The debate over police accountability in the U.S. sparked by the grand jury decision in Ferguson rages on today as another “no indictment” comes down—this time in Eric Garner’s videotaped chokehold death in New York City. Protests have swept the nation, clashing with holiday shoppers and really upsetting local conservative talking head Dori Monson, as he made clear in his now infamous “I’m finished with downtown Seattle” rant.
Monson aside, local musicians are also making their perspectives clear—via new music.
New York-via-Seattle songwriter Benjamin Verdoes released “Policeman,” (above) as an intensely personal reaction to the uptick in deaths of people of color at the hands of police officers. In the song, he repeatedly asks a policeman “who are you?” wondering aloud why “You would choke my friend to death in the street/But you wouldn’t do the same to me.” Verdoes paired the song with home video of his adopted brother and sister growing up, making this statement about the piece on his Facebook account:
It is heartbreaking that I have to tell my brother to be cautious around the police. I remind him often that there are people that would go out of their way to harm or to kill him based on the color of his skin. There are many more who would do nothing to protect or defend him if he were in trouble. The same is true for my wife, sister, brother in-law, and other loved ones. Because I am white I am rarely, if ever, concerned for my safety. I do not worry about being profiled and harmed by police. I do not have to fear for my life. I am not expected to be a criminal, an underachiever, or dangerous. People do not placate me and demean me with insults or false praise because of my race. I am not caricatured, undervalued, or objectified. I am not continually given the message that my experience is untrue or irrelevant.
I wrote this song in the weeks after the murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Each reference in the song is tied to a story of police violence that actually happened to loved-ones or has been reported in the media. They are all recent.
Tacoma rap duo Sleep Steady released its own repsonse to Ferguson yesterday with a new song entitled “Light it Up.” The song pointedly adresses many of the capitalist criticisms that have arisen given the Ferguson decision’s proximity to Black Friday and the start of the holiday shopping season:
“All my life I been livin for the dollarWith a noose around my collarNever made a lick of sense (cents)H(a)unted by the copperNever had that much to offerOnly got some borrowed timeAnd the the property I rent.
I got my hands upWhile you killin meI got my hands upWhy you killin me?”
The full lyrics can be read here.
