democracynow--2020-06-11--Seattle Protesters Declare Autonomous Zone Around Police Precinct After Heated Standoff with Police

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Nermeen Shaikh .
Protesters in Seattle , Washington , have taken over several city blocks after a protracted standoff with the police force there , shutting down a police precinct , declaring part of the city ’ s Capitol Hill neighborhood an autonomous zone .
Citizen journalist Omari Salisbury live-streamed Seattle police using pepper spray , tear gas , flashbang grenades on demonstrators and reporters , like himself .
Facing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Seattle Police Department abandoned its Capitol Hill precinct this week .
Last night , President Trump tweeted , quote , “ Radical Left Governor @ JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before .
Take back your city NOW .
If you don ’ t do it , I will .
This is not a game .
These ugly Anarchists must be stooped IMMEDIATELY .
MOVE FAST !
” President Trump tweeted .
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan responded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safe .
Go back to your bunker .
# BlackLivesMatter.
” For more , we go to Seattle for our last few minutes to speak with Omari Salisbury , who ’ s been covering the protests in Seattle since they started , on Twitter and for his website , Converge Media .
Welcome , Omari , to Democracy Now !
You yourself have been hit by what the police call the less-than-lethal ammunition , that has hurt so many , injured you and many others around the country .
Talk about what ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Well , right now I ’ m actually sitting right here in the middle of this new autonomous zone , the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone .
And yeah , I mean , quickly , it was several days of just heated standoffs here , man , where it was a lot of tear gas , a lot of other types of weapons .
And one thing you didn ’ t mention is rubber bullets or the rubber projectiles , which I also got hit quite a few times with that , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protesting , until the city of Seattle decided to abandon the police precinct , and which now is literally the town square here in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone .
AMY GOODMAN : So , talk about what happened to you personally and what it means to be hit by this , and what ’ s happening in Seattle right now .
OMARI SALISBURY : Well , you know , for me , every May Day there ’ s something that goes on , and there ’ s kind of a police reaction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to cover the reaction ; I was just covering , you know , the protest , because they were happening nationwide .
And , I mean , I found myself continuously on the frontline trying to cover it , because almost every day there was a clash there with the protesters and the police .
And the issue I don ’ t think was really that the police responded ; it was the proportionality of the response — I mean , an incredible amount of tear gas , an incredible amount of force @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the majority of , you know , in the high 90 percentile , were just peaceful people that actually live in this neighborhood .
And those are the people who are now occupying or created this CHAZ zone .
AMY GOODMAN : And we ’ re going to talk about this new zone , this imagine a new world is possible , in Part 2 of our discussion .
Omari , thanks so much for being with us .
Please stay with us , and we ’ re going to post it at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Seattle with Converge Media .
That does it for our show .
Democracy Now !
is produced with Renée Feltz , Mike Burke , Deena Guzder , Libby Rainey , Nermeen Shaikh , Carla Wills , Tami Woronoff , Charina Nadura , Sam Alcoff , Tey-Marie Astudillo , John Hamilton , Robby Karran , Hany Massoud , Adriano Contreras and María Taracena .
Special thanks to our general manager , Julie Crosby .
Special thanks to Becca Staley , Miriam Barnard , Paul Powell , Mike DiFilippo , Miguel Nogueira , Hugh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Dennis McCormick .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Nermeen Shaikh .
Stay safe .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. Protesters in Seattle, Washington, have taken over several city blocks after a protracted standoff with the police force there, shutting down a police precinct, declaring part of the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood an autonomous zone. Citizen journalist Omari Salisbury live-streamed Seattle police using pepper spray, tear gas, flashbang grenades on demonstrators and reporters, like himself. Facing mounting criticism for its militarized response, the Seattle Police Department abandoned its Capitol Hill precinct this week.
Last night, President Trump tweeted, quote, “Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before. Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stooped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!” President Trump tweeted. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan responded by tweeting, “Make us all safe. Go back to your bunker. #BlackLivesMatter.”
For more, we go to Seattle for our last few minutes to speak with Omari Salisbury, who’s been covering the protests in Seattle since they started, on Twitter and for his website, Converge Media.
Welcome, Omari, to Democracy Now! You yourself have been hit by what the police call the less-than-lethal ammunition, that has hurt so many, injured you and many others around the country. Talk about what’s happening in Seattle.
OMARI SALISBURY: Well, right now I’m actually sitting right here in the middle of this new autonomous zone, the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. And yeah, I mean, quickly, it was several days of just heated standoffs here, man, where it was a lot of tear gas, a lot of other types of weapons. And one thing you didn’t mention is rubber bullets or the rubber projectiles, which I also got hit quite a few times with that, as well. And the protesters just kept protesting, until the city of Seattle decided to abandon the police precinct, and which now is literally the town square here in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.
AMY GOODMAN: So, talk about what happened to you personally and what it means to be hit by this, and what’s happening in Seattle right now.
OMARI SALISBURY: Well, you know, for me, every May Day there’s something that goes on, and there’s kind of a police reaction. I didn’t come there to cover the reaction; I was just covering, you know, the protest, because they were happening nationwide. And, I mean, I found myself continuously on the frontline trying to cover it, because almost every day there was a clash there with the protesters and the police. And the issue I don’t think was really that the police responded; it was the proportionality of the response — I mean, an incredible amount of tear gas, an incredible amount of force against protesters, that I would say the majority of, you know, in the high 90 percentile, were just peaceful people that actually live in this neighborhood. And those are the people who are now occupying or created this CHAZ zone.
AMY GOODMAN: And we’re going to talk about this new zone, this imagine a new world is possible, in Part 2 of our discussion. Omari, thanks so much for being with us. Please stay with us, and we’re going to post it at democracynow.org. Omari Salisbury, citizen journalist in Seattle with Converge Media.
That does it for our show. Democracy Now! is produced with Renée Feltz, Mike Burke, Deena Guzder, Libby Rainey, Nermeen Shaikh, Carla Wills, Tami Woronoff, Charina Nadura, Sam Alcoff, Tey-Marie Astudillo, John Hamilton, Robby Karran, Hany Massoud, Adriano Contreras and María Taracena. Special thanks to our general manager, Julie Crosby. Special thanks to Becca Staley, Miriam Barnard, Paul Powell, Mike DiFilippo, Miguel Nogueira, Hugh Gran, Denis Moynihan, David Prude and Dennis McCormick. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. Stay safe.


democracynow--2020-06-11--Historian Robin D.G. Kelley: Years of Racial Justice Organizing Laid Groundwork for Today's Uprising

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : For more on the mass uprising engulfing the U.S. and what protesters are demanding now , we go to Los Angeles , where we ’ re joined by Robin Kelley , professor of African American studies at UCLA .
