Black Power: America's Armed Resistance

This programme contains strong language and scenes which some viewers may find disturbing.

I spent last summer making a film about the Ku Klux Klan.

-White Power!

-White Power!

At private gatherings and public demonstrations...

-White Power!

-White Power!

..I saw first-hand

the furious reaction of many Americans to racism.

-White Power!

-Black Power!

-White Power!

-Black Power!

But I also met a lot of people flying the Pan-African flags

calling for revolution and chanting "Black Power".

Black Power! Black Power!

I didn't really know what Black Power meant.

We are here because black people are the creators of the world and

wherever we go, we're going to take over. You just forgot.

I'm back to find out what the Black Liberation Movement

are fighting for...

-Arm yourself, defend yourself!

-Arm yourself, defend yourself!

Every time you look at the media, one of our people got murdered.

..and meet America's armed resistance.

If the police attempt to derail us, we'll take an offensive position.

Ain't no power like the power of the people,

-cos the power of the people don't stop!

-Say what?!

Last summer, the white supremacist Dylann Roof walked into

a famous African-American church and slaughtered nine black worshippers

in an attack that shocked the world.

It's been six months since the massacre and I'm back in Charleston

to meet local activists Indeya and Shakem, who are still demonstrating

outside Emanuel Church.

None of these mayoral candidates in Charleston have addressed

race and race relations. Nobody wants to talk about it.

What happened here was an act of terrorism.

The media refuses to label this as terrorism.

They want to say, "Wait, wait, wait,

"wait till all of the details come out."

But had it been reversed, had it been one of us to go into

a white church and gun down nine people,

it would have been terrorism.

Why have you got that flag and what does it mean?

Red represents the blood, black represents the people,

and green represents the land.

It's reflective of Africa and it's reflective of Africans

and black people all across the world.

I think that anyone who fears this flag...

..they fear the abolishment of white supremacy.

This flag means black unity.

We are simply trying to do what every other ethnicity

has in this country, which is building their own communities,

their own economics, and it's not a problem when anyone else does it

except for black people.

You don't see anyone go to any city that has Chinatown

or Little Italy or an area with a zillion Irish pubs and shamrocks,

no-one goes and says, "Oh, my God! They're racist over there!

"Why do they have this Irish pub?"

So you want to be able to celebrate black identity?

Exactly. It's about black empowerment,

it's about embodying and learning and being proud of our own culture.

It's about building a sense of community within our people.

That's the difference and that's what people don't understand

and they make it hate.

Charleston has a long history of racial inequality.

At least 40% of America's African slaves came through the port.

Shakem and his friend, Azeez, wanted to take me

to one of Charleston's most historic institutions,

a military university called the Citadel.

Everybody outside of South Carolina and especially Charleston

has this perception that the Citadel is the creme de la creme,

but when you peel back

the layers, it's not.

When I was growing up, they told us that the Citadel is a private school

that blacks couldn't apply to because it was private.

The Citadel is a public school.

Everybody that goes to public schooling that has the grades

should be able to apply there.

Despite 28% of Charleston residents being black,

black students make up just 8% of the undergraduates at the Citadel.

We have an article right here where it talks about a Christmas party

that was done at the Citadel with cadets.

At this party, they actually dressed up in hoods and white sheets

and they began to sing Christmas carols.

There's a lot of these children coming from these schools,

these are going to be future lawyers, these are going to be

future doctors, these are going to be police officers.

So now you have these young Citadel military cadets

engaging in this type of behaviour and shows you that the attitude

is still prevalent in this society

in these future lawyers, doctors and judges.

The Citadel investigation concluded the students

didn't mean to cause offence, but still disciplined them.

To many onlookers, the incident showed just how widely accepted

the Ku Klux Klan are in this part of the world.

The KKK are still the poster boys of white supremacy,

so I went to catch up with America's largest Klan chapter,

the Loyal White Knights.

It was the first time I'd seen them

since they marched on Columbia last summer.

-What do we want?

-White Power!

-When do we want it?

-Now!

-Coward! Coward!

-Go to them fields, you fucking monkeys.

IMITATES MONKEY

Fucking gorillas.

They invited me to their first rally of the year.

