What would life look like for Black folks if police didn’t exist? If police did not exist Black people would feel free. Free to go about our lives without fear. To be who we truly are as individuals in public spaces that are normally dominated by white folks and often drowning in white supremacy. To hold our heads high in these spaces without feeling judged, looked down upon, or made to feel like weāve done something wrong just by the simple act of breathing. ā(iKnowFolksAss) The Interludeā gives us an extreme, abstract glimpse into an urban Afrofuturist reality where the community holds the power now that police no longer exist.
Our ability to win every war we donāt deserve to be in shows the persistence of our love for our future. We battle and still build community. We fall and still create the path for our children and the world they need next. We arenāt vanishing like you want. We arenāt the death of your ignorance. We are angels destined to change society in the form of delinquents. We are the answer to unchanged histories you know of. We simply are.
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Isiah ThoughtPoet Veney is a photographer and writer from the Chatham and Burnside area. Ever since his highlighted works with Truestar Magazine showcasing Chicago’s musical talent he has been on a mission to capture and express powerful opinions and perceptions through imagery and writing of the Black experience. He currently lives in West Englewood, and was recently included in the Weekly feature “Who Are the Organizers?”
Assistant photographer: Journee Cuffi @whoisjournee;Photo styling: Ariana Bailey @ari_fauna; Makeup: Tiara DƩshanƩ @countingtiaras; Jade Landon @maryjade_773; Models: T Banks @Tbanksmultis; Calypso Simone @hoodpiscesheaux; @lisadecibel; @leevstree; Schenay Mosley @SchenayMosley; Naira @naira.bills (IG) @supernaira (Twitter); Solo the Dweeb; Sohaan Goss; Johari Osayi Idusuy, @iiosayijoii; Max Thomas
Over a period of time, I have done a Howard Beale and turned off my television. I also stopped listening to talk radio. Every now and then, I glance at a newspaper but I don’t get details. I got tired of everyone at every turn telling me what I needed or even telling me what I thought. I was lucky. I had been forewarned in English 102 of the coming of more mind control. You heard me. The media controlling our minds was a hot topic on college campuses across the nation. Howard Beal nailed it in the film “Network” made in 1976. I was forewarned of the hype. Many of our youth were born smack in the middle of the influence of the media. The TV was the babysitter for many of us. The TV would have the baby’s attention while others did what they do. TV evolved into the PC and it’s technology so we have Ghetto Fabulous.
In terms of which model GF uses to reach Iree, let us consider the one we presently use, the W.E.B. Dubois ideology of equality and human rights or the one suggested by former slave Booker T. Washington who in 1903 was proclaiming that Blacks should have economic independence. Black Man Figures (BMF) is was about skin color. Washington was rejected because of his African features. His hair was “nappy dread” as opposed to “natty dread”. He had the looks of having been from a farm while Dubois was a straight hair, more European looking Harvard graduate. We fell for the hype and have been focused on the social principle of white supremacy instead of having so much economic independence that they come running to us.