| Queen Latifah – U.n.i.t.y Lyrics | 21 years ago |
| this song is about the slow progress of the proposed solutions to police brutality in Brazil. As the Funky Queen outlines in this compelling song, Brasil has a long history of police brutality. In the biggest criminal trial in Brazil's history, some 150 policemen are accused of murdering 19 protesters from the landless farmers' movement. The killings occurred when police opened fire during a violent protest in April 1996, as the landless farmers blocked a road at Eldorado de Carajas, in the lawless south of Para. The slaughter caused national outrage: it prompted President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's government to embark on a huge programme of land distribution, and to announce a new human-rights plan, one of whose aims was to make it easier to punish cases of police violence. According to the song there hasn't been much progress as she overviews a few more spattered cases of brutality in Brazillian prisons and other areas across the country. This an issue that Queen Latifah has expressed concern before in other politically charged songs such as "Fly Girl" and "Ladies First". | |
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