All I've heard all day is nigger this, nigger that.

These niggers are so sorry, a single brigade of the military

could take these niggers out at the weekend.

I could throw in a book like this one.

These are by a good author, too.

I think he's locked up in prison.

I wanted to know what the Klan made of the rise

of black activist groups.

You got all this Black Lives Matter, the Jews are financing them

and they're out, they've already called war

against all whites and cops.

They're our mortal enemy.

Were you at South Carolina at the rally?

-Yes.

-OK.

-In Columbia, yeah.

You heard Black Lives Matter.

What were they chanting? "Kill whitey."

Were we yelling, "Kill niggers"?

No, we were standing up for our heritage.

In fairness, some people were making monkey noises.

Oh, yeah, that's just joking, you know?

He was having a good time.

Blacks, they're known to be drug dealers, carry guns.

What gives you the impression that black people

are more heavily involved in crime than whites?

Because of the way they are brought up. They're brought up in projects,

they're brought up in single-parent homes. Their dad's in prison,

their mom's a coke whore, most of the time,

and they're a product of their environment.

If they would have stayed in Africa,

they would have been fine.

So is this same environment also affecting white people?

No, because we stay away from the slums.

We have brains to say, "Hey, that's a crime neighbourhood,

"I don't want to live there."

These blacks, they say,

"Oh, we're going to get on welfare, we're going to get housing."

Do you think that's a conscious decision or that's just...?

That's their way of life.

Hate group watcher the Southern Poverty Law Centre

claim the number of active Klan groups increased in 2015

for the first time in years. They reckon there's now 190 Klans

in America, up from 72 the year before.

Do not turn your back on the cross.

The cross is an inspiration, a sign of Christian religion,

a symbol of faith, hope and love.

-White Power!

-ALL:

-White Power!

MEN YELL AND CHEER

MAN YELLS

As new recruits were measured for Klan hoods,

talk turned to chartering a new Klan chapter in Texas.

Is there a big Klan presence in Texas?

Yes, yes, there is.

It's getting bigger and bigger.

Do you think there's any Klansmen in the police force?

Oh, yes, I know there are.

There's policeman, there's politicians, there's congressmen,

there's city councilmen.

If you're a police officer, you have to be a Klansman first

and then a police officer.

So your loyalty should be to the Klan first?

Right, yes. Police officers' loyalty are to the Klan first.

It wasn't the first time I'd heard Klansmen claim

they have members who are cops.

It was the first time anyone had mentioned Dallas,

a city where videos of police brutality

have been making headlines.

Move! Move!

Neighbours called the cops when these black kids turned up

at a white kids' pool party.

-Get on the ground!

-Look, sir...

-I told you to stay!

Get your asses down on the ground!

On the grass!

-What's the matter?!

-Sir...

-We just got here.

Sir, we just came for a birthday party.

What the fuck is going on?

KIDS SCREAM

This officer felt it necessary to draw his gun on kids in swimsuits.

On your face!

The officer was suspended and then resigned.

There's no suggestion he has anything to do with the KKK,

but the videos provide a glimpse into how some cops

treat the black community.

PEOPLE CHANT

When the video dropped, protests erupted in this part of Dallas,

with this man, LA, at the forefront.

He tried to build bridges with rival demonstrators

who were supporting the police by joining hands and praying.

They want to make it a black and white thing,

and it's not a black and white thing,

it's a community versus the police that are abusing their power.

I went to a Dallas peace rally to meet up with LA,

who was exercising his legal right to carry a gun.

You've come not just as an activist, you're armed, as well.

I'm armed with the AR-15, the 30-round clip.

Infrared beam.

Can you just tell me why?

We are here to protect ourselves and our people,

we're not out here just to put ourselves in harm's way at all.

I mean, I'm here to protect my family, my fellow countrymen.

But what are you protecting people from at a peace rally?

We're here just in case the opposition shows up.

We're taking on the Dallas police force,

the Philadelphia police force, the Los Angeles police force,

the United States Government police force -

any force that stands against our human rights.

The police have more murders in the US than Isis

and all the other terrorist groups alone this year.

Who do we call? Who do we call for help and safety?