He studies social movements , author of many books , including Freedom Dreams : The Black Radical Imagination .
Professor Kelley , it ’ s great to have you back with us , especially now .
I mean , just in the last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Confederacy being tumbled throughout the United States .
You have President Trump announcing he ’ s giving his first campaign speech in months in Tulsa , Oklahoma , the site of one of the worst massacres of Black people in U.S. history , on Juneteenth , June 19th , this in the midst of this global uprising .
Talk about this moment we are in .
ROBIN D.G .
KELLEY : Right .
Yeah , that ’ s a slap in the face .
Let me begin by talking about Philonise Floyd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — you know , listening to it again is very emotional , and it really captures the moment we ’ re in .
It moved me , in part , because we ’ ve been hearing this speech — I ’ ve been hearing this speech my entire life .
I don ’ t remember a moment in my life when I hadn ’ t heard someone talking about holding the police accountable , teaching cops to treat people with empathy and respect , teaching them appropriate force .
And I was really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ captures the moment — by how George Floyd called the officers “ sir ” — and this is something that his brother mentioned — as he was being killed , called them “ sir.
” And it was a painful and telling revelation , given how Black men and women were beaten or even killed for not addressing an officer of the law or any white man as “ sir.
” You know , this happened to my father-in-law .
So , in some ways , that question and the other question , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ man ’ s worth ?
Twenty dollars ?
” this moment that we ’ re in now raises that question .
You have mass protests around the world coming back to a perennial question , is : What are Black lives worth ?
Are Black lives worth more than — less than property ?
I mean , Black Lives Matter drilled down on this question from the moment ’ s inception , you know , asking the question , “ What kind of society is this that values property over Black life ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ you think about even your last guest talking about tear-gassing , the fact that people are being tear-gassed during a pandemic , and over this question of whether or not a Black life has value .
So , this is a really crucial moment .
Clearly , Trump and his ilk are really drilling down on what I would argue is a fascist response .
It ’ s drilling down on a state that has no issue taking people ’ s lives over the smallest infraction .
And I think I have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say “ hope , ” but I do have — I do imagine real change occurring , when you have millions of people in the street saying , not what people said in '68 — this is a very different moment — but actually saying that we ca n't have police as we knew it , you know ?
You think about the uprisings in the 1960s , where so many of the struggles emerging out of ghetto communities , you know , demanding an end to police brutality , police violence , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basic needs , services , jobs , and in those days the response to the demands were things like diversity , inclusion , community oversight , more Black cops , demands that officers live in the community .
And you compare that to defunding the police , to basically reorganizing the way we deal with public safety .
And this is coming from many different circles .
People who thought , five , six years ago , that was a ridiculous demand , are now seeing it as not only viable , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We ’ re seeing at least the beginnings of it happening .
We ’ ll see how it turns out .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Professor Kelley , I want to go back to something that you wrote immediately following Trump ’ s election in November 2016 .
You wrote that the U.S. needs a multiracial movement committed to , quote , “ dismantling the oppressive regimes of racism , heteropatriarchy , empire , and class exploitation that is at the root of inequality , precarity , materialism , and violence in many forms.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ how the demands of this movement are very different .
Do you see what ’ s happening now as what you wanted to happen in November 2016 ?
ROBIN D.G .
KELLEY : Exactly .
And not only that , but what I wrote in 2016 was actually a reflection of what was already happening on the ground .
So , in some respects , remember , the Movement for Black Lives put out their policy platform in August of 2016 .
And one of the things we all have to acknowledge is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accident .
You know , this is not a spontaneous response to the pandemic , and suddenly white people are waking up and saying , “ Oh , wait a second , Black lives matter.
” No , this is a product of enormous work , going back well before Trayvon Martin .
But you think about all the organizing work , the Movement for Black Lives , Black Lives Matter , the women who organized Black Lives Matter , initiated — Opal Tometi , Alicia Garza , Patrisse Cullors — people like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Youth Project 100 , all the scholar activists who have been working on this question — Barbara Ransby , Kimberlé Crenshaw , Angela Davis , Ruth Wilson Gilmore — and then , before that , the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement , Copwatch , Dignity and Power , Critical Resistance , the African American Policy Forum .
These were initiatives on the ground who did all this political education , all this organizing work — We Charge Genocide , Dream Defenders , the Rising Majority , Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , [ Showing ] Up for Racial Justice , which deals with white racism .
So you have an infrastructure in place that has been doing this work for a decade or more — more than a decade .
And that ’ s why people are out here .
That ’ s why people can come out into the streets and simply roll off their tongues words like “ defund the police , ” connect transphobia , homophobia , gender oppression , patriarchy to racial capitalism and to racial violence , connect these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind of unprecedented .
But again , without the organizing work , we would not be here , you know ?
And I think it ’ s very important to even go back and acknowledge how the foundations were laid by the Combahee River Collective , by people like Barbara Smith , raised by the Third World Women ’ s Alliance , I mean , fighting around questions of connecting sterilization , abortion rights with racism .
You know ?
So , these kinds of links , these connections — and also with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there ’ s a long history that got us here .
And the real question now is whether or not this can be sustained , because we know , throughout history , we ’ ve had revolutionary moments , after Reconstruction in the 1870s , followed by backlash and by what we can describe as American fascism .
We have the sort of Second Reconstruction of the 1960s , followed by backlash , the rise of the Klan , the tamping down on the strike wave in the 1970s , neoliberalism .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We have these forces trying to transform the world in a way that could actually bring safety and prosperity to all versus a president and a regime that asks , “ What happened to Gone with the Wind ?
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Well , Professor Kelley , you talked about the long history of this movement , which certainly is the case .
It builds on many precursors of this kind of rebellion .
But it also has — there are dimensions of a dark side in some of the phrases that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media here , some of the media , and that is “ looting.
” “ Looting ” is — in fact , “ loot ” is a Hindi word with Sanskritic origins , and it entered the language in colonial India , with South Asian historian Vazira Zamindar pointing out that its initial usage — one of its initial usages was to define as rapists and looters those who were involved in the first rebellion against the East India Company in 1857 .
And , I mean , it ’ s very difficult @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as “ looters ” and “ rapists.
” It ’ s very difficult to imagine that Trump would know this history , but he certainly knows of its connotations .
So , could you talk about the use of the term “ looting ” in the media and the fact that you ’ ve said every single rebellion and uprising has included it ?
ROBIN D.G .
KELLEY : Right .
