Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD

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Black History, For Real: NYPD's Secret Story | For Real, For Real | 9

"Woop! Woop! That’s the sound of da police! Conscious and Frankie welcome Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika – host of Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD. Dr. Kumanyik

Stay Dangerous | 8

The NYPD loves to show off its diversity, but it often hides how hard and long it fought that diversity. Chenjerai takes us back in time to the real story of how the NYPD

The American Problem | 7

New York’s police start to realize that beating up and arresting immigrants is making them distrustful of cops. In response, a police chief has an idea, borne out of his

The Rotten Orchard | 6

It’s like clockwork: every 20 years or so, a corruption scandal forces the NYPD into the hot seat. But how did this cycle begin? To find out, we go back over a century ag

The Moral Crusade | 5

Officers in early New York didn’t just police the city’s vice economy; they profited from it. But when America’s first professional vice fighter Anthony Comstock strong-a

They’ve Got Weapons | 4

Horrific race riots erupt when New York City starts to draft soldiers into the Civil War. A mob of white people, who resent fighting for emancipation, direct their rage a

What’s Done Can Be Undone | 3

New York’s power-hungry mayor weaponizes the police to help him control the city – and bulldoze a thriving Black community for his own real estate profits. The state, fea

If It Bleeds It Leads | 2

Before the NYPD existed, New Yorkers strongly opposed the idea of an armed police force – until a powerful news publisher changed everything. After a grisly murder takes

They Keep People Safe | 1

Chenjerai takes us back to the summer of 1835, when Black New Yorkers are being kidnapped and sold into slavery in the south. But their friends and families can’t call th

Introducing: Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD

The police tell us they are here to protect us. But what if their original purpose was something else altogether? Peabody Award-winning host Chenjerai Kumanyika takes lis