1988: Public Enemy Performs

On August 12th, 205 detainees, more than 500 correction officers, and 150 members of the press gather to see Public Enemy, the first hip hop group to perform at Rikers. Chuck D wants to make sure their message of racial uplift reaches people inside. The performance opens with Professor Griff announcing that blackness is a prison and continues with hit songs like “Fight the Power.” Photojournalists insist on a photo of the group in a cell to mark the occasion. They agree, though group members and their publicist feel it makes a mockery of the experiences of detainees.