Well , you know , the other day I did a Google news search , in its sort of search engine , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I got 19 million hits .
And then I put in “ excessive force ” and got 1.1 million hits .
So , what ’ s interesting is the way that the media really has grabbed onto looting as the problem .
It displaces some of the major issues that are being raised , especially the violence of the police against protesters .
And so , what ’ s interesting about looting , you know , if you look at the long history , there is not a civil disturbance , civil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a natural disaster , in which some sort of flash looting or appropriation of goods didn ’ t take place .
So , that ’ s not uncommon .
Also , there ’ s a tendency to treat looting as a way to dismiss legitimate organizing work , when , in fact , many people who are sort of seizing the moment — in this case , during an economic crisis with 40 million people applying for unemployment — as if somehow those kinds of attacks on property or appropriating property are themselves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a wing of a movement .
And we know that ’ s not the case at all .
What the question of looting does bring to fore are two things .
One , what — it goes back to Mr. Floyd ’ s question : What is a Black man ’ s life worth ?
What is a Black person ’ s life worth ?
Is the destruction of property or taking things or taking sneakers or computers somehow more important than watching someone die on film , you know , watching the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last few years ?
I mean , what ’ s more important ?
And so , what ’ s the value of someone ?
The second part of looting is it displaces the looting that is the history of the United States .
We know that human bodies , that Black bodies , were looted — that ’ s how we got here — that Indigenous land was looting , seizing that land .
We know that for years the housing market has been a kind of form of looting , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been suppressed , Black wages suppressed .
The transfer of wealth is a kind of form of looting .
But also , if you look at the history of race riots in America , most so-called race riots were basically pogroms , going back to Cincinnati in 1839 , 1841 , going back to a whole range of so-called race riots in Philadelphia .
You mentioned Tulsa in the opening of the show , Tulsa , Oklahoma , which was a kind of looting — not a kind of looting , but you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Black-owned property and businesses worth millions of dollars , people going into people ’ s — white people going into homes , with the support of the police , taking Black people ’ s stuff , destroying and taking stuff .
Tulsa , Oklahoma , East St. Louis in 1917 — we could talk about Rosewood in 1923 .
You know , there ’ s so many examples — Springfield , Illinois , in 1908 .
And some of that looting is also about taking political power .
And so , one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the most absurd .
And that is , if you noticed , during George Floyd ’ s funeral , the New York Stock Exchange decided that it would go silent and not trade for eight minutes and 46 seconds .
Now , what ’ s interesting about that is that — talk about looting — Wall Street has profited from police misconduct .
I mean , to consider that , cities have been paying out billions to cover police misconduct lawsuits .
When they can ’ t pay out the settlement , what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tax revenue ; they can ’ t afford it .
They fleece the poor with more fees and fines , and they also borrow .
And when cities and counties issue bonds to pay for the cost of police misconduct , which is in the billions of dollars , banks and other firms collect the fees for their services , investors earn interest , and then , using the bonds to cover the settlement , those bonds and up costing sometimes as much as 100 % more than the original settlement .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from overpoliced communities to Wall Street , which is called — or Wells Fargo , Goldman Sachs , Bank of America .
And this is what is called police brutality bonds .
ROBIN D.G .
KELLEY : There ’ s a great study of this .
Yes .
AMY GOODMAN : Robin D.G .
Kelley , we ’ re going to have to leave it there .
AMY GOODMAN : But we have so much more to talk about with you , and we hope to have you back very soon .
Robin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at UCLA .
He studies social movements , author of many books , including Freedom Dreams : The Black Radical Imagination .
Thirty seconds , and then we go to Seattle .
AMY GOODMAN : “ Yes We Can Can ” by The Pointer Sisters .
Bonnie Pointer , the founding member of the group , died at the age of 69 earlier this week .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: For more on the mass uprising engulfing the U.S. and what protesters are demanding now, we go to Los Angeles, where we’re joined by Robin Kelley, professor of African American studies at UCLA. He studies social movements, author of many books, including Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination.
Professor Kelley, it’s great to have you back with us, especially now. I mean, just in the last hours, you have the icons of the Confederacy being tumbled throughout the United States. You have President Trump announcing he’s giving his first campaign speech in months in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the site of one of the worst massacres of Black people in U.S. history, on Juneteenth, June 19th, this in the midst of this global uprising. Talk about this moment we are in.
ROBIN D.G. KELLEY: Right. Yeah, that’s a slap in the face.
Let me begin by talking about Philonise Floyd’s testimony, because it was — you know, listening to it again is very emotional, and it really captures the moment we’re in. It moved me, in part, because we’ve been hearing this speech — I’ve been hearing this speech my entire life. I don’t remember a moment in my life when I hadn’t heard someone talking about holding the police accountable, teaching cops to treat people with empathy and respect, teaching them appropriate force.
And I was really struck — again, this kind of captures the moment — by how George Floyd called the officers “sir” — and this is something that his brother mentioned — as he was being killed, called them “sir.” And it was a painful and telling revelation, given how Black men and women were beaten or even killed for not addressing an officer of the law or any white man as “sir.” You know, this happened to my father-in-law.
So, in some ways, that question and the other question, which is “What is a Black man’s worth? Twenty dollars?” this moment that we’re in now raises that question. You have mass protests around the world coming back to a perennial question, is: What are Black lives worth? Are Black lives worth more than — less than property? I mean, Black Lives Matter drilled down on this question from the moment’s inception, you know, asking the question, “What kind of society is this that values property over Black life?” And, you know, when you think about even your last guest talking about tear-gassing, the fact that people are being tear-gassed during a pandemic, and over this question of whether or not a Black life has value.
So, this is a really crucial moment. Clearly, Trump and his ilk are really drilling down on what I would argue is a fascist response. It’s drilling down on a state that has no issue taking people’s lives over the smallest infraction. And I think I have a lot of — I shouldn’t say “hope,” but I do have — I do imagine real change occurring, when you have millions of people in the street saying, not what people said in '68 — this is a very different moment — but actually saying that we can't have police as we knew it, you know?
You think about the uprisings in the 1960s, where so many of the struggles emerging out of ghetto communities, you know, demanding an end to police brutality, police violence, demanding an end to the denial of basic needs, services, jobs, and in those days the response to the demands were things like diversity, inclusion, community oversight, more Black cops, demands that officers live in the community.
