Unapologetic (2020) - full transcript

Viewers like you make
this program possible.

Support your local PBS station.

Mic check!

Mic check! Mic check!

While you are here...

While you are here...

celebrating over brunch...

celebrating over brunch...

CPD gunned down...

CPD gunned down...

two of our beloved
community members.



Two of our beloved
community members.

Mayor Emanuel...

Mayor Emanuel...

thinks more tasers...

thinks more tasers...

and more money...

and more money...

should go to the police.

Should go to the police.

While you are here...

While you are here...

celebrating over brunch...

celebrating over brunch...

Black families...



Black families...

are struggling to
keep themselves...

are struggling to
keep themselves...

safe from CPD.

Safe from CPD.

These are some of the
men, women, and children

killed by the police.

Tiara Thomas, 30.

Say her name!

Sandra Reever, 48.

Say her name!

India Kager, 48.

Say her name!

Sandra Bland, 28.

Say her name!

Chant down, Babylon,
Black people are the bomb.

We ready.

We coming.

We ready.

We coming.

Director of Operations.

This guy right here was
real sarcastic with me,

this lady as well, as I was
trying to get them out of here.

So they just disrupted the
lunch of about 200 people.

OK, well, they're leaving, so.

Excuse me.

Babylon, Black
people are the bomb.

We ready.

We coming.

We ready.

We coming.

What is this helping though?

That's my question.

We think it's very important...

Really?

To disrupt everyone's brunch.

No.

We all have TV.

We all watch the news.

Now, we return to Chicago...

as violence continues
to be topic A in Chicago...

shot and killed 22-year-old...

showing 17-year-old Laquan
McDonald being shot 16...

Breaking news,
another Black death.

We often peep the
slightest of hand,

the Black death used as cape,
the draping of our people

to your cause.

This is a story about that
magic, about the historical,

the unlikely, rarely-reported
facts about leaders

and communities like
ours, about how much

they fail and succeed,
about how Black they

are, how queer they are.

When you take enough
Ls, you refuse to surf.

But eventually, if you
stay here long enough,

you'll plant your
feet and stay upright.

This is our city.

But when you expect folks
who you've held back

for centuries to say, "sorry,"
I'm afraid you'll find

us rather...

Hold up.

I need this...

unapologetic.

Hold up.

Vibe shit.

Hey, Westside get the money,

roll through Austin
in a Porsche.

My niggas got Instagrams,
you can't take a picture.

Why you saving all your money?

You know you can't
take it with you.

Every time I get it, I
flip it, to make me richer.

And look out for
the shorties, they

got me when they get bigger.

I don't really
fuck with rappers.

You ain't deep,
so I don't dig ya.

You cannot sit with us.

I cannot hit your swisher.

Loud, Mary keep on burning,
roll, rolling on the river.

I'm feeling like I'm Tina,
no tolerance for misogynist,

in a limo with the Nina.

When you married to the
game, ain't no such thing

as a prenup.

When all you niggas loyal,
you don't give no fuck bout

no subpoena, dream of
selling out arenas.

And the ball is in my court
now, so my rap game is Serena.

Got to make my parents proud,
feel like Sasha and Malia.

Young Black woman in Chicago,
boy, I do this for Rekia.

And all my songs are bangers,
bang like onomatopoeia.

Hold up.

Hello.

How's it going?

Pretty well.

How are you?

I fell in love with this
city when I moved here.

But during the months of
December through March,

that love affair is
very, very fickle.

It's like a really
good significant other

that just forgets
every important date.

Your birthday, anniversary.

But Chicago as a whole,
it's a dope city.

Set my people free.

I'm letting my people know...

I'm letting my people know...

I love you like you were me.

I love you like were me.

Look at somebody.

I love you like you were me.

I love you like you were me.

We about to open this up.

Black Youth Project
100 is a group

that I'm so proud
to be a part of.

Please make some
noise for Janaé Bonsu.

Peace, everybody.

How y'all doing?

I want to push us today to
think about our futures.

The reality is,
especially Black women,

been working hard since
the beginning of time

and been supporting everybody.

If you've ever been
supported by a Black woman,

just snap your fingers.

Let me hear you.

Right?

And I'm sure all y'all know the
statistic that 40% of our city

budget goes to policing, right?

So much money is being
harbored in these institutions.

Get your blocks
together and say, "Yo",

how can we pool our resources?

You know, if we don't
got a Whole Foods

"in our neighborhood, how can
we start growing our own food?"

We've really got to think
about how we build what

we want from the ground up.

And it's gone be hard,
but we can do it.

So I believe that we will win.

That's it.

My name is Janaé Ebone Bonsu.

I work within an organization
that radically challenges

that notion that
women have limited

capacity for leadership.

And woman leadership has just
been a lot more visible now

than I think it's ever been.

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Whose streets?

Our streets!

Mic check!

Mic check!

Mic check!

Mic check!

Mic check!

Mic check!

You think that you've won.

But we are here to remind
you that you haven't.

Nope.

We are here to protect
and to serve our people.

Yeah!

I'm going to say,
protect and serve.

Y'all going to say,
we are the police.

Then I'm going to say,
we're taking back,

and y'all gone say,
our communities, OK?

Yes.

Protect and serve?

We are the police.

Protect and serve?

We are the police.

Protect and serve!

We are the police.

We're taking back...

our communities.

We're taking back...

our communities.

We're taking back...

our communities.

I went to they college,
got magnum cum laude.

Learned things that they
taught me do not really matter.

Won't help my brother who
locked in they cellars.

So I yell, free my niggas,
then aim at they sheriffs.

You'd better stay inside
if you are scared.

City so cold that we
got to wear layers.

But rocking the hoodie mean
that they will prey us.

Walk out the door, my
grandma say her prayers.

As-salamu alaykum, don't
mess with the pigs.

I don't mess with the bacon.

Think that I'm wrong, then
you're sadly mistaken.

This is Black history
that we are making.

Right.Yes.

Go ahead.

This is Black history
that we are making.

Yeah!

Even if we don't, our
stories gone make it!

Yeah!

Thank, y'all.

My name is Ambrell
Gambrell, but most people

know me as Bella BAHHS.

Immediately after I graduated,
Mike Brown was murdered.

Then I really started getting
into using rap as activism.

Like, my first time performing
was on a gospel stage.

It was like Lee Williams
and the Spiritual QC's.

They were my
grandmother's favorite.

So I used to always
just perform they

songs like in a
bed with a remote

and make my grandma happy.

Because I would
learn all the songs

and perform them for her.

