Music | January 27, 2009 | Comment on this video (33)

50 Artists, 50 Shots: We Are All Sean Bell

AbNomad
In reaction to the 2008 acquittal of three police officers in the killing of Sean Bell in 2006, a group of New York City community artists, poets and activists organized an event called "50 Artists, 50 Shots: We Are All Sean Bell." The event featured poets, spoken word performers, musicians, painters, dancers, photographers etc., who each agreed to take one bullet for the 50 that were fired at Sean Bell and his friends, and transform each bullet into their art in order to honor his memory, and to express rage and grief for the decision to let the officers free.

The intention of this event was to have an open and safe space for New Yorkers to fully express themselves about the outcome of the Sean Bell case- to educate, to learn, to mourn, to grow, and to have honest dialogues. But most of all, to give inspiration for everyone to take action that would result in a real change in how police officers are trained, so that they can learn to respond to certain situations in a less aggressive and careless manner.

This video has been uploaded three weeks after Oscar Grant was unjustly killed in Oakland by a police officer who shot him at point blank range early on New Year's Day, 2009. Police brutality continues to plague our communities. How can we, as civilians, organize to help make fundamental, systematic changes to stop these tragedies from happening?
  1. groups:
    Music,   Culture,   Art,   VC2 Top Contenders US,   1 more
  2. tags:
    Culture,  Music,  Current TV,  Art,  19 more
  3.     
    |
    Embed video:
    |

33 comments // 50 Artists, 50 Shots: We Are All Sean Bell // Video

  • 02
  • AbNomad
  • naty_forty
  • howell
  • marisa_bklyn
    • 0
      marisa_bklyn  

    • First of all this tradgedy cld have been entirely avoided if Sean Bell had made different choices. Like not yelling "get outta my way before I run you over!" to a bunch of cops. Another bad choice Bell made was to not produce I.D. when asked.Why wldn't he? I mean what's the big deal? I've been asked to show my driver's license many times and I never refused I knew it wld make things worse besides if u have nothing to hide who cares.The cops asked because it was late Sat night, he was coming out of a bar/catering hall, appeared to be under the influence, and was about to drive. They had good reason to stop him and ask to see his driver's license. The worst and stupidest choice was made by Bell himself. How stupid can u be to yell I'm gonna run u over outta my way! to a group of armed cops. And then proceed to get behind the wheel while reaching for something (that may be a gun or keys) in ur pocket. What wld u do if u were one of the cops? I'd be afraid for my life I mean he said he was gonna run them over so even if he didn't have a gun he still cld have easily killed them. So if a man who's most likely drunk yells at you outta my way I'll run you over then starts getting behind the wheel u shldn't be afraid for ur life? You shldn't protect urself u shld just let him kill you. I'd have shot him too under these circumstances not 50x but I wld want to make sure he was dead. I think u wld do the same or u wld just let him run u over? Also, I am not judging these people based on their past more like making a judgement based on their present , current lives. One of the witnesses had a court case going on at the same time he was brought to testify. He was charged with selling drugs. As for his past he had many prior arrests for selling drugs but what I was referring to was in the present.

    • 3 years ago
  • marisa_bklyn
    • 0
      marisa_bklyn  

    • It's funny that all these people commenting and even some of the people attending and performing at this event didn't have their facts straight at all. One idiot even said that "they (the cops) have a quota on shooting people they have to shoot a certain number of people each month". Now I've heard rumors of meeting ticket quotas but shooting/killing quotas?!lol That's ridiculous!
      Also all the morons screaming racism fail to realize that at least one maybe 2 of the 3 cops that did the shooting were black. Is it still racism when a black cop shoots a black offender?Also, for all the p.c. hicks in the midwest there are more minority cops in the NYPD than white cops. The majority of NYPD officers are NOT white. Most are black or hispanic.
      Lastly, I'm sure the majority of Bell's supporters shown in the video did not know him. Probably never evn met him and have no idea of exactly what happened that night. Nor did they know the kind of prsn Bell was. All they knew was that he was a black man shot by 3 cops, one of which was also black. Although I did not know Sean Bell I worked with several people, black people who did know Bell. They lived in his neighborhood, Bell was an acquaintance of a woman's son until she wldn't allow her son to hang out with Bell. All of these people agrred that Bell was a drug dealer and a criminal. He and his friends or "homeys" had been selling drugs for years. Several of the witnesses called for Bell had arrest records for selling crack as well as felonies for violent crimes. Although there was no gun found on Bell those who knew him said he regularly carried a gun he had no license for. But I guess who needs a gun when you have a car for a weapon? Yes, they failed to mention this tid bit in their movie. Before any shots were fired Bell apparently refused to move his car or show I.D. when cops asked him. Instead he got into his car flashed his brights on the cops and yelled that "if they (the cops) didn't get out of his way he was gonna run them over." He then reached into his pocket. Probably for keys however he saw guns pointed at him and didn't put his hands up instead he proceeded to reach for something. He had just threatened to run them over and they had a split second to decide whether to shoot or not.The cops then shot him. Granted 50x is an excessive, inappropriate response. however, if he had not responded to the cops by threatening to kill them and instead showed I.D. and moved his car this wldn't have happened. He was no angel. For the idiot who said we are all Sean Bell you probably don't even know who Sean Bell really was. And no we are not all Sean Bell , we are not all criminals, we are not all drug dealers, we do not all own illegal guns and commit crimes like Sean Bell did.