And you compare that to defunding the police, to basically reorganizing the way we deal with public safety. And this is coming from many different circles. People who thought, five, six years ago, that was a ridiculous demand, are now seeing it as not only viable, but we’re seeing it happening. We’re seeing at least the beginnings of it happening. We’ll see how it turns out.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Professor Kelley, I want to go back to something that you wrote immediately following Trump’s election in November 2016. You wrote that the U.S. needs a multiracial movement committed to, quote, “dismantling the oppressive regimes of racism, heteropatriarchy, empire, and class exploitation that is at the root of inequality, precarity, materialism, and violence in many forms.” You’ve just talked about how the demands of this movement are very different. Do you see what’s happening now as what you wanted to happen in November 2016?
ROBIN D.G. KELLEY: Exactly. And not only that, but what I wrote in 2016 was actually a reflection of what was already happening on the ground. So, in some respects, remember, the Movement for Black Lives put out their policy platform in August of 2016.
And one of the things we all have to acknowledge is that we’re not here by accident. You know, this is not a spontaneous response to the pandemic, and suddenly white people are waking up and saying, “Oh, wait a second, Black lives matter.” No, this is a product of enormous work, going back well before Trayvon Martin. But you think about all the organizing work, the Movement for Black Lives, Black Lives Matter, the women who organized Black Lives Matter, initiated — Opal Tometi, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors — people like Melina Abdullah, Charlene Carruthers of Black Youth Project 100, all the scholar activists who have been working on this question — Barbara Ransby, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Angela Davis, Ruth Wilson Gilmore — and then, before that, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Copwatch, Dignity and Power, Critical Resistance, the African American Policy Forum. These were initiatives on the ground who did all this political education, all this organizing work — We Charge Genocide, Dream Defenders, the Rising Majority, Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity, and also groups like SURJ, you know, [Showing] Up for Racial Justice, which deals with white racism.
So you have an infrastructure in place that has been doing this work for a decade or more — more than a decade. And that’s why people are out here. That’s why people can come out into the streets and simply roll off their tongues words like “defund the police,” connect transphobia, homophobia, gender oppression, patriarchy to racial capitalism and to racial violence, connect these things in ways that I think are kind of unprecedented. But again, without the organizing work, we would not be here, you know? And I think it’s very important to even go back and acknowledge how the foundations were laid by the Combahee River Collective, by people like Barbara Smith, raised by the Third World Women’s Alliance, I mean, fighting around questions of connecting sterilization, abortion rights with racism. You know? So, these kinds of links, these connections — and also with war — are important. So, there’s a long history that got us here.
And the real question now is whether or not this can be sustained, because we know, throughout history, we’ve had revolutionary moments, after Reconstruction in the 1870s, followed by backlash and by what we can describe as American fascism. We have the sort of Second Reconstruction of the 1960s, followed by backlash, the rise of the Klan, the tamping down on the strike wave in the 1970s, neoliberalism. And now we’re facing another one. We have these forces trying to transform the world in a way that could actually bring safety and prosperity to all versus a president and a regime that asks, “What happened to Gone with the Wind?
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Professor Kelley, you talked about the long history of this movement, which certainly is the case. It builds on many precursors of this kind of rebellion. But it also has — there are dimensions of a dark side in some of the phrases that are being employed, especially in the media here, some of the media, and that is “looting.” “Looting” is — in fact, “loot” is a Hindi word with Sanskritic origins, and it entered the language in colonial India, with South Asian historian Vazira Zamindar pointing out that its initial usage — one of its initial usages was to define as rapists and looters those who were involved in the first rebellion against the East India Company in 1857. And, I mean, it’s very difficult to imagine — and they were characterized as “looters” and “rapists.” It’s very difficult to imagine that Trump would know this history, but he certainly knows of its connotations. So, could you talk about the use of the term “looting” in the media and the fact that you’ve said every single rebellion and uprising has included it?
ROBIN D.G. KELLEY: Right. Well, you know, the other day I did a Google news search, in its sort of search engine, and put in “looting,” and I got 19 million hits. And then I put in “excessive force” and got 1.1 million hits. So, what’s interesting is the way that the media really has grabbed onto looting as the problem. It displaces some of the major issues that are being raised, especially the violence of the police against protesters. And so, what’s interesting about looting, you know, if you look at the long history, there is not a civil disturbance, civil unrest of any significance, or even a natural disaster, in which some sort of flash looting or appropriation of goods didn’t take place. So, that’s not uncommon.
Also, there’s a tendency to treat looting as a way to dismiss legitimate organizing work, when, in fact, many people who are sort of seizing the moment — in this case, during an economic crisis with 40 million people applying for unemployment — as if somehow those kinds of attacks on property or appropriating property are themselves part of a movement or part of a wing of a movement. And we know that’s not the case at all.
What the question of looting does bring to fore are two things. One, what — it goes back to Mr. Floyd’s question: What is a Black man’s life worth? What is a Black person’s life worth? Is the destruction of property or taking things or taking sneakers or computers somehow more important than watching someone die on film, you know, watching the 5,000-some-odd people killed by the police over the last few years? I mean, what’s more important? And so, what’s the value of someone?
The second part of looting is it displaces the looting that is the history of the United States. We know that human bodies, that Black bodies, were looted — that’s how we got here — that Indigenous land was looting, seizing that land. We know that for years the housing market has been a kind of form of looting, in which the value of Black-owned homes have been suppressed, Black wages suppressed. The transfer of wealth is a kind of form of looting. But also, if you look at the history of race riots in America, most so-called race riots were basically pogroms, going back to Cincinnati in 1839, 1841, going back to a whole range of so-called race riots in Philadelphia. You mentioned Tulsa in the opening of the show, Tulsa, Oklahoma, which was a kind of looting — not a kind of looting, but you’re talking about destroying 35 blocks of Black-owned property and businesses worth millions of dollars, people going into people’s — white people going into homes, with the support of the police, taking Black people’s stuff, destroying and taking stuff. Tulsa, Oklahoma, East St. Louis in 1917 — we could talk about Rosewood in 1923. You know, there’s so many examples — Springfield, Illinois, in 1908. And some of that looting is also about taking political power.
And so, one last example I want to give is the most absurd. And that is, if you noticed, during George Floyd’s funeral, the New York Stock Exchange decided that it would go silent and not trade for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Now, what’s interesting about that is that — talk about looting — Wall Street has profited from police misconduct. I mean, to consider that, cities have been paying out billions to cover police misconduct lawsuits. When they can’t pay out the settlement, what do they do? They try regular tax revenue; they can’t afford it. They fleece the poor with more fees and fines, and they also borrow. And when cities and counties issue bonds to pay for the cost of police misconduct, which is in the billions of dollars, banks and other firms collect the fees for their services, investors earn interest, and then, using the bonds to cover the settlement, those bonds and up costing sometimes as much as 100% more than the original settlement. So, this is a transfer of wealth from overpoliced communities to Wall Street, which is called — or Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America. And this is what is called police brutality bonds.
