Joey Bada$$ Writes Impassioned Response to the Death of Alton Sterling

Photo by Benjamin Thomson

Yesterday evening, in the wake of 37-year-old Alton Sterling’s death at the hands of Baton Rouge police, Brooklyn rapper Joey Bada$$ took to Instagram to write a long and impassioned post on the killing, police brutality, and anti-blackness from the top down. "What the government is doing amongst our people is downright disturbing but not surprising," he wrote. "With all of the conflict and propaganda, I believe they are simply trying to start a civil war within the USA amongst black & white[…] They are literally begging for this to happen so they can kill us off faster using uprising and rebellion as the excuse." He went on to talk about gang conflict and the need for groups to organize and protect communities against police agression: "As black and low income people, I think our gangs need to do a better job at protecting our communities and not assisting in destroying them. Who do we call when the police break the law?"

Joey Bada$$ has spoken up about police brutality plenty in his career, not least in the video for "Like Me" at the start of last year.

You can read his post in full below:

What the government is doing amongst our people is downright disturbing but not surprising. With all of the conflict and propaganda, I believe they are simply trying to start a civil war within the USA amongst black & white. They are simply pushing us to our limit so that we can all get together and rebel so that it makes it easier for them to kill us (black people mostly and anyone who acts out against them). Alton Sterling and those alike are happening everyday in this country. The scary part is MOST of these stories don't make it to the news and reach the mass consciousness. It is for sure time that we as a people stand up for human rights and rebel against the system unapologetically. I just want everyone to be cautious about how they go about it because this is all a part of the governments plan… They are literally begging for this to happen so they can kill us off faster using uprising and rebellion as the excuse.. The cancerous foods, the chemical warfare, and the economic suffering is not working fast enough for them. They are many steps ahead of us in manifesting the future that they want for this country. We have to work together in not only battling them on a physical plane but to outsmart them on an intellectual mental level. As black and low income people, I think our gangs need to do a better job at protecting our communities and not assisting in destroying them. Who do we call when the police break the law?? We are so quick to pick up a gun and kill one another but not quick enough to pick it up and protect one another for our human rights. The code words to killing black men by police is "he has a gun!" That gives them the rights and incentives to shoot and most of the time it's just a cellphone, wallet or a downright lie!. But what about them? They all got guns so what should we do because it's always been clear that they don't value our lives and that they want to harm us. My people are suffering and it's been way too long. I'm tired of people acting like this isn't happening and I'm tired of putting up these hashtags every time another story hits the media… What are we going to do? When will true justice be served?

A photo posted by joZif BADMON (@joeybadass) on Jul 6, 2016 at 6:14pm PDT

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