    • 3 years ago
  • AbNomad
    • 0
      AbNomad  
    • marisa_bklyn:

      Marisa,

      I'm going to respond to you respectfully, because I feel that's very important to discuss things, and not argue. And I also want you to know that I appreciate your opinion, even though I and many other New Yorkers hold a different view than yours.

      1. About the quotas, yes if you put it plainly in that way, a "shooting/killing quota" is ridiculous. However, you are not denying that NYPD officers are required to stop a certain amount of people within a certain amount of days or weeks (this is not a rumor). Sadly, because cops are trained to be overly aggressive, these required "procedural stops" sometimes get excessively violent, where cops often shove and intimidate civilians. And when some cops feel even a little bit of resistance, they are too quick to pull the trigger, rather than trying to use other tactics to diffuse the situation. Then it becomes a tragic accident that no one is responsible for.

      Is it possible that the fact that police officers are required to stop a certain amount people can sometimes instigate these tragic incidents? That was the point of the quota statement.

      2. "Screaming racism"- no one did such a thing in this video. Actually, that word was never used, precisely because of the fact that two of the five officers involved were people of color, which is why the central focus of this video is on the fact that all NYPD police officers in general are trained improperly regardless of race. The tipping point that made this situation into a tragedy was not racism, but the fact that these cops were in plainclothes and failed to identify themselves. I mean, think about it. If you were suddenly surrounded by what you think are other civilians, who are aiming guns at you, wouldn't you freak out too? And even if Sean Bell had intended to "use his car as a weapon" in response, that's completely irrelevant, because had the undercover cops not waited until the friends got into their car to surround them, the end result could have been different.

      One the cops allegedly heard one of Bell's friends say "I'm gonna go get my gun" as they were exiting the club. This means he was unarmed the moment he made that statement. So why didn't the cops at that moment take them all to the side, FLASH THEIR BADGES to identify that they were police, and try and diffuse the situation with dialogue and a simple (and respectful) search of the individuals and the car? Why wait to cause this huge confrontation when there was no need for it? Could it be that the officers felt some pressure to do some sort of a sting operation to report to their superiors?

      Again, this video is criticizing police training and protocol, and is not attempt to play the race card (even though racism does plays a more profound role). We have to start digging deeper as to why these tragedies keep on happening, and why no one is being held responsible for them.

      (TO BE CONTINUED AT FOLLOWING RESPONSE BELOW.)

    • 3 years ago
  • AbNomad
    • 0
      AbNomad  
    • marisa_bklyn:

      (RESPONSE CONTINUED FROM ABOVE.)

      3. Judging Sean Bell as a person. Whether or not he and his friends were drug dealers and frequently carried guns is completely irrelevant, because at that time they were unarmed and were not committing any crime. Again, this tragedy could have been avoided had the cops made different choices at that moment to diffuse the situation instead of instigating it.

      Honestly, this aspect of the case was the most painful for me as a human being. Painting Sean Bell and his friends only as cold-hearted criminals that deserved to be shot at, as if he they were incapable of also being loving husbands and fathers. Are people really that simplistic? Are we only comprised of these labels that society places upon us? Shooting at these men 50 times was an awful tragedy, but digging up these people's pasts as a way to justify the NYPD's violent actions, made this tragedy into a travesty. It is shameful, and it is yet another example that humanity has so much more work to do to better itself.