AMY GOODMAN: Robin —
ROBIN D.G. KELLEY: There’s a great study of this. Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: Robin D.G. Kelley, we’re going to have to leave it there.
ROBIN D.G. KELLEY: OK, great.
AMY GOODMAN: But we have so much more to talk about with you, and we hope to have you back very soon. Robin Kelley is professor of African American studies at UCLA. He studies social movements, author of many books, including Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination. Thirty seconds, and then we go to Seattle.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: “Yes We Can Can” by The Pointer Sisters. Bonnie Pointer, the founding member of the group, died at the age of 69 earlier this week.


democracynow--2020-06-11--"He Didn't Deserve to Die Over $20": George Floyd's Brother Urges Congress to Stop Police Killings

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Nermeen Shaikh .
On Capitol Hill , the brother of George Floyd , whose killing at the hands of Minneapolis police officers has sparked a global uprising , demanded lawmakers take action to stop more deaths at the hands of police .
Philonise Floyd traveled to Washington , D.C. , to address the House Judiciary Committee in person , demanding they take action to stop more deaths .
I was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ video of his murder .
He called all the officers “ sir.
” He was mild-mannered .
He didn ’ t fight back .
He listened to all the officers .
The man who took his life , who suffocated him for eight minutes and 46 seconds , he still called him “ sir , ” as he begged for his life .
I can ’ t tell you the kind of pain you feel when you watch something like that , when you watch your big brother , who you looked up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — die begging for his mom ?
I ’ m tired .
I ’ m tired of pain , pain you feel when you watch something like that , when you watch your big brother , who you looked up to for your whole life , die , die begging for his mom .
I ’ m here to ask you to make it stop .
Stop the pain .
Stop us from being tired .
George called for help , and he was ignored .
Please listen to the call I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the calls of our family and the calls ringing out the streets across the world .
People of all backgrounds , genders and races have come together to demand change .
Honor them , honor George , and make the necessary changes that make law enforcement the solution and not the problem .
Hold them accountable when they do something wrong .
Teach them what it means to treat people with empathy and respect .
Teach them what necessary force is .
Teach them that deadly force should be used rarely and only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wasn ’ t hurting anyone that day .
He didn ’ t deserve to die over $ 20 .
I am asking you , “ Is that what a Black man is worth ?
Twenty dollars ?
” This is 2020 .
Enough is enough .
The people marching in the streets are telling you enough is enough .
By the leaders that are in our country , the world needs the right thing .
The people elected you to speak for them , to make positive change .
George ’ s name @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here today to make your names mean something , too .
If his death ends up changing the world for the better — and I think it will — then he died as he lived .
It is on you to make sure his death is not in vain .
I didn ’ t get the chance to say goodbye to Perry while he was here .
I was robbed of that .
But I know he ’ s looking down at us now .
Perry , look up at what you did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world .
Thank you for everything , for taking care of us when on Earth , for taking care of us now .
I hope you found Mama and you can rest in peace with power .
Thank you .
AMY GOODMAN : That ’ s Philonise Floyd , George Floyd ’ s brother , George Perry Floyd , known as Perry by his loved ones .
Philonise was testifying Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee as momentum for defunding the police grows amidst nationwide protests , global protests , over Floyd ’ @ @ @ @ @ @

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. On Capitol Hill, the brother of George Floyd, whose killing at the hands of Minneapolis police officers has sparked a global uprising, demanded lawmakers take action to stop more deaths at the hands of police. Philonise Floyd traveled to Washington, D.C., to address the House Judiciary Committee in person, demanding they take action to stop more deaths.
PHILONISE FLOYD: George always made sacrifices for our family, and he made sacrifices for complete strangers. He gave the little that he had to help others. He was our gentle giant.
I was reminded of that when I watched the video of his murder. He called all the officers “sir.” He was mild-mannered. He didn’t fight back. He listened to all the officers. The man who took his life, who suffocated him for eight minutes and 46 seconds, he still called him “sir,” as he begged for his life.
I can’t tell you the kind of pain you feel when you watch something like that, when you watch your big brother, who you looked up to your whole entire life, die — die begging for his mom? I’m tired. I’m tired of pain, pain you feel when you watch something like that, when you watch your big brother, who you looked up to for your whole life, die, die begging for his mom.
I’m here to ask you to make it stop. Stop the pain. Stop us from being tired. George called for help, and he was ignored. Please listen to the call I’m making to you now, to the calls of our family and the calls ringing out the streets across the world. People of all backgrounds, genders and races have come together to demand change. Honor them, honor George, and make the necessary changes that make law enforcement the solution and not the problem. Hold them accountable when they do something wrong. Teach them what it means to treat people with empathy and respect. Teach them what necessary force is. Teach them that deadly force should be used rarely and only when life is at risk.
George wasn’t hurting anyone that day. He didn’t deserve to die over $20. I am asking you, “Is that what a Black man is worth? Twenty dollars?” This is 2020. Enough is enough. The people marching in the streets are telling you enough is enough. By the leaders that are in our country, the world needs the right thing. The people elected you to speak for them, to make positive change. George’s name means something. You have the opportunity here today to make your names mean something, too. If his death ends up changing the world for the better — and I think it will — then he died as he lived. It is on you to make sure his death is not in vain.
I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to Perry while he was here. I was robbed of that. But I know he’s looking down at us now. Perry, look up at what you did. Big brother, you changed the world. Thank you for everything, for taking care of us when on Earth, for taking care of us now. I hope you found Mama and you can rest in peace with power. Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, George Perry Floyd, known as Perry by his loved ones. Philonise was testifying Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee as momentum for defunding the police grows amidst nationwide protests, global protests, over Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police.


democracynow--2020-06-11--U.S. Passes 2 Million Coronavirus Cases as States Lift Restrictions, Raising Fears of a Second Wave

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : I certainly look forward to the day you ’ re sitting here in the studio right next to me , but right now the numbers are grim .
The number of confirmed U.S. coronavirus cases has officially topped 2 million in the United States , the highest number in the world by far , but public health officials say the true number of infections is certain to be many times greater .
Officially , the U.S. death toll is nearing 113,000 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way higher , as well .
This comes as President Trump has announced plans to hold campaign rallies in several states that are battling new surges of infections , including Florida , Texas , North Carolina and Arizona — which saw cases rise from nearly 200 a day last month to more than 1,400 a day this week .
On Tuesday , the country ’ s top infectious disease expert , Dr. Anthony Fauci , called the coronavirus his worst nightmare .