And then we went to
one of their concerts.

And he called me up on stage.

I was excited.

I was up there, like...

Yes, that's my grandma,
all her jewelry, iced up.

This is my great-grandmother,
my grandma's mom.

And then that's her mom.

I've always seen women
who have raised children

and raised communities
on their own.

That's my mama up
there, stylin' on them.

Yeah, my mom was in a
federal penitentiary

when she took that picture.

It was crazy.

Like, they had
picture days and shit.

I don't know.

Yes indeed.

This is me.

Going to see my momma.

For a very long
time, my grandmother

told me that my parents
were at college.

I remember very vividly
being about five-years-old

and bawling, like,
just crying my eyes out

to my, to my grandma.

And she didn't understand
why I was crying.

But she had just said something
about me going to college one

day.

And I was devastated.

Both of my parents were
incarcerated by the time

I was three-months-old.

When people are serving
time, their families

are serving that time with them.

That's where my fight
against abolition

comes from, because you
are destroying families.

Like, how I relate to people
is completely fucked up.

You only have a few
minutes to talk about it.

It's not because they're not...

I am currently a doctoral
student at Jane Addams College

of Social Work.

Really, just take
a minute and think

about the most
important thing you want

to tell us about your paper.

Of course, it should
be what it's about.

So let's start with Janaé.

OK, my paper is
essentially talking

about community
accountability as an antidote

to legal cynicism.

And so I was drawn to write
this paper because it's

kind of grounded
in my experience

being an activist and
organizer here in Chicago,

being in a city where, you
know, a mayor has committed

to hiring 1,000 more
cops and me being

in, I guess, kind of a
bubble where, you know,

people don't want
more police, right?

I actually want to read
a quote by Dr. Richie,

actually, because
abolition means

that we have to talk
about accountability,

transformative
justice, mobilizing

people who are serving time.

It means asking what
are we not doing

yet at home so that we
are positioned to build

another set of alternatives.

A first draft of the lit review
of my dissertation research.

Great, good job.

Over the years,
Mayor Rahm Emanuel

closed the public schools,
closed the mental health

centers.

He is committed to
sustaining and strengthening

law enforcement.

And now that it is actually
the term where I am putting

my dissertation together.

I really want my
research grounded

in how we can envision
what safety looks

like outside of that system.

So it looks like
this is 100 pages.

I'm hoping that
this 50-page page

limit is only text,
because if not,

then I'm kind of in trouble.

I think one of the biggest
missing pieces of system

intersectionality,
is basically how

the welfare system, the criminal
legal system, the immigration

system, child protective
services, the health care

system, how they're
all very interrelated.

Like, when a Black woman
has contact with the police.

It's a photo of my
nana and grandpa

visiting my uncle in prison.

Most of my life
he was in prison,

I knew that him spending
so much time in prison

wasn't just because
he was a bad person.

I knew that there had to
be more to that cycle.

A lot of my formative
experiences and analysis

of the criminal legal
system, came from him.

Such a cool dude, I
put him on my wall

as just a consistent constant
reminder of why I do this,

yeah.

Set it up, set it
up, send it up, set it off.

Fuck with my sisters and
you're set up for failure.

You're better off cooling off.

Yeah, you're better
off cooling off.

So it's going to go
something like that.

Do you want to do any
overdubs on that part?

Yes.

OK.

Laquan could
have been the son of TT.

They shot Pierre
while he was running.

That sound a lot
to me like Frankie.

Frankly, going out like
Cleo is more likely.

Take some CPD officers with me.

If niggas want war, then
just call me Achilles.

Feds on my heels like I
just stepped in feces.

Oh, shit.

This for niggas at the
bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Oshun, full of fresh water.

This for Flint, Michigan.

They're poisoning our children.

Fuck a politician.

Criminals in the Senate...

I'm angry when I'm performing
at street protests,

but at the studio,
this is healing.

Can you punch me in at oh, shit?

Mhm, you want before the
shit or after the shit?

Blau, blau, blau, blau.

Punch me in before the shit.

Oshun, full
of fresh water, this for Flint,

Michigan.

They're poisoning our children.

Fuck a politician.

Criminals in the Senate.

And my niggas in the
field, fuck the house.

If I tell them send it up,
that's where they send it.

If I tell them send it up,
that's where they send it.

Set it up, set it up,
send it up, set it off.

Fuck with my sisters...

Want to play that back?

My lyrics were very
intentional about promoting

Black liberation, and
uplifting other Black women.

Yeah, when we talk
about Rekia Boyd,

it doesn't get as
much publicity as when

we talk about Laquan McDonald.

When we talk about
Sandra Bland, it

doesn't get as much publicity as
when we talk about Mike Brown,

as when we talk
about Eric Garner.

22-year-old Rekia
Boyd was walking

to a store with three
friends near Douglas Park.

Servin, who was off duty,
was upset over noise.

Sitting in his car, fired
five shots over his shoulder.

Boyd was hit and killed.

March 21st 2012, Rekia Boyd was
shot in the back of her head

by Dante Servin.

State's Attorney, Anita
Alvarez, a year and a half

later charged Servin with
involuntary manslaughter.

She undercharged Dante Servin.

Judge Dennis Porter
vacated the charge,

saying that he should have
been charged with first degree

murder.

Because it was a bench trial,
it wasn't a jury trial,

Dante Servin was
able to walk away

with no accountability
via the judicial system.

The Chicago Police
Board is responsible

for the ultimate
firing of Dante Servin.

This could be anybody.

This could be anybody
I know and love.

This is my side of town.

This is my... like...

To neglect this side of Chicago,
is to neglect my whole family.

There'd be a lot
going on over here.

No, it wasn't like that
when we was little.

We could walk down the street.

We could walk to
the store, and not

get worried about people
getting shot or killed.

Can't do that now.

And it's messed up.

We used to be all
up and down here.

I see the world through the lens
of the West Side of Chicago.

I love Black people.

They're so beautiful.

And we see

a very different and
necessary direction.

I want you to know on
behalf of the police board,

we have heard you.

We have heard you
at our meetings.

We have heard and seen
you in the streets.

We have heard and
listened to you,

as you have corresponded with us
individually and collectively.

And we will continue to listen.

I think that's important
for you all to know.

LaCreshia Birts.

So McCarthy, where are you in
the process of firing Dante

Servin?

Ma'am, do have a clear
statement to make?

So I can't ask questions?

Answer the question!

What?

It's still being worked on.

It's still being worked on?

As protesters, this case and all
of the corruption around police

is taking up a lot of our time.

