shea rose - single
BLACK BOYS ON MOPEDS
“England’s not the mythical land of Madame George and roses / It’s the home of police who kill black boys on mopeds.”
As the loss of black lives at the hands of police became increasingly publicized and outrage grew, I remembered Sinéad O'Connor's lyrics.
More to the Story
On her 1990 debut album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, Sinéad O'Connor sang about police brutality in the UK in the song "Black Boys On Mopeds." She dedicated the album to the family of Colin Roach. Roach was a 21-year-old black British man who died on January 12, 1983, from a gunshot wound inside the entrance to Stoke Newington police station in the London Borough of Hackney.
Following Roach's death, protests and calls for an independent public investigation erupted amid allegations of a police cover-up. The Hackney Black People's Association demanded a public inquiry into local policing, alleging a culture of police brutality, wrongful detention of black people, racial harassment, and racially motivated "stopping and searching."
Such an inquiry did not take place, although police did conduct an inquest into the incident. The inquest concluded that Roach had committed suicide.
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Black Boys on Mopeds
“Sinéad O’Connor always knew that black lives mattered. Younger artists had begun to cover ‘Black Boys on Mopeds,’ recognizing it as one of the most meaningful protest songs of our time.”
“Shea Rose, who performed a brilliant version, explained that she was drawn to the song by its continuing relevance in an era error that saw rising consciousness of police violence following the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and George Floyd in Minneapolis and so many others.”