NYPD’s first female commissioner makes debut in front of mural depicting black revolutionaries

The first female commissioner of the New York Police Department was officially named on Wednesday at a ceremony held in front of a mural depicting celebrated black revolutionaries.

Keechant Sewell, 49, is only the third black NYPD commissioner in the force’s 176-year history, and ends a 30-year line of white men leading the force.

Sewell, currently chief of detectives in Nassau County, was formally declared the next commissioner – ahead of officially taking over on January 1 – at the Queens housing project where she grew up.

She stood in front of a mural depicting Malcolm X, Assata Shakur and Huey P. Newton.

‘I am mindful of the historic nature of this announcement,’ she said, noting she realized what it meant for people of color.

Keechant Sewell, 49, is seen on Wednesday with Eric Adams, the mayor-elect, behind her. Sewell will on January 1 become the first female commissioner of the NYPD

Sewell is seen on Wednesday in front of a mural showing, among others, Nat Turner, Malcolm X, Angela Davis and Huey P. Newton. To the right, out of shot, is Assata Shakur and Brazilian educationalist Paulo Freire

Eric Adams, who takes over as mayor on January 1, said on Wednesday that he was proud of her trail-blazing.

‘Chief Sewell’s appointment today is a powerful message to girls and young women across the city, there is no ceiling to your ambition,’ Adams said.

‘I am so proud today to tear down barriers.

‘This amazing law enforcement professional, she carried with her throughout her career a sledgehammer. And she crushed every glass ceiling that was put in her way and today she had crashed and destroyed the final one we need in New York City.’

Behind them looked down Huey P. Newton, the co-founder of the Black Panther Party, who was jailed for the murder of a police officer in Oakland, California, in 1967 – although the conviction was later overturned.

Newton is known for writing the Black Panthers’ 10 Point Program, which states: ‘We Want An Immediate End To Police Brutality And Murder Of Black People.’

The document declares: ‘We believe we can end police brutality in our Black community by organizing Black self-defense groups that are dedicated to defending our Black community from racist police oppression and brutality.’

Newton was murdered by a member of a Marxist-Leninist drug dealing gang in 1989, aged 47.

Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, was murdered in Oakland, California in 1989. He served time in prison for murdering a police officer – with the conviction later overturned – and on Wednesday the next NYPD commissioner held a press conference beneath his mural

Also depicted on the mural was Assata Shakur, who is still on the run following the 1973 killing of a New Jersey state trooper.

The step-aunt and godmother of rapper Tupac Shakur, she was accused of committing a series of crimes in the New York area, frequently alongside other members of the Black Liberation Army.

She was accused of two bank robberies in New York; the kidnap and murder of a drug dealer; armed robbery, during which she was shot; and the attempted murder of policemen in an ambush. She was either acquitted or the cases dismissed.

In 2013, she became the first woman added to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist list, under her birth name, Joanne Chesimard.

Shakur, now aged 74 and living in Havana, Cuba, has a $2 million reward for her capture.

Assata Shakur is seen in 1987 in Havana, Cuba, where she fled after being convicted of murdering a New Jersey state trooper

Angela Davis is seen in 1972, after she was released from prison after being accused of the armed seizure of a Marin County Courthouse in California. She was later acquitted

Sewell addressed the media on Wednesday at the Queens housing project where she grew up

Civil rights leader Malcolm X was depicted on the mural in Queens

Also on the mural was Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam leader assassinated in 1965.

He initially advocated advancing civil rights ‘by any means necessary’, but in his later years moderated his tone and began urging peaceful protest.

Another leading light of the civil rights movement, Angela Davis, now 77, was also depicted – the scholar, activist and icon of black liberation looking down on the scene below.

Davis, a vocal supporter of the Black Panthers, USSR and anti-war movements, still lectures at universities across the country and champions resistance movements.

Also featured was Nat Turner, an enslaved man who led a rebellion of enslaved people in Virginia on August 21, 1831.

Turner hid nearby successfully for six weeks until his discovery, conviction, and hanging at Jerusalem, Virginia, along with 16 of his followers.

On social media, some questioned the choice of venue, and the association with controversial figures such as Newton and Shakur.

‘Divisive and wrong to have this mural on display!’ said one.

‘This is beyond any parody,’ said another.

‘Why did the new commissioner agree to that? Bad start,’ added another.

Nat Turner’s slave rebellion is depicted in an engraving made around 1881

Newton’s depiction caused particular alarm.

‘This is so surreal wtf is this lmao, Huey Newton literally has ‘revolution’ in his quote on that wall, tf you people think he meant by ‘revolution’?’ said one.

Some took a different view, arguing that the decision by Sewell and Adams to stand in front of the mural was designed to appeal to the black community, but with little hope of improvement.

‘And?…….that’s just to fool black people into believing he is on our side when in fact he’s not,’ said another.

‘This is all for the optics. Truth is we are already on to the con.’

Others argued that it was insulting to the memories of the civil rights activists who were depicted on the mural, such as Malcolm X.

‘There’s something incredibly wrong with this picture and wholly insulting to the memories of the people depicted in the mural,’ said one.

‘With the exception of Nat Turner, every person memorialized in that mural has an NYPD intelligence file with surveillance notes to the FBI.’

Another added: ‘It’s insulting to everyone involved.’

Who’s who on the Queensbridge Houses mural in the project where Keechant Sewell grew up? 

MALCOLM X, murdered in 1965, aged 39

Charismatic civil rights leader, who was initially a member of the Nation of Islam and called for black Americans to strive for equality ‘by any means necessary’.

In later life he moderated his ideas, and was more aligned with his contemporary and friend, Martin Luther King.

 

ASSATA SHAKUR, wanted by the FBI and living in exile in Cuba, now 74

The step-aunt and godmother of rapper Tupac Shakur, Shakur – born Joanne Chesimard – was active in violent black liberation movements.

She is accused of crimes including bank robberies, kidnapping and murder of a drug dealer, and the attempted murder of policemen in an ambush. She was either acquitted or the cases dismissed.

In 1973 she was involved in a shoot-out that ended with the death of a New Jersey state trooper. 

Convicted in 1977, she escaped in 1979 from the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in Union City, New Jersey. In 1984 she resurfaced in Cuba, where she still lives – despite a $2 million bounty from the FBI for her arrest. 

 

HUEY P. NEWTON, murdered in 1989, aged 47

Co-founder of the Black Panther Party, Newton called for revolution in America, to give black people equality and make amends for centuries of oppression.

He was involved in a shootout which led to the death of a police officer in 1967, and was sentenced to two to 15 years, but he was freed after two years and his conviction eventually overturned.

Newton was also accused of two further murders, but was never convicted.

His Ten Point Program called for black self-defense squads to be formed, to take over from racist police.

 

ANGELA DAVIS, an academic and revolutionary icon, now 77

Davis remains one of the most influential figures in the black liberation movement, lecturing at universities across the country and supporting activists nationwide.

She was imprisoned for charges related to a prison break, but was ultimately cleared and continued her work promoting communism, feminism and anti-war movements.

 

NAT TURNER, hanged for leading a slave rebellion in 1831

Turner, an enslaved worker on a Virginia plantation, led an uprising in 1831.

The effort failed, and led to Southern states tightening their control over enslaved people.

Turner was killed by his former masters and is remembered as a hero of the struggle for liberation.