We're out here
protesting, trying

to make sure that we're
safe, because you're not

doing your job.

Sister, your time is up.

McCarthy, either
stand up or step down.

Hey!

Next speaker, Martinez Sutton.

My sister was killed.

Excuse my language,
but it's fucked up.

Every month I'm here, have
your sister been killed?

Have you anybody in your family
been killed by the police?

I got a feeling,
he's going to resign

when you make your decision.

And a motherfucker
gone get off scot-free.

Yep.

Yeah.

It was my sister's
birthday this month.

She would have been 26, 26.

You feel my pain, I'm just
asking that you fire him.

I'll just ask
everybody to stand up

with the remainder of my
time, and salute my sister.

Yup.

I am Rekia Boyd.

I am Rekia Boyd.

I am Rekia Boyd.

I am Rekia Boyd.

I am Rekia Boyd.

I am Rekia Boyd.

I am Rekia Boyd.

I am Rekia Boyd.

27,000 complaints filed
and only 80 of them

result in any type of, like,
discipline, out of 27,000.

How I see it, is that when
we do act civil and expect

the response and don't
get it, so next time...

Right.

We won't be as nice.

If we don't get it.

Shut it down!

Only 3% of officers that
have complaints against them

end up getting disciplined,

In more than 99%
of the thousands

of misconduct complaints,
no disciplinary action

was ever taken.

Young people have
attempted to impose upon me

as president of a police board,
a power that I don't possess.

They want any police officer
who kills an African-American

to be fired, stripped
of their pension

without any due process,
any investigation.

There's clearly a role
to play for protests.

Some of the issues that
we're talking about today,

related to the Chicago
Police Department,

wouldn't be happening without
people being out in the street,

but there is a time and
a place for everything.

It's easy to yell, and
scream and protest.

What's more
complicated, is to work

towards actual
solutions that improve

the quality of people's lives.

I believe the men and women
of the police department

are both professionally
dedicated to meeting

the public safety
of the residents.

But we've got to be also
conscious of the fact

that the world around them
very quickly got changed.

They don't think they
get a fair shake.

But we want our officers to
know that their leadership has

their back, to do the job
that we hired them to do.

Rahm must go! Rahm must go!

Rahm must go!

Oh, it goes down in the DM...

You so fine.

It goes down.

Those DMs.

Woo, that's
crazy, cause she's so fine.

People don't really ask
me on dates and shit.

But, you know, I'm open.

Maybe when people see this,
they'll be like, "Oh."

Are you going to speak on it?

I'm going to speak on it.

Oh.

I'm going to speak on it.

So I have dated men and women.

This community of women are
warriors in a way that like,

I just don't see in
our men right now,

like that you have a desire
to protect me, to possess me,

to control me...

Yes, but protect?

To have me.

Like by dating men while
our men are at this state,

of complete and devastating
psychological indoctrination

into misogyny and misogynoir and
a deep hatred for Black women.

And if I know this, right, then
am I going against my politics

by still allowing them
that access to me?

They be so fine though.

Yeah, they do.

They be fine though.

Check it out.

Ah, bitch.

Shout out to HomeGoods.

Shout out to HomeGoods.

She wins again.

She wins again.

I did that.

She did that.

I did that.

Mm.

OK.

OK.

So you know how I'm not really...

Girly is not the right word.

But you know I don't
do makeup and stuff.

But I went to Sally's
today, got some foundation.

Oh, shit.

I am a member of BYP for life,
forever ever, forever ever.

Squad!

And that's how I met Janaé.

We were just like, she's so
cute and her booty is so big.

And I was just like, oh my God.

And so she was like,
come over, I'm cooking.

And I ain't never going
to turn down a meal.

And I came over.

And she had fried tilapia.

And I think I stayed
over for two days.

And I just be... I just
be my sister's keepers.

You fine, girl.

How do I do this?

No, don't... nah, just...

You said blot, what do...

Blot like with your...

Just so petty.

This is the BYP100's
space, office space.

We got many pieces of butcher
paper plastered on the wall.

So I guess we'd be
talking about something

and documenting something, yeah.

No, we actually talk about a lot
and document a lot of things.

It's really not a
strategy session,

unless you have butcher paper.

Different people
really help me think

about how to be an organizer.

BYP100 being an
organization that explicitly

says that, we organize through
this Black, queer, feminist

lens.

If Rekia Boyd were alive today,
we would be the same age,

but Dante Servin
took her life away.

And as a young Black woman in
this city, I do not feel safe.

We are a national organization
of young Black activists

between the ages of 18 and 35.

How we situate our work is,
as a part of a broader project

for Black liberation.

I've seen her blossom
from a member coming

in wanting to do something,
to being a Chicago chapter

co-chair and now being our
national public policy chair.

Say stop the cops and
fund Black futures!

Me being with comrades
who also have that fire

is kind of contagious in a way.

For a lot of us, we are coming
into these organizations,

because we feel as if
we are not being heard

and we are not
being represented.

Trayvon Martin is
a marker in time.

Black and brown folks
being killed by the police.

It began to become more and
more on all the news outlets.

There was three Black
women who sort of

ignited with this
Movement for Black Lives.

From that, started
a massive campaign

in different cities
and different states.

In terms of locally,
people form relationships.

They were just like,
all right, we're

going to fuck up
the ops together.

Without Black trans women,
gender nonconforming folks,

femme folks, cis-identified
young girls and women,

this would not look
the way that it does.

Hell no, we won't go.

Hell no, we won't go.

Hell no, we won't go.

Hell no, we won't go.

Hell no, we won't go.

We need some of our
people on the sidewalks,

you will not make an
illegal arrest today today.

To go to a rally
that's for Black Lives

and to only see Black men being
given any kind of authority

on the subject, is absurd to me.

The sexism and the homophobia
that shows up in our movements

weakens us, it
destroys our power.

Even though you are
also being oppressed,

you also have privilege
and you are also

capable of doing the oppressing.

If Black, queer, feminist
people are not free,

nobody else is going to be free.

Looks like.

Tell me what
democracy looks like.

This is what
democracy looks like.

Michigan Avenue, y'all.

Michigan Avenue,
come on, let's go!

No justice, no profits.

No justice, no profits!

No justice, no profits.

Cause they're not necessarily
fighting for liberation,

they're just fighting for their
own relationship to power.

There are some of us
that are absolutely

governed by ancestors.

And we're not playing
by your rules,

and we're not interested
in playing by your rules.

OK.

I'm reading a letter from
my brother who is in prison.

