premiere: babygotbacktalk, “when they go low, we go six feet under”

Say their names: Eleanor Bumpurs, Sandra Bland, Rekia Boyd, Aiyana Stanley-Jones and Mya Hall are just a few of the Black people who have been killed by police violence but too often the stories of these women and girls get obscured when we talk about protest against police brutality. While it is important for us to keep names of brothers like Eric Garner, Amadou Diallo, and Laquan McDonald in our collective memories we must also remember to keep our sisters in our hearts and minds too. AFROPUNK Brooklyn performers babygotbacktalk are doing their part to make sure these stories are not forgotten with the new video for “When They Go Low, We Go Six Feet Under.”

The stark Julia Sharpe-Levine visuals for the song centers Say Her Name Movement, a campaign founded and led by Columbia and UCLA law professor and the woman who developed intersectionality theory, Kimberlé Crenshaw. babygotbacktalk’s vocalist/bassist and AFROPUNK contributor G’Ra Asim has worked with Crenshaw at the African American Policy Forum and describes the video as “a ripe opportunity to put intersectionality into practice.” In the video, we get solemn images of Say Her Name campaign members showing solidarity in the fight against police violence as well as the angering images of those in law enforcement and government who have perpetrated and made excuses for such violence. This is an instance of punk being political and reminding us that people are the ones with the real power to change things.