AMY GOODMAN : This comes as Vice President Mike Pence tweeted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ himself on Wednesday greeting scores of Trump 2020 campaign staffers , all of whom were packed tightly together , indoors , wearing no masks , in contravention of CDC guidelines to stop the spread of the coronavirus .
Well , for more , we ’ re going directly to Dr. Craig Spencer , director of global health in emergency medicine at Columbia University Medical Center .
His recent piece in The Washington Post is headlined “ The strange new quiet in New York emergency rooms.
” Dr. Spencer , welcome back to Democracy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have you with this , though this day is a very painful one .
Cases in the United States have just topped 2 million , though that number is expected to be far higher , with the number of deaths at well over 113,000 , we believe , Harvard University predicting that that number could almost double by the end of September .
Dr. Craig Spencer , your thoughts on the reopening of this country and what these numbers mean ?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER : That ’ s a really good question .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ numbers , remember that very early on , in March , in April , when I was seeing this huge surge in New York City emergency departments , we weren ’ t testing .
We were testing people that were only being admitted to the hospital , so we were knowingly sending home , all across the epicenter , people that were undoubtedly infected with coronavirus , that are not included in that case total .
So you ’ re right : The likely number is much , much higher , maybe 5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In addition , we know that that ’ s true for the death count , as well .
This has become this political flashpoint , talking about how many people have died .
We know that it ’ s an incredible and incalculable toll , over 100,000 .
Within the next few days , we ’ ll have more people that have died from COVID than died during World War I here in the United States .
So that ’ s absolutely incredible .
We know that , also , just because New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across the country might not get as bad , but that doesn ’ t mean that they ’ re not bad .
So , we had this huge surge , of a bunch of deaths in New York City , you know , over 200,000 cases , tens of thousands of deaths .
What we ’ re seeing now is we ’ re seeing this virus continue to roll across this country , causing these localized outbreaks .
And this is , I think , going to be our reality , until we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take the actions necessary to stop this virus from spreading .
Opening up , like we ’ ve seen in Arizona and many other places , is exactly counter to what we need to be doing to keep this virus under control .
So , yeah , I worry that what we ’ ve seen so far is an undercount and what we ’ re seeing now is really just the beginning of another wave of infections spreading across the country .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Well , Dr. Spencer , I want to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the U.S. that cases have hit this dreadful milestone .
Worldwide , cases have now topped 7 million , although , like the U.S. , the number is likely to be much higher because of inadequate testing all over the world .
But I ’ d like to focus on the racial dimension of the impact of coronavirus , not just in the U.S. , but also worldwide .
Just as one example , in Brazil — and this is a really stunning statistic — that in Rio ’ s favelas , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states in Brazil combined .
So , could you talk about this , both in the context of the U.S. , and explain whether that is still the case , and what you expect in terms of this racial differential , how it will play out as this virus spreads ?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER : Absolutely .
What we ’ re seeing , not just in the United States , but all over the world , is coronavirus is amplifying these racial and ethnic inequities .
It is impacting disproportionately vulnerable and already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. , if you think about the fact , in New York City , the likelihood of dying from coronavirus was double if you ’ re Black or African American or Latino or Hispanic , double than what it was for white or Asian New Yorkers , so we already know that this disproportionate impact on already marginalized and vulnerable communities exists here in the United States , in the financial capital of the world .
It ’ s the same throughout the U.S. A lot of the data that we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as we ’ re getting this disaggregated data by race and ethnic background , is that it is hitting these communities much harder than it is hitting white and other communities in the United States .
The statistics that you give for Brazil are being played out all over the world .
We know that communities that already lack access to good healthcare or don ’ t have the same economic ability to stay home and participate in social distancing are being disproportionately impacted .
That is why we need to focus on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health messaging and in our public health efforts , to think about those communities that are already on the margins , that are already vulnerable , that are already suffering from chronic health conditions that may make them more likely to get infected with and die from this disease .
We need to think about that as part of our response , not just in New York , not just in the U.S. , but in Brazil , in Peru , in Ecuador , in South Africa , in many other countries , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of cases coming from now .
We ’ re seeing — you know , I think it was just pointed out that three-quarters of all the new cases , the record-high cases , over 136,000 this past weekend on one day , three-quarters of those are coming from just 10 countries .
And we know that that will continue , and it will burn through those countries and will continue through many more .
As of right now , we haven ’ t seen huge numbers in places like West Africa and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many people were concerned about initially .
Part of that is because they have in place a lot of the tools from previous outbreaks , especially in West Africa around Ebola .
But it may be that we need more testing .
It may be that we ’ re still waiting to see the big increase in cases that may eventually hit there , as well .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Dr. Spencer , you mentioned that on Sunday — it was Sunday where there were 136,000 new infections , which was a first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus began .
But even as the virus is spreading , much like states opening in the U.S. , countries are also starting to reopen around the world , including countries that have now among the highest outbreaks .
Brazil is now second only to the U.S. in the number of infections , and Russia is third , and these countries are opening , along with India and so on .
So , could you — I mean , there are various reasons that countries are opening .
A lot of them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people are not able to survive as long as the country is closed , like , in fact , Brazil and India .
So what are the steps that countries can take to reopen safely ?
What is necessary to arrest the spread of the virus and allow people at the same time to be out ?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER : It ’ s tough , because we know that this virus can not infect you if this virus does not find you .
If there ’ s going to be people in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in India or Illinois , this virus will pass and will infect you .
I have a lot of concern , much as you pointed out , places like India , 1.3 billion people , where they ’ re starting to open up after a longer period of being locked down , and case numbers are steadily increasing .
You ’ re right that a lot of people around the world don ’ t have access to multitrillion-dollar stimulus plans like we do in the United States , the ability to provide at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people are being forced at home .
Many people , if they don ’ t go outside , don ’ t eat .
If they don ’ t work , you know , their families can ’ t pay rent or really just can ’ t live .
What do we do ?
We rely on the exact same tools that we should be relying on here , which is good public health principles .
You need to be able to locate those people who are sick , isolate them , remove them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do contact tracing to see who they potentially have exposed .
Otherwise , we ’ re going to continue to have people circulating with this virus that can continue to infect other people .
It ’ s much harder in places where people may not have access to a phone or may not have an address or may not have the same infrastructure that we have here in the United States .
But it ’ s absolutely possible .
We ’ ve done this with smallpox eradication decades ago .
We need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bread-and-butter , basic public health work all around the world .
But that takes a lot of commitment , it takes a lot of money , and it takes a lot of time .