And I miss him.

He said, "I appreciate you
reaching out and dropping"

a few jewels.

I needed that food for thought.

It really touched my
heart, and I love it.

So again, thanks baby sister.

I let a few lady
correctional officers,

and a few of my homies
read the postcard

"you sent about your Chicago
Arts Activism Campaign."

Our entire existence
is resistance.

No matter where
we're at doing it,

so I just be
needing them to find

ways to celebrate themselves.

Like every single
day you survive

in there is a day you
done survive the war.

Like you survived
being kidnapped.

You survive torture, right?

Like prison are torture.

I've always been like this
very silenced Black girl,

who had the weight of the
world on her shoulders.

The responsibility to free
her mother, free her father,

free her brothers,
free her grandmother

from the trauma of losing a
daughter to prison system.

I carry all of
that all the time.

How you choose what
you choose to do

and what your criteria for a
successful demonstration are.

A protest doesn't always
have to have a target.

It doesn't always have to
have a goal, so to speak.

Sometimes people
take the streets,

because they are... they feel.

Because in they textbooks,
we're on one page.

And the only thing it say
is we was once slaves.

So, of course,
they think that I'm

crazed when I tell them we had
pyramids when they had caves.

Y'all, this my mama.

Yeah, like talking about
criminalization and violence.

And what it means to just
inhabit these vessels.

Create opportunities
for other women

to be involved and
bringing these stories,

these conversations to life.

When you actually look and
break down the numbers,

and figure out how
these people walked in,

it helps you figure out
where you can organize.

I feel like I'm in a
constant like, all right,

I need to learn this.

And I need to move on this...
And help my people move on this.

But like, for real, I don't
even believe in this system.

You're building an
energy and a momentum.

When your vision is bigger,
you know where you're going.

Don't stop that now.

Don't stop that.

Don't stop it.

Thank you.

Push 'em, make
them uncomfortable.

OK, we'll go ahead
and get started

with the intergenerational
conversation.

We controlled our communities.

And we had the faith that
a change was going to come.

Our generation isn't taught
Black culture, what it means

to be Black from you anymore.

So we hold our elders
accountable for a lot

of the state that
we're in right now.

We know that this board.

We know that this board.

Does not care about Black women.

Does not care about Black women.

We are committed to confronting
this board, city council,

and the mayor until y'all fire
Dante Servin with no pension...

If you want to be heard...

no pension.

If you want to be heard,
you sign up beforehand.

We will be back! We hear her!

We hear her!

I feel like a broken record
when I talk about why I'm tired,

or why I'm stressed.

So my final was due at 7:00 PM.

And it was a 20 page paper.

And at 6:50, I had
10 pages written.

And I just... I just
broke down crying.

I cried my eyes out.

Like, I've never
submitted something

knowing that like,
yeah, I failed that.

It's never happened to me,
so that moment, it hurt

and I broke down.

And I had just...

I was just so discouraged, and

Got ya back now.

Got 4, 5 cats off
in the 'Lac now.

When it comes to these holidays,
as much as I'm like, man,

there's some stuff that
we're having next week,

that I'm going to have to miss,
that I really want to be at.

Especially in light of
me traveling so much

over the past few weeks.

But I've got to go home.

Please remain seated with your
seat belt fastened, seat back

and tray tables in the
full upright position.

Growing up in South
Carolina, politically

for me was pretty uneventful.

The experience of going to a
predominantly white school,

made me yearn for
Black spaces and made

me want to do something
more for my people.

Moments like that
led me to Chicago.

How did you pick the name Janaé?

There was a group called Zhane.

They're the group that's like...

Zhane.

Everybody, move your body.

Now do it, this is something

that's going to make
you move and groove.

Hey DJ, keep playing
that song all night.

Yep, that's Zhane.

I like that song.

Yes, yes.

That's why I like that song.

The only, only, only white
boy I've ever had a crush on.

His name was Zach.

Because remember, that was
during the time when you said,

you was not Black?

Tuh, OK.

Yeah, you was not
Black, you was brown.

You was brown, and you just
created a whole other race.

It wasn't just the
Black and white race.

Because I don't know
what race was.

Yes

I looked at my skin tone
and I said, oh, I'm brown.

And it was very
different, right.

I'm not Black.

You were very confused.

OK, so that's when you and
your dad went to Paris.

Yeah.

All I know is that
dad wanted me to be

as well-rounded of a
person as he could,

which included taking
me to other countries

and exposing me to
different cultures.

This is one of the few pictures
that I have with you and dad

together.

It's in pictures
like this, where

I can look to my left and
right, and be like, yeah,

I definitely do look
like both of them.

So this is the
first squad picture

I think that we've taken.

So this was our one
year anniversary.

I admire the young generation.

You teach me a lot.

What?

Mm, who is that?

I certainly don't think that
you are in the same place

now, that you were
a few years ago.

Yeah, just in terms of who
you are, your identity.

How you present and all of that.

And what does
queerness mean to you?

Would you say it means the same
thing it does to Janaé or...?

For me, I identify
as queer because I

feel like I don't fit neatly
into any other category.

And for me, queer
means different.

It captures more of who I am,
than to just identify as simply

heterosexual or simply lesbian.

That had everything
to do with you, yeah.

I'm glad.

Dang, I'm so hungry.

You got fish over there, too?

My friend down the street...

Oh, she's coming over?

Every time I fry fish,
I always invite her.

She's of the other color now.

Nana, why are you talking to me
like I don't like white people?

Shut up, Janaé!

Dear Lord, we truly
thank you for this food

that we're about to receive.

When I closed my eyes
and think about home,

it's here at my Nana
and Grandpa's house.

That was the first
place that I lived

when we moved to Columbia.

This is where she was
raised when she was four.

This is called the pink room.

That's Janaé when she graduated
from the Montessori school.

Mhm.

But it does make
it rough for kids.

Ashley you're awfully
quiet, are you OK?

We're not ignoring you...

She's filming

Huh?

She's just filming us.

We're not supposed
to talk to Ashley.

We're supposed to
talk to each other.

I'm just in the background.

I talk to everybody, Ashley.

I appreciate that.

Oh, we know.

Now, we return to Chicago.

Good afternoon,
we're coming to you

with breaking news
happening right now.

After months fighting the
release of a dramatic dash cam

video which allegedly shows a
17-year-old shot and killed,

a judge orders it
to be made public.

Tonight City Hall says it will
comply with the judge's order

and release the dash cam video.

What had people
even more outraged

was the conspiracy
within city leadership

and the police department
to whitewash what happened.