I call my family, and I call myself, and I call my AR-15, my best friend.

So why are people scared to call the Dallas PD?

Saturday afternoon in Dallas.

Shirley Harrison has called the cops,

asking them to take her schizophrenic son Jason to hospital.

It's a call she's made dozens of times before.

How you doing, ma'am? What's going on?

What's going on?

-Can you drop that for me? Drop that for me, guy.

-Jay!

-Jay!

-Drop it. Drop it.

-Don't shoot!

-MULTIPLE GUN BLASTS

-SHIRLEY SCREAMS

-You killed my son!

You killed my child! You killed my son!

-Drop it!

-Shots fired. Code three.

-Drop that.

-Drop it. Drop it!

Put it down.

Cops say Jason lunged at them with a screwdriver.

They were boxed in and had to protect themselves.

SHIRLEY CONTINUES SCREAMING

A grand jury agreed.

Neither cop was indicted.

This wasn't an isolated incident.

39 people have been shot dead by Dallas cops in the last five years.

To put that in context, in the same period, London's Met Police,

which patrols a city five times the size of Dallas,

have shot dead four people.

LA thinks the police are a serious threat to the black community.

They're the biggest gang across the country, is the police force.

They do what they want to do at no consequence.

Kill people in broad daylight on camera and they get away with it,

so... I mean, it's just a terrible system.

There's so many instances where people call the police

because they're trying to do the right thing.

And the police come, foolhardily,

and hurt people that are close to them,

and they regret calling the police.

'LA is an unmarried father with ten kids.

'He is raising five of them on his own.'

If your kids were having trouble, would you tell them to call 911?

My kids call their dad.

We call our family.

We don't call 911.

My kids are afraid of the police.

How can you respect somebody that kills people?

These are kids of the revolution, man. These are pretty cool kids.

-Where you guys going when you get older?

-ALL:

-College.

-Where are you going when you get older?

-College.

-Black lives...?

-Matter.

-Black lives...?

-Matter.

-All power to the people.

-All power to the people.

-All power to the people!

-All power to the people!

We don't fear the police.

Although they bully us and they shoot us and they kill us,

we don't fear them. So we let the people know,

and the communities know, that we're not afraid.

And the people that are afraid,

there are people out here that will defend them, as well.

It's no longer going to be hands up,

and we're just going to allow you to shoot us, and we're unarmed.

So we're going to be hands down, shoot back.

If you shoot at us, we're going to shoot back.

-What you got in there?

-A Smith and Wesson .40 Glock.

Why are you getting it out now?

Man, we've got to make sure that...

..that we're prepared. We're not looking for any trouble,

but we've definitely got to be prepared.

We never know when we're going to...

we're going to encounter opposition.

It just feels quite strange to me,

to see you here with your five kids in the back,

with two handguns on your lap and an assault rifle in the boot.

Does this feel normal to you?

This is the normal life in America.

It's terrible. It's terrible that I live in, a place where

I always have to be prepared to defend myself.

I'm going to give us the best fighting chance to live and survive.

Firearm.

Loudspeaker, in case I don't want to get out of the vehicle.

-LOUDSPEAKER:

-I can spread my knowledge to the world

without exiting my vehicle.

I don't know whether to feel safe, because clearly, you know,

you're armed, or whether I should feel unsafe

because you clearly feel like a target.

As far as I'm concerned, we're all unsafe.

Any time you can get in a vehicle and be pulled over

and lose your life, you're unsafe.

Because here we are in a vehicle, and we can be pulled over.

That could be the next Twitter hashtag,

or Facebook hashtag, whatever.

LA is a working dad without any felonies.

It seems crazy that a law-abiding citizen would arm himself

before driving his kids home. I mean, LA is a barber.

But, as a black man, he's 31% more likely to be pulled over by cops

than a white guy.

And police traffic stops can be dangerous.

Hands on the fucking... Get your fucking hands up

or I'm going to shoot you. I will shoot you. Hands up.

-MULTIPLE GUN BLASTS

-Hands up! Hands up!

In Montana, Richard Ramirez is shot three times

during a 30-second traffic stop,

as the cop thought he was reaching for a gun.

Turns out he was unarmed.

