Prison Culture » Malcolm X & Police Brutality: A Letter to the NYPD
Regular readers know that I write a lot about oppressive policing. It is with good reason. Yesterday, a grand jury declined to indict a police officer who shot Jonathan Ferrell 10 times. After the results of the autopsy, Ferrell’s family suggested that they would file a wrongful death suit. Police violence against black people is of course not new and is mundanely common. History is replete with examples of police brutality against African Americans.
I’ve shared the story of Malcolm X’s rise to national prominence through his involvement in the Johnson X Hinton incident in 1957. I even created a zine about historical moments of policing, violence, & resistance in Harlem based in part on this story.
Today, I thought that I would share a letter that Malcolm X wrote to the NYPD Commissioner following the Johnson X Hinton episode. You will find it very relevant to our current historical moment, I think.
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