Who held the video and
did Rahm know about it?

He knew about the video,
because I told him.

I told him two days later
after I had seen it.

Did he ask to see it?

Not to me.

Not to me.

He didn't seem to care.

You told him how
volatile it was,

Absolutely.

And what did you tell him?

I told him it was
going to be a problem.

Yeah, and what did he say?

Can I see it?

He didn't care.

He didn't care?

He didn't appear to care.

What do you mean?

So, so...

He didn't say, come
show me the video.

He didn't say that.

I remember being pissed.

At how the city had hyped up the
release of this murder video.

Like what?

It's not bad enough that we
know that you shot this baby 16

times in the street?

We got to see it?

Like we still need lynchings?

Jason Van Dyke shot Laquan
McDonald, who was 17 years old,

16 times.

It took over 400 days for
the State's Attorney, Anita

Alvarez, to charge
Jason Van Dyke.

She was known for protecting
police officers who

did some of the
most heinous things,

and punishing victims of police
crimes and police violence.

I sent an email out
to a lot of folks

who I knew were
central decision makers

to different organizations.

They had took the lead
on organizing, like,

a Black space, for young Black
abolitionists to come together.

The room was very somber,
very somber and very sober.

So they released it.

Some of us watched it.

Some of us didn't.

You know, I think
all of us cried.

And the collective response
was, we want to resist.

Racism means...

we've got to fight back.

Eric Garner means...

we've got to fight back.

Racism means...

16 shots!

16 shots!

16 shots!

16 shots!

16 shots!

He shot him twice.

Then he went over Laquan's
body 14 more times?

We're tired of this shit.

We're tired of this
corrupt system.

That's the only thing
they do is shoot us down.

What is that if it ain't racist?

Who the fuck are they
serving and protecting?

It's foul.

They killed that
boy for no reason.

We're going to stay
out here on the streets

until we see some
type of justice.

We love you.

We, we love you.

We love you.

We, we love you.

As-salamu alaykum,
don't fuck with the pigs,

I don't fuck with the bacon.

Think that I'll go, then
you're sadly mistaken.

This is much Black history
that we are making.

We are Black History,
it's in the making.

Even if we don't, our
stories gon' make it!

All right.

Say that.

We have the right to protest.

Touch my bike again,
I'll punch you.

Touch my bike again, bitch.

Let her go!

Let her go!

Hold on!

Let them go!

Hoo, this motherfucker
must have like,

pushed his bike towards
me, Officer Trendle,

And I pushed the bike back.

And he was like, you
touch my bike again,

I'll punch you bitch.

I'm t'd at this point.

I'm t'd, like I lost it.

You're going to call me
a bitch and threaten me?

Today while I'm
feeling like this?

While I'm feeling like
this, because mind you,

it's more... it's more than just
Laquan that's impacting me,

right?

First of all, it's been a
whole year of dealing with CPD,

and police murders
around the nation.

And just all this trauma.

And it's so crazy now,
this moment we're in

is just so different.

You can't go to no
protest with no gun.

You can't go to no protest
with no type of weapon,

with no type of
nothing to fight.

But you know that you're going
and you're putting your body

on the line, though.

And that's all you
got, is your body.

After the release of
the McDonald video

last week, Superintendent
McCarthy and I

began a discussion on
Sunday about the direction

of the department, and
the undeniable fact

that the public trust in the
leadership of the department

has been shaken and eroded.

This morning, I formally
asked for his resignation.

Everyone in the political sphere
that knew about that tape-

Was complicit in covering it up.

OK, one down, two
more to go, Anita

Alvarez and Mayor Emanuel.

Freedom, freedom.

All these racist ass cops,
we don't need 'em, need 'em.

What?

Back up, back up.

We want freedom, freedom.

All these racist-ass cops,
we don't need 'em, need 'em.

Say what?

Back up, back up.

We want freedom, freedom.

All these racist-ass cops,
we don't need 'em, need 'em.

Make no mistake.

It is because of the demands of
the young Black organizations

that are represented behind
me, that McCarthy got fired.

That's right.

Come on.

If folks really believe
that we are the future.

Yes, you are.

Let us lead us there.

Aye!

Mic check!

Mic check!

Mic check!

Mic check!

Go crazy!

We're going to fight
until we free us.

Change been a nuance.

They still trying to noose us.

Trying to keep us muted.

I was told to speak up, 'bout
to bug up, be a nuisance.

Millennials, this our movement.

Yes!

Girl!

Millennials, this our movement.

I'm Malcolm X in the booth and
I'm Assata to the bullshit.

That mean I'm gone y'all.

So is it actually
your birthday today?

It is my birthday today.

And how old are you today?

I'm 23 today.

Oh my God.

Like this, it's the fun
part of the movement.

Because like, protesting and
the toll this takes on you.

Being in this, it's not... it's
not... it's not fun, right?

We need to celebrate life, to
keep doing this shit, right?

I don't know.

I have no idea who's coming
or how many people is coming.

Mix that negro with that Creole,

make a Texas Bama.

I like my baby heir with
baby hair and afros.

When he fuck me good, I
take his ass to Red Lobster.

Because you're 25
and fine, girl!

Because I'm 25!

25!

Look at how they love
your daughter, girl

And I'm a bum.

Look at how they love
your daughter, girl...

They love you like they love me.

That's my baby.

I'm slightly intoxicated, but
I'm feeling more overwhelmed

with all of this lovely energy
that is in my home right now.

I would much rather be
twerking in the middle

of my kitchen with people
that I fucks with than writing

a scholarly paper.

If I'm an asshole, then who
knows who Donald Trump is?

Stick a trumpet up his ass with
a mouth full of explosives.

I don't understand what no is.

Menace to
society, because of dykery,

but I've been chasing women
since my diapers leaked

in hide and seek.

All that gentle crap
didn't get me then,

so I wiggle middle fingers.

Ain't I fucking feminine, yo!

Hand up on my bosom trigger,

I'm about to put it like crunk.

Think this as far as they go.

You aren't as real as they come.

If this as hard as you go,
you niggas never gon' come.

Hey, Black men.

We love you, we
understand your struggle,

do you understand your privilege
and oppression of Black women?

Niggas sell they souls
to make their mamas rich.

Get on the radio and
call Black women bitch,

like it's synonymous.

Hip hop's Huey P. Newton's third
law, I put a hit on the beat.

They say you sow what you reap.

They ran Assata away.

They bet not run up on me!

Strong advocate for the FOID.