The killing was ruled lawful.

-He didn't do nothing!

-Get down!

In North Charleston, an incident following a traffic stop

has outraged Shakem and local activist Omar.

Man, I was cutting some trees out in the yard and heard the shots.

RAPID GUNFIRE

Some people that was already on the scene knew that...

knew that it was an officer-involved shooting.

So it was like, "OK, here we go again."

In North Charleston, Walter Scott is pulled over

by Officer Michael Slager for having a broken brake light.

Walter Scott pulled off of Remount Road.

And from there, I guess when his name was about to get read,

because he knew he had the family court warrant, he took off running.

And that family court warrant - that was for...?

Child support.

Walter Scott started running.

POLICE RADIO CHATTER

Michael Slager actually stopped.

He planted his foot,

drew his weapon, aimed and pointed at him and started firing.

MULTIPLE GUN BLASTS

He locked in on his target, cos it was pop, pop,

and you could tell when he started getting...

You know, just to zero in on somebody's back.

Officer Slager didn't realise it,

but he was being filmed by a passer-by.

You could tell just from the video that there was no imminent danger.

By shooting him in the back like that, just let him know,

"How dare you, dog, put your hand on me."

And what made it even worse is you see Officer Slager turn around,

drop the Taser by his body, and then walked off.

Slager claims Walter Scott fought him

and attempted to take his Taser.

He doesn't deny shooting Walter Scott four times in the back.

He was one of them - he knew this area, he was a bully.

He knew exactly what he was doing, he...

It's just the audacity of him to just figure he could have

gotten away with it. If it wasn't for that tape,

he would have gotten away with it.

They're killing our babies, they're killing the less experienced people.

Walter Scott was inexperienced.

You don't really see, you know,

gang members getting filmed getting killed.

You see regular people, and that's the argument -

you're killing regular people.

You're saying all of us are the same

or everybody's fitting some type of description.

After the video of Walter Scott's killing emerged,

the cop who shot him was jailed.

Michael Slager has been kept in solitary confinement

for his own safety for the past seven months while awaiting trial.

But now a Charleston court

has decided to release him on bail, or bond.

Some people aren't happy.

No justice, no peace!

People are tired of their voices not being heard,

so now you're going to see demonstrations in the street.

In the name of our ancestors,

in the name of those who were slaughtered...

A lot of people are definitely saying that

we need to storm City Hall.

-LOUDSPEAKER:

-Attention, there is a murderer on the loose.

Who are you organising this with?

Whilst you have Black Lives Matter and you have other groups,

but a lot of times you just have the average people on the street

who just stand up and say, "Hey, we're not tolerating this any more,"

and they're willing to organise.

I heard threats out here, and I came...

I don't threaten no fucking body...

It wasn't just a mere police shooting - he shot a guy fleeing.

-CHANTING:

-We want Slager back in jail!

This type of activity should have a person in jail waiting on trial.

-Oink, oink, baby.

-Oink, oink, baby.

-Oink, oink, baby.

Is it fair to keep a citizen inside for months

when he hasn't been found guilty?

I sat in the county jail for two years on a drug charge with no bond.

What makes him any different than me?

He's on a murder charge, I'm on a federal drug charge.

I sat in county jail two years. Why he can't sit?

Motherfuckers stand around.

Racist-assed fucking pigs, shooting motherfuckers down.

We need to go and keep our plan, but we're not going to have any violence out here today.

We can't beat them with violence.

-Don't stop us. Y'all just step back.

-Get out of the parking lot.

You're in a restricted area, you need to leave.

It's sad. It's sad, but it lets you know that racism

is still alive and well.

That's evening, there was a public meeting about Slager's release.

Despite the open invitation,

when I turned up, I found all white people had been asked to leave.

Basically, it was a flyer saying,

"Community town hall meeting now. 6pm tonight."

OK? That's why we came here. And you see what's happening.

And you got here, what's happened?

And we got here and they won't let us in. They locked the doors.

I just wanted to hear what they had to say.

Luckily, I bumped into Indeya, who I'd met back at Emanuel Church.

You actually just missed a very interesting confrontation.

'There's a guy that's been following us around...

