Karen Seneferu

This is a powerful piece by artist Karen Seneferu .Read her words: This documentation is a tribute to Oscar Grant, Treyvon Martin, Andy Lopez, Alejandro Nieto, Renisha McBride, Akai Gurley, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamar Rice, and hundreds of Black and Brown people who have been killed by policer officers, security guards, and vigilantes. The people in the video were given the question how did you feel or think when you heard the verdict in some of these cases? Their facial expressions are their responses. The video challenges the idea of gazing out and into the eyes of others who refuse to recognize the genocide occurring in these communities by the judicial system.

Brutality over the years-We will win

1992- I remember how I felt when the Rodney King verdict came down and LA was engulfed; not in flames but rebellion. I was baffled, and without the skill or analysis to do anything about it. But I did not forget it. Like my first time being pulled over for "fitting the description" with my mom by cops-my mom knew what they were capable of even back then and told me to put my hands up in plain sight. Maybe thats why I was allowed to have "Fuck The Police"  or "Holler if you hear me" playing in my room.

I don't have any new words of wisdom and my thoughts on the current state of the state (police, city & state govt, corporations) are much better in a one on one conversation, but I hope to share with these art pieces over the years that I have been speaking on it, with like minds, and I will continue to do so, just trying to find the words and the images to express exactly how pissed off I am. If you are an artist and pissed off too, speak on it. You don't have to have the best analysis or idea, just speak on it and make your voice heard.
 
2001-"Police Brutality didn't die on 9-11" painted in West Oakland 2001 right after 9-11 for an Oct 22nd Police Brutality march, at the time the murder of Idriss Stelley was heavy on my mind and all the folks running around with NYPD on their hats/cars. J-Live's "Satisfied" was in heavy rotation.

2003-Based on a photograph taken after the murder of Timothy Thomas in Cincinatti's Over The Rhine neighborhood, I painted this image over and over again, extremely pissed off. This was around the time that the Trust Your Struggle Collective was formed. The Coup's whole LP "Party Music" was in heavy rotation, specifically "Get Up" .

2006-This was a poster illustration for TYS show All City Sacred show. A show that used fine art, illustration, sculpture, and installation to talk about oppressed people's right to rebel through demonstration, art, actions, and just existing. Was listening to Dead Prez's LP Revolutionary But Gangster a lot, specifically "Turn off the Radio" 

2013-This mural was painted after the decision not to charge George Zimmerman with the murder of Trayvon Martin-with the help of countless hands, I'm just happy I got to work on it for a few hours with my son who was now old enough to understand what had happened and wanted to help paint it. This was a collaboration with TYS , hella local artists, and Dignidad Rebelde.  Bounce, Yoshi, Scott La Rock, and Cece also repped hard by painting Oscar Grant previously. I was definitely listening to Bambu's "Like Us" still and "Rent Money".

2014-Having to continue painting is part of a long struggle for revolutionary change. As I venture more and more into the realm of children's books and publishing and less public art I hope to meet other illustrators who are not afraid of speaking on this because there are so many children being killed and children being left without parents. Rip Mike Brown, Alex Nieto, and Eric Garner, Andy Lopez, and so many more. I think I'm going to go listen to Killer Mike's speech again. Keep struggling yall, keep fighting back!We will win!

If you are seeing reports about protests in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, South America, Mexico-know that it is connected. Your fight is theirs and vice versa.

Did you see the show "Of Love & Riots 2"?

Inktober 14- 80 days, no justice

Thinking about the murder of brother Mike Brown and how the Ferguson Police and city departments have done their best to justify his murder by tarnishing his character. Do black folks need to riot and tear that city hall down? It has been 80 days since this young one was killed and no justice served. Thousands have protested, marched, organized, reported, and documented. Also, thinking about the legacy of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense and how at the height of racist practices in the south Black folks had their own schools, hospitals, ambulances, clinics ,etc. With the panthers, they had their own armed defense too.

Dig this? Check out this drawing of EZLN