Free all of my niggas
and fuck the police.

It's 2016.

Fuck Trump, Bernie, and Hillary.

Vote for Black liberty, peace!

Happy birthday to
you, happy birthday to you,

happy birthday to you,
it's your birthday!

Make a wish!

Make a wish!

I've been working on
a draft of my proposal

for, it seems like forever,
but I finally got it to a place

where I felt OK with sending
it to my dissertation committee

chair.

And she has since sent it back
to me with some revisions,

and edits that we're
about to talk about.

Hi.

Thank you for your
edits, are there just

other general things?

Remember you don't have to tell
everybody everything that you

know.

So you want to give
the reader more

of an overview of what
you know, as opposed

to everything you know.

For social work people who
are out there lobbying,

what do they need to know?

Social work's collusion...
And maybe that might not be

a strong word, but that's what's
coming to mind right now...

With law enforcement
as it relates

to intimate partner violence.

But you just have to be
sure how you talk about it,

because one is saying that
social workers are actively

going out, including
with the police,

to ensure that women are
systematically victimized.

The other is saying, that social
workers are doing their jobs

based on what these larger
structures provide for them

to do, but the
result is that women,

they are impacted negatively.

What do we now know should
be the implications for what

they should be doing,
based on your findings?

OK, I think that those
are the big things.

Everything else is just up to
me to actually, like, address.

And if there's things that you
got to do and don't make sense,

just write down, then
we'll just talk about it.

So when I address
all these comments,

I won't be almost done?

We've got to go
through another round?

Yes, you do.

Dr. McCoy!

A dissertation is your job.

But what do you mean?

It doesn't work that way.

You don't get the write
two drafts of a proposal,

and think that's it.

It doesn't work that way.

But these are two
drafts that you've seen.

I got 20 drafts on my computer.

Good.

Oh God, I'm never
going to finish.

And I've sat in committees.

"She's got to change
this section."

"This theory doesn't work."

I know.

And that is why you're my chair.

But I'm going to
knock your socks off

with how well I
address everything.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

I'm writing my brother.

He just called me.

He needed to vent
about some shit.

The least I could do is
answer the fucking phone

and let him say this
shit because he can't

say this shit to nobody else.

I want to use my personal story,
and start to let that healing

impact the world.

Ah, da, da, da, da, OK.

I'm starting working on this
proposal for the Soros Youth

Activist Fellowship, it's a
paid full-time fellowship.

I get to do social justice work
that I design for a whole year,

and that's my full-time job.

I knew that this was
a whole different type

of writing process.

I've never written for grants.

Man, man, it is
our duty to fight...

I want to develop a network
that actively supports

my community on my own terms.

You know, it's good, like,
to come together right now

and we're going to celebrate
all the fallen soldiers.

It seems like every three weeks,
we're going to a funeral, man.

Rest in peace, Henry C.
Rest in peace, Henry C, man.

We a family, man.

440 for life.

Meet your
family, man, know your family.

We at the Black
Soul Nation picnic.

What's up, what's up?

Shooting a video, OK.

How y'all doing?

Somebody's gon' tell
you the gangs in Chicago

are causing all the problems,
and is responsible for all

the killings going on.

I learned how to be
a leader from gangs.

I learned how to organize
from gang members.

They went into our
community, and they took away

all our heroes and people
that we've looked up to.

They kidnapped them.

And so that's why you see the
violence in the neighborhood,

because you don't
have those figures who

could come in and with one
word, they can stop this.

We're talking about people who
fed the block every single day.

Like...

Back to school...

Back to school drives.

Back to school
program and everything.

Not nobody to say, hey, go over
there and shoot this person.

Or go over there...

You know, we cleaned
the block up.

Old ladies and kids
was able to play,

when we was growing
up in the 80s and 90s.

Now you can't even get
the kids to come outside,

because there's no
leadership and guidance.

I'm rooted in this.

You see that, how I've
got to take that fist.

It takes root from the soil...

Not even from the soil,
from the concrete.

From the concrete.

But still we rise.

So I'm here because
this means a lot to me.

It's for my soul.

All my life, all
my love forever.

Wassup, wassup, wassup.

Never realize how, like,
complicated academia

can be, until someone
asks you to explain

some shit to a five-year-old
and you're like, oh.

So tell me about it.

My dissertation is
exploring the experiences

between interpersonal
violence and state violence.

Black women experience
violence in our households,

in our communities, at
the hands of police.

Many of us can't actually
imagine what community

based interventions look like.

I mean, I think that the
re-imagining of everything,

it's really hard just to like
re-imagine what this life could

look like without these punitive
systems, and just thinking

like, what is the, what
is the what's next?

What is the what's next, but
also what ensures our safety?

You know, having some
interviews to really dig deeper

into like, under what
circumstances can

you imagine not
calling the police...

Right.

How that shapes the way
that we think about safety?

I'm excited.

You and me both.

You and me both.

Cheers.

This the famous coat.

This the coat I had on the
night of the Laquan McDonald

protest on that video
that went everywhere.

My mama said when
I wear this coat,

it reminds her of Hakeem
Lyon from "Empire."

I'm sure they probably
stole that nigga's

swag from me though, actually.

The last time I want to go see
my brother, me and my mom went.

I got in, but my
mom didn't get in.

The time before
that, my mama got in

and my auntie, but
I didn't get in.

But there was an issue
because there is a typo on one

of these, the year of birth.

And it's off by one year.

So even though
they're looking at me,

they know I'm this person, I'm
authorized to come visit him

and everything, they still
don't let me in because of that.

Drove all the way down there,
couldn't get in, crazy.

So now I have to make
sure I take two IDs

with the same birth year on it.

Is Charlie the name of the
brother we're going to see?

Yes.

My first love.

And how far is where he is now
from from where y'all live?

Four hours.

Four hours.

Yep, like four.

He was like five
when she was taken,

so they had a relationship.

It was like, my brother loved
my mama, like loved my mama.

And I was just born.

I was...

Were you born when she
was in prison or was it...

I was pregnant going to prison.

So they let me go
home and have her,

and then I went back to prison.

Got it.

It was very hard.

That's what I'm saying.

You like to visit, but then
they walking away from you.

They leaving you.

You can't go with them.

And all other kids would
be hugging to be around me.

She would be standing
off and look.

I remember looking to Charlie to
try to learn from him I guess,

what I was...

What the interaction
was supposed to be like.

Everybody had these
relationships,

and I don't have that
relationship, you feel me?

So I'm just kind of
watching everybody else

and feeling like left out.