'and threatening us, and he's got a weapon,

'and he's carrying his weapon

'and telling us, "Black brains splatter."

'So he just tried to infiltrate our meeting.

'We had to remove him from the room.'

-I never said "Black brains splatter!"

-Let's go.

So what we did is we created an African-only space for a second,

just to regroup and think about security and who's who.

-I've got to ask you to please leave.

-I'm going. I'm leaving.

-Can somebody follow him?

-Keep your hands where we can see them.

And some of our European alliances, who are very consistent,

that we love, they felt a little upset.

And so we had to explain to them why there's that tension and

apprehension, and the only example we could give them is Dylann Roof

sat in the church and prayed with our elders for an hour,

and they welcomed him with open hands and he shot each one of them

execution-style in the back.

These are the kind of things that we're up against as we're trying to

unify and mobilise our committee.

We have people following us around with guns

and telling us, "Black brains splatter."

So who is this armed white guy

infiltrating meetings and making threats?

It didn't take me long to find him.

How many tanks have you got?

Five tanks.

And these fish know that you are strangers.

There you go, buddy.

This is Scott Garland,

a retired, single Trump supporter with a love of fish.

Why did you want to go to their meeting on Friday night?

Cos I knew that eventually I would be recognised,

and it would somewhat get under their skin

that I had gotten into that meeting.

And all hell broke loose.

'Everybody is standing up and pointing at me...'

I never said... I never said, "Black brains spatter."

Let's go.

'Saying, "Oh, yeah, that's the guy

"that always says black brains spatter",'

which I have never, ever said anything like that.

They've actually claimed that I had a gun with me,

which is absolutely untrue.

-You didn't have a gun?

-I absolutely did not have a gun.

I carry a gun in my console, which is legal here.

So you have a gun in your car?

I do. I keep... I take a gun with me.

Why do you want to carry a pistol?

It just... To me, it seems a natural thing.

It's just a smart thing to do, is to have some protection.

-Are you dangerous, Scott?

-Am I dangerous?

No. I'm a pretty courteous guy.

I open doors for people, I smile at people, I say hello to people,

regardless of their colour.

Scott is retired Air Force,

now dedicating some of his time to demonstrating on the street

with home-made signs.

So this is a very touchy one.

I haven't used it, I don't know if I ever will use it.

It's a little bit edgy.

What does it mean?

It means that the Black Lives Matter...

..is starting to feel very much like they hate whites.

And...

..there's just that...

that feeling of it, that, you know, they're racist.

A lot of people are saying that they're a hate group,

that they're the, you know, the modern day KKK of black people.

Scott is a big supporter of the police,

so I wanted to know what he made of the Walter Scott shooting.

Mr Scott stepped out of that car and ran away.

That's fleeing a police officer. It's resisting arrest.

So now, he's a criminal.

You mention running and tackling him again.

For a second or, who knows, maybe a third or fourth time.

We don't know what happened before that camera started rolling.

So how many times do I have to get away from you

before you're allowed to shoot me?

I mean, if you're running after me, and I'm running away,

and you tackle me and I get up and run,

and you tackle me and I get up and I run,

and you Taser me and I get up and I run...

And I'm out of Taser darts.

..at that point, it's justified to shoot me?

Yes. Yes, it is.

I feel like, if I was in the same situation,

I might do the same thing.

Sometimes police kill people.

It's life.

It's just the way things are.

-FEMALE:

-Oh, my God, drop it!

Drop it!

SHE CRIES

"Sometimes police kill people."

Drop it! Just drop it!

But how many? The US Government doesn't even keep count.

-Drop it!

-GUNSHOTS

Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

Are you fucking serious?

Are you fucking serious?

But if, like this man, Mario Woods, you're aged 15 to 34 and black,

you're nine times more likely to be killed than anyone else.

Oh, my God!

Nine times.

Best estimate is 1,100 people were killed by American cops in 2015.

Compare that to just three killed by police in the UK.

Do you have to shoot them dead every fucking time?

Yes, America is a bigger country with one of the highest murder rates

in the developed world, and 300 million privately owned firearms.

But 1,100 people?

I approached the Dallas PD to get their thoughts.