      And Lastly, many of us do believe that we are all Sean Bell, not only because we all run the risk of falling into one of these tragic situations, but because we're all human, and we all should care for each other and stand up when something horrible like this happens. It's like one of the poets said in the video "it's realizing that what they do to them, is exactly what they do to us". If we continue living divided as if other people don't matter, then we will never reach our full humanistic potential. We are all ONE in this society, in this world, and in this universe, and until we all truly believe and understand that, then none of us will ever live in true peace.

      I thank you for your response Marisa, because it gives people with different opinions on this issue an opportunity to dialogue, and that's very important. All I hope is that we start to think and dig deeper to get at the root of our social problems, and not continue standing by just scratching at the surface.

      Thank You.

    • 3 years ago
  • AbNomad
  • popoartist
    • 0
      popoartist  

    • I agree with the whole quota thing you are on point. It is sad that the department depends on it's stupid "numbers" and COMPSTAT should be eliminated it makes the department corrupt on numbers. I hope the department changes it's policies. Many officers have never lived in NYC and run around scared. Some have never interacted with people of other culture. I feel sad when the ignorance of the NYPD is not lack of training only but some PO's carry a superiority ideal "I'm better than you" and that mentality has to change. And it does come from the TOP. Supervisors bully officers and officers bully and harrass regular civilians. Yes for the "number" or overtime....it is sad!....God Bless!

    • 3 years ago
  • AbNomad
  • hbh376
  • talker4556
  • sb2000
  • angelique620
    • 0
      angelique620  

    • I am saddened by the events detailed in the video. It was surely a bitter pill for many of us to swallow... a young man died and there was no justice at all. I applaud you guys on this video.

    • 3 years ago
  • mmind
  • AbNomad
    • 0
      AbNomad  

    • Thank you all for your positive feedback and support!
      But let's not have our outrage and concern end here. Not only do we need more media about these topics, but we also need more people acting positively to change things. As a filmmaker, I'm inspired by YOU and what you are capable of doing, so please decide "who you are gonna be", and do your thing. Peace, family.

      PS> Please encourage your friends to vote. We only have a little bit more to make it to #1! Everyone's vote counts. Thanks!

    • 3 years ago
  • liveBK
    • 0
      liveBK  

    • this is amazing. I am saddened that I just heard about this now! As a brooklynite outraged by the Bell killing, and whose understanding of the world was greatly informed by Diallo's killing (which happened when I was a little kid), I am heartened to see people doing this. I wish the media would acknowledge these things.

      the people united will NEVER be defeated. brooklyn rise up.

    • 3 years ago
  • hepua
  • CarmBarbBklyn
  • troutlilly
  • ButchersDaughter
  • ladybee
  • thejumpproject
  • nickbuxton
    • 0
      nickbuxton  

    • Hi Barbara, a really important powerful piece. Made me think of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in an underground station near where I lived in London. He was gunned down cold in the train as a suspected "terrorist." The police have also not been held responsible for his death (http://justice4jean.org/). Anyway good to hear from you - thanks for sending the link. Would love to see any footage you put up on Bolivia at some point. Best wishes, Nick

    • 3 years ago
  • alafia
    • 0
      alafia  

    • i want to give a massive bigups to the whole crew who made this happen.
      yes, we are all Sean Bell!
      love the works
      infinitebless
      jbee

    • 3 years ago
  • xio
    • 0
      xio  

    • Thank you for keeping this issue in the spotlight. Police training is something that needs to be addressed, not ignored. Thank you all for putting this event together.

    • 3 years ago
  • blue_blooded
    • 0
      blue_blooded  

    • Movements like this is just what the people of this country need right now. We are so divided now, we seem to think it impossible to stop trigger-happy cops and glutinous men in suits from screwing us over. The people need to take a hold of their county once again.

    • 3 years ago
  • ZoeNena
    • 0
      ZoeNena  

    • un-freakin-believable, Mahina Movement. I applaud what you are doing in NYC- will be heard accross the world!! we are all sean bell..

    • 3 years ago
  • ms_lopex
    • 0
      ms_lopex  

    • This is STUNNING. From the outakes of all the diversity of artists, and the audience and their energy, to the way the painter spinning colors together flows into the DJ spinning vinyl. Absolutely beautiful, thank you for putting it out and keeping the issue of police brutality and systemic racism in the NYPD out there - and showing us all how amazing this "grassroots underground artists movement" of NYC is.

    • 3 years ago
  • GabriellaCallender
  • vaimoana8
    • 0
      vaimoana8  

    • thank you so much B for making this video--your skills are the fiercest. Only together as a community can we get Justice, Freedom and Peace, Let the People Lead and the Leaders will follow!

    • 3 years ago
more from Music:
from the community

top videos