I will always
remember, we're going

to see my mama and my
brother telling her

these pickup lines he learned.

We're little kids and
this boy was up there

telling his mama about the
pickup lines he used on girls.

Never will my son
lose the spirit.

So that's why I do what I do.

Because if I can keep his spirit
up, nothing will stop him.

Come out a better person.

He'll come out more
stronger, and then

in his life, his testimony, how
much more he'll be able to do.

So it's like my life
ain't the same, Life ain't

the same till my son come home.

I can't help
you unless you want to.

I can't help you,
unless you help, too

Hey, how you doing?

If you want to back out and
we'll get these guys out.

We have to shake
down vehicles today.

OK.

All we're looking for is
weapons or drugs, that's it.

When you go in there, they'll
need your driver's license,

the name of the visitor, name
and number of the visitor

you're going to visit.

Uh huh.

And then everybody
keep your IDs,

just take it in and write
it on a piece of paper.

And then when I'm done, you
guys will park and just go in

like normal.

Alright.

Go see my brother.

Oh.

Working on this
proposal, I opened up

telling my story in a poem.

When they took him, I kicked.

Led my first protest
in my mother's womb,

filling her core with
howls, hoping they'd

hear me and give my father back.

Gave my mother back pains
carrying me to courtrooms.

Knew when a bailiff had her
hand on his gun, by the way

my mother coddled
me in her stomach.

I could feel the fear
of a federal judge,

forcefully forfeiting
her freedom,

fill my mother's fingertips.

When they took her, I didn't
even bother to scream.

I didn't protest when they
plucked me from her plump

breast at the podium,
because I learned

to be afraid of my mother's
milk well before I was born.

Well, before I was full
matter, I didn't matter.

I was never meant to survive.

I'm the daughter of the
discriminatory destruction

disguised as
America's war on drugs

and having suckled the stigmas
of Blackness, womanhood

and imprisonment.

My shame kept me silent,
and pacified long enough.

There's been a major development
in the police shooting

of 22-year-old Rekia Boyd.

Servin resigned from the
Chicago Police Department

just days before
hearings were scheduled

to begin into whether
he should be fired.

He resigned so that he
could keep his pension,

and ultimately skate
accountability.

Seeing all this on the board,
signifies all that we invest

and what the outcome has been.

Like, this is the
return on investment

in police in Chicago, and
that's really sad to me.

Woo!

Woo!

Hold on.

What?

What?

Ah.

What the fuck?

She just went stupid.

I'll never forget,
the lady said, yeah,

so we're going to have to give
you the Radio Media Fellowship.

I said, lady, you can
call it what you want.

Just call me funded, OK?

What is you talking about?

I don't give a fuck
what you call it, like.

Yep, yep, yep yep, yep, all
right, so this part right here,

Sister Survivor, Chicago-based
arts activism campaign,

by and for Black
women and femmes.

As a Soros Justice
Youth Activist fellow,

I will create a survival
network conducted

by and for Black
women and femmes,

who have been directly
and disproportionately

affected by prison policies.

It's very new, this idea of
this being work, feel me,

of protest being work,
advocating for people in prison

being work, you feel me?

This has always been life, so.

If you really want
to do the work,

you've gotta work on yourself.

I think that's my biggest
takeaway from Sister Survivor.

Like, that's how
I'm able to do...

I feel like I'm able to do work.

How healed we are
now really got me

thinking of just about how
much of a different space

I was in 2016, I mean...

That shit is
important, like to...

For young people to
be in spaces where

they see women, where they see
Black women who are healing.

Who are talking to them
from a place of healing.

It has become so clear that
we cannot accomplish that goal

until we heal ourselves.

This is the Sister
Survivor Network.

Hey, Black people!

Alright, I'm ready to have
some real conversations.

So I would like to talk to the
Founder of the Decarceration

Collective.

Come on, gas her up, gas
her up, MiAngel Cody, y'all.

I'm also going to invite
my mother to come...

Come talk to me.

We're here to talk
about Black women.

I think it's
important that we do

that, because the
intersections of violence

for Black women on an
individual, community,

and institutional level, it's
a very unique experience.

I'm so proud now that
we setting space up,

so that we can have
the conversation.

It's so many people like
me, they told me life.

I laugh, because
what the hell I done

did that you talking
about taking my life for?

I had an addiction and
money and living good,

but I ain't killed nobody.

So the conversation
has to start now,

so that we don't have a
future Bella BAHHS going

to prison for a life sentence.

Everybody I know...
Family members, friends...

Has been afflicted by
this prison system.

This is healing space,
and I think sometimes I

see where we need systems.

We need process, we need
intake forms, we need numbers,

we need... and it's
like, no, this is it.

This is it.

Like you sharing what
you've been through,

me sharing what I've been
through, people holding space,

listening... medicine.

We, we become a
movement, a resistance.

I'm real militant y'all.

I'm trying not to...

I'm Bella's mom, and I
try to keep it lowkey.

That's Mama BAHHS, y'all.

But sometime it come out.

Y'all are going to
be helping me heal,

and I hope I help y'all heal.

Come on.

And then when people say,
these kids are out of control.

What's going on?

Well, who raised them?

It's survival of the fittest,
it's Lord of the Flies.

They're trying to survive
the best way they can.

I've had these ideas
for a long time.

And finally being
able to get them out

and give Black women a platform.

All of that was incredible.

So a lot of us are literally
acting out inferiority

on each other, and I think
that's a form of violence.

This is a pathway to love.

Of course, still making
edits of the presentation

right beforehand.

He said, wasn't your
graduation in the dark?

I'm like, yes, it was.

Yes, it was.

OK.

So we're going to get started.

Yes, thank you.

We will work towards this,
but if it doesn't happen,

it's not your fault necessarily.

OK?

OK.

Hi, I have to pee.

So right now,
they're deliberating

on whether I passed
my hearing or not,

this preliminary examination.

All of the other little
dissertation handbook, things

I've read, it's
always like, practice.

Practice your presentation
before your hearing,

time yourself, et
cetera, et cetera.

And I had all the anticipation
doing that, and I, you know,

didn't have time and it showed.

I mean, I did not practice
that presentation at all.

That was nerve wracking.

Janaé?

Yes.

Yes.

Passing is such a great thing.

So I'm crying because I'm happy.

And I'm sleep deprived,
and I'm just so glad,

I'm so glad that all
this was not for naught.

I believe in this work.

I believe that my
research is connected

to my political imperative,
to find ways for Black women

to be safe, to be
free from violence.