They repeatedly turned down my request for an interview,

but I did manage to track down

an officer who was prepared to speak anonymously.

He's black and worked a Dallas beat for three years.

When you talk to officers who've actually been in shootings,

I've talked to quite a few of them

that have actually been in shootings

that have killed people.

Some, they kind of glorify it.

Is there such a thing as bad cops?

Yeah, yeah. There is such a thing as bad cops.

90% of cops are doing their job,

but it's that small percent that makes everybody look bad.

I've met a few, you know, in my academy class.

And, you know, they were from...

they weren't from a metropolitan city,

they actually grew up in the suburbs.

They even told me that they had never had any interaction

with any minorities.

His only interaction with minorities is what he sees on TV.

And then you take him, you put him through the academy,

you train him and you put them out here

in that community and tell him to enforce the law,

it's going to be a culture shock.

Can you understand why members of the black community

across the country feel that the police are brutalising them,

-when they see all these incidents?

-Yeah, because you can't have

a whole group of people, er...

black citizens of America,

all saying the same thing from different parts of the country.

They all can't be wrong.

All of them are wrong?

I think some officers don't know

when enough is enough, or when it's just like,

"OK, just leave well enough alone."

They kind of instigate things, and it kind of goes on from there,

and they take it personally.

Some officers really take that personally.

Everybody standing here, they'll tell you I didn't do nothing.

In New York, cops have accused Eric Garner

of selling cigarettes illegally.

He's a big man, but he's not armed.

BLEEP!

-Put your hands behind you.

-I can't...

Put your hands behind your back.

After complaining 11 times that he couldn't breathe,

Eric lost consciousness on the pavement and died an hour later.

Despite police using a prohibited chokehold...

And this is what happens for breaking up a fight.

..and the coroner ruling Garner's death a homicide,

no cop was indicted.

It's just another of dozens of incidents like this

from across the country that have been caught on camera.

It makes you wonder how many incidents must happen

which don't get filmed and never come to light.

Stop resisting!

-Get your hands behind your back!

-Stop resisting!

After CCTV of this Florida arrest emerged,

all five officers lost their jobs and faced criminal charges.

Here in Dallas, one group is leading the backlash against the police.

-Black Power.

-ALL:

-Black Power.

-Black Power.

-Black power!

The Huey P Newton Gun Club

was formed two years ago to combat police brutality.

Every time you look on the book, or social media,

one of our people that got murdered.

These police officers are not being held accountable.

You have to let these pigs know that we not afraid of you.

Named after a co-founder of the Black Panther Party,

the group believe in arming their community.

Us arming ourselves, we're able to create

a culture of being independent from government institutions

who do not have our best interests in mind.

We feel that the community has the power to take care of ourselves.

The arm is a tool.

Not for gang banging, it's not for robbing, it's not for selling crack.

It's for, "Hey, if I can't find food, I can go hunting.

"If someone is coming to try and kick on my door

"and do a home invasion,

"I can defend the babies that's in the house."

We have a universal sign,

the X, two fists in the air crossing each other.

If you see that, that means lock and load your weapon.

I suppose, if there's bunches of white folks who are watching,

who see you guys here out and armed, some of them might be alarmed.

They should not be alarmed,

but I can definitely understand their reaction.

When they portray a black criminal in the news,

they portray him as the lowest, wicked, inhumane person possible.

But when they portray white criminals,

they're portrayed as still someone humane who just made a bad judgment.

So I definitely understand, growing up here

in the United Snakes of America,

why a white person would feel intimidated by seeing us.

Because when they see us with guns, they think boys in the hood.

You know? Instead of thinking black deacons of defence.

Instead of thinking Black Panther Party.

It's Martin Luther King Day in Dallas.

A parade to celebrate the life of the iconic civil rights leader.

It's a big opportunity for the gun club to spread their message

of armed self-defence.

And they're assembling for the biggest armed march of the year.

# I used to fly the fucking flag

# Now I use it for a rag

# Now I use it for a rag

# Whoa-whoa... #

The gun club haven't actually been given permission to join the parade,

as they're, well, armed to the teeth.

-Let's go!

-Whose street?

-Our street!

-Whose street?

-Our street!