AMY GOODMAN : It looks like President Trump is reading the rules and just doing the opposite — I mean , everything from pulling out of the World Health Organization , which — and if you could talk about the significance of this ?
You ’ re a world health expert .
You yourself survived Ebola after working in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here at home , I mean , pulling out of Charlotte , the Republican convention , because the governor wouldn ’ t agree to no social distancing , and he didn ’ t want those that came to the convention to wear masks .
If you can talk about the significance , what might seem trite to some people , but what exactly masks do ?
And also , in this country , the states we see that have relaxed so much — he might move , announce tomorrow , the convention to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
There ’ s surges in Arizona , extremely desperate question of whether a lockdown will be reimposed there .
What has to happen ?
What exactly , when we say testing , should be available ?
And do you have enough masks even where you work ?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER : Great .
Yes .
So , let me answer each of those .
I think , first , on the World Health Organization , and really the rhetoric that is coming from the White House , it needs to be one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are not going to beat this alone .
I think that that ’ s been proven .
This idea of American exceptionalism now is only true in that we have the most cases of anywhere in the world .
We are not going to beat this alone .
No country is going to beat this alone .
As Dr. Fauci said , this is his worst nightmare .
It ’ s my worst nightmare , as well .
This is a virus that was first discovered just months ago , and has now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need organizations like the World Health Organization , even if it isn ’ t perfect .
And I ’ ve had qualms with it in the past .
I ’ ve written about it , I ’ ve spoken about it , about the response as part of the West Africa Ebola outbreak that I witnessed firsthand .
But at the end of the day , they do really , really good work , and they do the work that other organizations , including the United States , are not doing around the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So , we absolutely , despite their imperfections , need to further invest and support them .
In terms of masks , masks may be , in addition to social distancing , one of the few things that really , really helps us and has proven to decrease transmission .
We know that if a significant proportion of society — you know , 60 , 70 , 80 % of people — are wearing masks , that will significantly decrease the amount of transmission and can prevent this virus from spreading very rapidly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I think , in the United States right now , we should consider the whole country as a hot zone .
And the risk of transmission being very high , regardless of whether you ’ re in New York or North Dakota , people should be wearing a mask when they ’ re going outside and when they ’ re interacting with others that they generally don ’ t interact with .
We know the science is good .
I will say that from a public health perspective , there was some initial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , some confusion early on about whether people should be using masks .
We didn ’ t have a lot of the science to know whether it would help .
We do now .
And thankfully , we ’ re changing our recommendations .
We also were concerned about the availability of masks early on .
As you mentioned , there was questions around availability of personal protective equipment , whether we had enough in hospitals to provide care while keeping providers safe .
It ’ s better now , but there are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saying that they ’ re reusing masks , that we still need more personal protective equipment .
So , for the moment , everyone should be wearing a mask .
AMY GOODMAN : And for the protests outside ?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER : Absolutely .
Yeah , of course .
Just because I think we have personal passions around public health crises , that doesn ’ t prevent us from being infected .
From a public health perspective , of course I have concerns that people who are close and are yelling and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ masks , if that ’ s all the case , it ’ s certainly an environment where the coronavirus could spread .
So , what I ’ ve been telling everyone that ’ s protesting is exercise your right to protest — I think that ’ s great — but be safe .
We are in a pandemic .
We ’ re in a public health emergency .
Wear a mask .
Socially distance as much as you possibly can .
Wash your hands .
AMY GOODMAN : And are you telling the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protesters ?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER : I mean , well , one , it ’ s illegal .
You should definitely stop tear-gassing .
We know that what happens when people get tear-gassed is they cough , and it increases the secretions , which increases the risk .
It increases the transmissibility of this virus .
In addition to that , you know , holding people and arresting them and putting them into small cells with others without masks is also , as we ’ ve seen from this huge number of cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jails , in prisons , the number of cases have been extremely high in those places .
Putting people into holding cells for a prolonged period of time is not going to help ; it ’ s definitely going to increase the transmissibility of this virus .
So , yes , everyone should be wearing a mask .
I think everyone should have a mask on when you ’ re anywhere that your interacting with others can potentially spread this .
I think your other question was around testing .
We know that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. Is it adequate ?
No , I don ’ t think so .
I know I hear from a lot of people who say they still have to drive two to three hours to get a test .
We still have questions around the reliability of some of serology tests , or the antibody tests .
Those are the tests that will tell you whether or not you ’ ve been previously exposed and now have antibodies to the disease .
Some of the more readily available tests just aren ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we can ’ t use them yet to make really widespread decisions on who might have antibodies , who might have protection and who can maybe more safely go back into society without the fear of being infected .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Dr. Spencer , we just have 30 seconds .
Very quickly , there are 135 vaccines in development .
What ’ s your prognosis ?
When will there be a vaccine or a drug treatment ?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER : We have one drug that shortens the time that people are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the impact on mortality .
There are other treatments that are in process now .
Hopefully some of them work .
In terms of vaccines , we will have a vaccine , very likely , that we know is effective , probably at some time later this year .
The bigger process is going to be how do we scale it up to make hundreds of millions of doses ; how do we do it in a way that we can get it to all of the people that deserve it , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for it .
I think these are going to be some of the bigger questions and bigger problems that we ’ re going to face , going forward .
But I ’ m optimistic that we ’ ll have a vaccine or many vaccines , hopefully , in the next year .
AMY GOODMAN : Dr. Craig Spencer , we want to thank you so much for being with us , director of global health in emergency medicine at Columbia University Medical Center .
And thank you so much for your work as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s recent piece , we ’ ll link to at democracynow.org .
It ’ s in The Washington Post , headlined “ The strange new quiet in New York emergency rooms.
” When we come back , George Floyd ’ s brother testifies before Congress , a day after he laid his brother to rest .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: I certainly look forward to the day you’re sitting here in the studio right next to me, but right now the numbers are grim. The number of confirmed U.S. coronavirus cases has officially topped 2 million in the United States, the highest number in the world by far, but public health officials say the true number of infections is certain to be many times greater. Officially, the U.S. death toll is nearing 113,000, but that number is expected to be way higher, as well.
This comes as President Trump has announced plans to hold campaign rallies in several states that are battling new surges of infections, including Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Arizona — which saw cases rise from nearly 200 a day last month to more than 1,400 a day this week.
On Tuesday, the country’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, called the coronavirus his worst nightmare.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Now we have something that indeed turned out to be my worst nightmare: something that’s highly transmissible, and in a period — if you just think about it — in a period of four months, it has devastated the world. … And it isn’t over yet.
