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 got its first Black cop – and how decades later, Black cops went to war with the NYPD’s union to push for civilian oversight of the police. But how effective is reform if the police are still only accountable to themselves? From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack. Empire City is made with a commitment to ensure the stories of those who were and are still impacted by the NYPD are always part of the stories we tell ourselves about the Police, about America, and about Democracy. Voices & References: Edwin Raymond: https://x.com/edwinraymondnyc Khalil Gibran Muhammed: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/khalil-gibran-muhammad Natalie Cherot: https://nataliecherot.com/ Andrew Darien: https://directory.salemstate.edu/profile/andrew.darien An Inconvenient Cop: My Fight to Change Policing in America https://www.amazon.com/Inconvenient-Cop-Change-Policing-America/dp/0593653165 The Watchmen: https://www.hbo.com/watchmen The Congress of Racial Equality: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/congress-racial-equality-core Follow Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD on the Wondery App or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/empire-city/ now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.