-Whose street?

-Our street!

And they've started to attract the attention of the police.

Can you understand why the police would be slightly nervous

-about your presence?

-No, we've done over 400 manoeuvres here like this

in the city of Dallas.

If the police attempt to derail us, and we feel threatened,

we'll take an offensive position.

What does an offensive position mean?

Offensive position means we'll be prepared to defend ourselves

if necessary. If they choose to cross their line,

we will defend ourselves.

Our beef with them is them pushing institutional racism.

You know, just like driving. You know, driving while black.

When I'm in my vehicle, and when I see a police officer, I cringe.

Literally. It's literally like how seeing an alligator in the swamp,

and you're in the swamp and that's how I live.

As the gun club fanned out,

it was my first opportunity to see how people react

to an armed black militia.

Black Power. One nation under God.

-Too strong!

-Too black, too strong.

-Too black, too strong.

-Too black, too strong.

Can I ask you what you thought seeing all those folks?

I don't know, it's scary. It's scary. Shit.

Could be a massacre out here, if it gets stupid.

It's a race war and we know that.

-I feel uneasy.

-Really? Why?

-As soon as I turned round and saw them.

I have kids over here.

There's a place for it, but this is not it.

All kind of people do it all the time.

You see white folks with their guns and protesting,

so why can't black people protest peacefully?

Hey, I love them.

They protected my son's school

when he went to school in downtown Dallas.

They do more than just walk around rallying,

they feed the community too, and I'm very proud of that.

They're giving knowledge about the guns,

because now you know it's open carry, a lot of people don't know

if we can have guns to protect ourselves or not.

I'm handing out gun laws, squad information

and then how to act when you are approached by officers.

We're targets. It's good to know different things.

We think that we have to answer every question they ask,

"Where are you going, why are you going there?"

We feel like we have to answer that - we don't have to.

First thing to ask, "Am I being detained?

"No? All right, then, I'm walking off."

There's a lot of our young men going to jail behind something

they truly could've avoided just by knowing their rights.

So how do people react when you give them this?

-Are they interested?

-Very much so.

A man asked me where was I 20 years ago!

You know, everything is going according to plan.

The people love us,

we ain't having a problem with the pigs today and we already understand

why they ain't tripping with us, because you know the pigs,

they like to do what they do behind closed doors.

They don't like to do what they do

in front of the masses of the people.

-Arm yourself, defend yourself!

-Arm yourself, defend yourself!

Arm yourself, defend yourself!

Arm yourself, defend yourself!

The people I met on the street said that Black Power

shouldn't be seen as a threat.

They said it's not a call for black supremacy,

but a cry for black equality.

And Rakim says the movement is growing.

We have members in Cleveland,

we have members in Virginia, you know, California.

We have them all over.

We're an example of the black family,

not of just the black militant man or the black militant culture.

But this culture is for the black family.

LA was marching with the gun club.

He's one person who still thinks

he can change the system from the inside.

What next for you? I mean, it's the beginning of 2016.

-What does the future hold?

-It doesn't change, man.

My everyday life as a barber is rotating information

and getting young people in and feeding them the information,

getting it from the elders,

getting it from the community and feeding it back.

Every client is an opportunity.

Do you have plans to run for a council?

I'm going to run for City Council,

put myself in a position to make direct change to my community.

The system is not great and so if I can get in and effect change

until we change it, then that's what I need to do.

Who should be afraid of this movement?

Those that represent the 1% should be very, very afraid.

Not only just our movement,

but movements like ours that are about bringing social change

as well as social development

and want to dismantle the current power structure.

That's who should be afraid.

-Black Power!

-Black Power!

The working-class individual, this benefits you.

All the way to the working-class black man,

all the way to the working-class white man.

The KKK may be the poster boys for white supremacy in America,

but many of the black Americans I met felt little direct threat

from the hooded men lighting crosses in the woods.

Instead, to them, white supremacy is a system of oppression

that stretches through politics, education, the prisons, the economy,

but most obviously, through policing.

The police force is where a country's civic institutions

meet its population.

And when law-abiding members of society live in fear of the police

that are meant to be protecting them,

it's hard to see how things can carry on as they are.