"Before the Stray Bullet Finds me": Black People's Mental Health and Police Violence

Abstract

Police violence is a phenomenon marked by discrimination when it targets black bodies, aiming to control these bodies through violence. The research sought to understand how the mental health of the black population is configured in the face of this violence, as well as its relationship with racism. From a qualitative perspective, the method used was a cartographically-inspired narrative review, which consisted of using bibliographic sources of information to provide a theoretical basis for the work, in order to make it possible to understand the "state of the art" of the object studied. Art, especially rap lyrics, helped in this process of understanding the phenomenon. As a result, it was possible to analyze race as a key factor in the construction of inequality, which materializes in the military police as an institution. The militarization of the police reveals itself as an apparatus of selective oppression of the black population, with a strong influence on their mental health. In addition to the adoption of technological measures to tackle the problem, it was observed that art is a strong ally in raising awareness, belonging, refuge and struggle for those who find themselves in the middle of the battlefield.