And I'm really glad that my
committee saw that today,

and I'm happy to be
a PhD candidate and...

If we don't get
it... shut it down!

If we don't get it...

I'm happy that I chose Chicago,
because of the community

that I've been able to
cultivate and build here,

both within and
outside of BYP 100.

Someday, one day,
we will be free.

Come on!

One day, someday...

Come on, one day,
we will get free.

One day, someday, today!

We will get free!

Organizing, its
healing in a way that

meant that I was surrounded
by a community of people, who

understood the
plight of Blackness

and understood what I was
going through as a Black woman.

I've seen time and
time again, how

Black women do a lot of
thankless and undervalued work

that no one else wants to do.

The bulk of putting out fires,
and just carrying things

to the end.

It's not our sole
responsibility to do

all of the emotional labor.

It's not our sole responsibility
to carry the burdens

that we often end up having to.

And on one hand, it
points to our strength,

our resilience and the
realness of Black girl magic.

But on the other hand, Black
women cannot continue to be

the mules of the world.

We have a collective
responsibility to get free.

Black women can't go no lacking.

No.

No, Black women
don't do no lacking.

Never lacking, I
be packing like a...

Suitcase!

I ain't tripping, I'll
be right here on my...

Off days!

Women back me like
I'm bout to toss the...

Bouquet!

Niggas fronting.

They say I'm not really...

That great!

Need to reconstruct
the Reconstruction Act.

Sorry, I'm not sorry,
unapologetically Black.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

See, she's telepathic,
call it Black girl magic.

Yeah, she scares the government.

Deja vu of Tubman.

We go missing by the hundreds.

Ain't nobody checking for us.

Ain't nobody checking for us.

The camera loves
us, Oscar doesn't.

Ain't nobody checkin' for us.

Ain't nobody checkin' for us.

They want us in the kitchen,
kill our sons with lynchings.

We get loud about it.

Oh, now we're the bitches.

Look at what they did to
my sister, last century,

last week.

They put her body in
a jar and forget her.

They love how it repeats.

Look at what they did to
my sister, last century,

last week.

They make her hate her own
skin, treat her like a sin.

Oh, I...

But what they don't
understand... but what

they don't understand... but
what they don't understand

is... but what they
don't understand...

But what they don't
understand... but what

they don't understand... see,
what they don't understand.

See, she's telepathic.

Call it Black girl magic.

Yeah, she scares the government.

Deja vu of Tubman.

And she, she, she,
she, she don't give up.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, she don't give up.

She don't don't don't
don't don't give up.

No, no, no, no, no,
she don't give up, up.

Rosa was a...

OG, OG, Granny was
an entrepreneur.

When she moved to the
Chi, she was dirt poor.

Had kids to provide for,
would die for, Black woman

in America, a mule woman.

Made something out of
nothing, made millions

off flipping work.

No, the feds watching
real niggas flip the bird,

speak in code.

If they catch you, keep
the code, keep your soul.

My mama didn't fold,
did time, never told.

My mama, she a OG,
bought a Benz at 14.

At 23, my OG had a different
car for every day of the week,

still got a '95 AMG.

Baby girl was born in '93,
finally, now here is me.

Granny raised a bunch of queens.

I done seen a bunch of things.

I'm the heir to a
bunch of dreams.

All they dreams
live inside of me.

I know that they all count on
me to bring them to reality.

I know they already
proud of me, got to keep

making them proud of me.

I do it for the family,
love is what inspires me.

Mookey said I could be
anything I want to be.

I should never want to be
anything that wasn't me.

I just wanted to be free.

Half our family tree been
trapped by the streets

or the penitentiary.

I just want to set them
free, run away from poverty.

I'm feeling like Harriett,
burden of a Black woman,

you can't carry it.

Why should I tell my story if I
know they're going to bury it?

Why should I have this baby if
I know I'm going to bury it?

Look, this some heavy shit.

And my mama had weight
on top of it, moving it,

did it all for the fam, did
it all for her kids, uh.

My mama, she a OG.

Grandmama, she a OG.

I got a bunch of aunties
and they all OGs,

a long line of Black queens.

They all helped raise me.

So what you think
they taught me?

What you think that make me?

My mama, she a OG.

Grandmama, she a OG.

I got a bunch of aunties
and they all OGs,

a long line of Black queens.

They all helped raise me.

So what do you think
they taught me?

What you think that make me?

Look, growing up I never
thought that I was poor.

I was spoiled.

I got everything I
wanted plus more.

Every week, another
pair of Jordans,

every game system and
every game for them.

I thought we could afford it.

All our cars were imported,
like drugs across borders.

Feds help that cross borders,
but arrest kids, deport them.

I wish I was postmortem.

Like granny taught
granddaughter,

but devils walking upon us.

They hate the shine,
hope it tarnish.

Glowed up, I got it honest.

My parents, they kept their
promise, sent their baby

girl to college, gave me
the life that they wanted.

I appreciate it. $100,000 piece
of paper, my granny framed it.

To her, I'm already famous.

Fame has never been a goal,
but I'm a natural born leader

so I already know,
that it's coming

so I'm ready like
I'm all packed to go.

Niggas hunting, they aim at
me, but I might be next to go,

supposed to be the next to blow.

West Side of Chicago,
you never really know,

bottom of the totem pole.

That's why niggas toting poles.

I ain't really ready to go.

I ain't stepping at the door.

OK, I'll pop out.

I'm Nell daughter,
niggas better watch out.

I might pull a
Cartier watch out.

Time is money.

I ain't sitting
in the damn house.

Granny worried, steady
calling about my whereabouts.

I'm probably with the
shooters when they air it out.

Lord, forgive me, I'm just
trying to make it out,

sending all these prayers up,
hope a blessing come down.

Lately I've been feeling if I
stick around, be another Nipsey

Hussle, be a Mike Brown.

Even with our hands up,
still getting gunned down.

That ain't how I'm going out.

That's his story.

That ain't my story.

I'm about to white it out.

Fuck it.

Black it out.

Man.

Fuck it.

Black it out.

Look, my mama, she a OG.

Grandmama, she a OG.

I got a bunch of aunties
and they all OGs,

a long line of Black queens.

They all helped raise me.

So what you think
they taught me?

What you think that make me?

My mama, she a OG.

Grandmama, she a OG.

I got a bunch of aunties
and they all OGs,

a long line of Black queens.

They all helped raise me.

So what you think
they taught me.

What you think that make me?

My mama, she a OG, a long
line of Black queens.

So what you think
they taught me.

What you think that make me?