February’s equity resource comes to you from Tangletown Equity Committee co-chair Dirk Nicholson:
Who defines danger, what is to be protected, and from whom? Empire City presents an objective history of the New York Police Department over eight episodes illuminated with compelling narratives and historical figures, including personal anecdotes from professor, activist, and Peabody Award-winning host Chenjerai Kumanyika. From roots in slavery and colonialism, to factional police forces coalescing in opposition to one another, the eventual consolidation of power and associated corruption, the series explores the complex construction of policing and the resulting structure and relationship between those intended to enforce laws and the citizens both protected and harmed by that enforcement.
As we collectively consider the role of police in our society, Empire City raises questions of complicity, of a popular imagination and media focused on crime and disorder (defined and constructed by the nature of policing) as opposed to harms and the effective magnitude of what acts and which people are subject to policing.