Fuck the police today, tomorrow, and forever.

Can we talk about the differences between police and policing?

We engage in self-policing and community policing everyday. We establish norms and expectations about how to engage with one another. We have street justice (meaning you will catch a fade). Policing happens for many reasons WITHOUT police.

The police were created as a bureaucratic entity to punish and collect "criminals." The problems is, in a racist society, people who are not the norm (meaning non-white, non-male, non-straight, non-wealthy, etc.) are automatically deemed criminal.

In an anti-Black world, Blackness will always be seen as a crime. Thus, the police will ALWAYS be anti-Black.

When we say fuck the police, we aren't saying we want chaos and mayhem in the streets. We are saying we don't want an entire force of individuals empowered to enact anti-Black terror and violence in our lives everyday.

The whole, "if we get rid of police, who will protect us?" shtick is not only superficial, it's also how many white people confirm that anti-Blackness makes them feel safe. Why? Because they think Black people are inherently criminal.

How do we know we can be safe without police? Many of us refuse to call the police into our communities because we know they will often escalate the situation, bringing more violence. Our safety relies on our DISTANCE from police.

Yes, many people believe the police are there to "protect and serve." However, many others of us know that "protection" only works when you're considered a full citizen.

There is no way to reform ourselves out of anti-Blackness. Institutions built on logics of anti-Blackness (and white supremacy) have to be dismantled and created anew. Period.

So, yeah, fuck the police.