AMY GOODMAN: This comes as Vice President Mike Pence tweeted — then deleted — a photo of himself on Wednesday greeting scores of Trump 2020 campaign staffers, all of whom were packed tightly together, indoors, wearing no masks, in contravention of CDC guidelines to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Well, for more, we’re going directly to Dr. Craig Spencer, director of global health in emergency medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. His recent piece in The Washington Post is headlined “The strange new quiet in New York emergency rooms.”
Dr. Spencer, welcome back to Democracy Now! It’s great to have you with this, though this day is a very painful one. Cases in the United States have just topped 2 million, though that number is expected to be far higher, with the number of deaths at well over 113,000, we believe, Harvard University predicting that that number could almost double by the end of September. Dr. Craig Spencer, your thoughts on the reopening of this country and what these numbers mean?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER: That’s a really good question. So, when you think about those numbers, remember that very early on, in March, in April, when I was seeing this huge surge in New York City emergency departments, we weren’t testing. We were testing people that were only being admitted to the hospital, so we were knowingly sending home, all across the epicenter, people that were undoubtedly infected with coronavirus, that are not included in that case total. So you’re right: The likely number is much, much higher, maybe 5, 10 times higher than that.
In addition, we know that that’s true for the death count, as well. This has become this political flashpoint, talking about how many people have died. We know that it’s an incredible and incalculable toll, over 100,000. Within the next few days, we’ll have more people that have died from COVID than died during World War I here in the United States. So that’s absolutely incredible.
We know that, also, just because New York City was bad, other places across the country might not get as bad, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not bad. So, we had this huge surge, of a bunch of deaths in New York City, you know, over 200,000 cases, tens of thousands of deaths. What we’re seeing now is we’re seeing this virus continue to roll across this country, causing these localized outbreaks.
And this is, I think, going to be our reality, until we take this serious, until we actually take the actions necessary to stop this virus from spreading. Opening up, like we’ve seen in Arizona and many other places, is exactly counter to what we need to be doing to keep this virus under control. So, yeah, I worry that what we’ve seen so far is an undercount and what we’re seeing now is really just the beginning of another wave of infections spreading across the country.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Dr. Spencer, I want to ask — it’s not just in the U.S. that cases have hit this dreadful milestone. Worldwide, cases have now topped 7 million, although, like the U.S., the number is likely to be much higher because of inadequate testing all over the world. But I’d like to focus on the racial dimension of the impact of coronavirus, not just in the U.S., but also worldwide. Just as one example, in Brazil — and this is a really stunning statistic — that in Rio’s favelas, more people have died than in 15 states in Brazil combined. So, could you talk about this, both in the context of the U.S., and explain whether that is still the case, and what you expect in terms of this racial differential, how it will play out as this virus spreads?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER: Absolutely. What we’re seeing, not just in the United States, but all over the world, is coronavirus is amplifying these racial and ethnic inequities. It is impacting disproportionately vulnerable and already marginalized populations.
Starting here in the U.S., if you think about the fact, in New York City, the likelihood of dying from coronavirus was double if you’re Black or African American or Latino or Hispanic, double than what it was for white or Asian New Yorkers, so we already know that this disproportionate impact on already marginalized and vulnerable communities exists here in the United States, in the financial capital of the world. It’s the same throughout the U.S. A lot of the data that we’re seeing over the past few days, as we’re getting this disaggregated data by race and ethnic background, is that it is hitting these communities much harder than it is hitting white and other communities in the United States.
The statistics that you give for Brazil are being played out all over the world. We know that communities that already lack access to good healthcare or don’t have the same economic ability to stay home and participate in social distancing are being disproportionately impacted.
That is why we need to focus on and think about, in our public health messaging and in our public health efforts, to think about those communities that are already on the margins, that are already vulnerable, that are already suffering from chronic health conditions that may make them more likely to get infected with and die from this disease. We need to think about that as part of our response, not just in New York, not just in the U.S., but in Brazil, in Peru, in Ecuador, in South Africa, in many other countries, where we’re seeing the disproportionate number of cases coming from now.
We’re seeing — you know, I think it was just pointed out that three-quarters of all the new cases, the record-high cases, over 136,000 this past weekend on one day, three-quarters of those are coming from just 10 countries. And we know that that will continue, and it will burn through those countries and will continue through many more.
As of right now, we haven’t seen huge numbers in places like West Africa and East Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, where many people were concerned about initially. Part of that is because they have in place a lot of the tools from previous outbreaks, especially in West Africa around Ebola. But it may be that we need more testing. It may be that we’re still waiting to see the big increase in cases that may eventually hit there, as well.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Dr. Spencer, you mentioned that on Sunday — it was Sunday where there were 136,000 new infections, which was a first. It was the highest number since the virus began. But even as the virus is spreading, much like states opening in the U.S., countries are also starting to reopen around the world, including countries that have now among the highest outbreaks. Brazil is now second only to the U.S. in the number of infections, and Russia is third, and these countries are opening, along with India and so on. So, could you — I mean, there are various reasons that countries are opening. A lot of them are not able — large numbers of people are not able to survive as long as the country is closed, like, in fact, Brazil and India. So what are the steps that countries can take to reopen safely? What is necessary to arrest the spread of the virus and allow people at the same time to be out?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER: It’s tough, because we know that this virus cannot infect you if this virus does not find you. If there’s going to be people in close proximity, whether it’s in India or Illinois, this virus will pass and will infect you. I have a lot of concern, much as you pointed out, places like India, 1.3 billion people, where they’re starting to open up after a longer period of being locked down, and case numbers are steadily increasing.
You’re right that a lot of people around the world don’t have access to multitrillion-dollar stimulus plans like we do in the United States, the ability to provide at least some sustenance during this time that people are being forced at home. Many people, if they don’t go outside, don’t eat. If they don’t work, you know, their families can’t pay rent or really just can’t live.
What do we do? We rely on the exact same tools that we should be relying on here, which is good public health principles. You need to be able to locate those people who are sick, isolate them, remove them from the community, and try to do contact tracing to see who they potentially have exposed. Otherwise, we’re going to continue to have people circulating with this virus that can continue to infect other people.
It’s much harder in places where people may not have access to a phone or may not have an address or may not have the same infrastructure that we have here in the United States. But it’s absolutely possible. We’ve done this with smallpox eradication decades ago. We need to be doing this good, simple, bread-and-butter, basic public health work all around the world. But that takes a lot of commitment, it takes a lot of money, and it takes a lot of time.
AMY GOODMAN: It looks like President Trump is reading the rules and just doing the opposite — I mean, everything from pulling out of the World Health Organization, which — and if you could talk about the significance of this? You’re a world health expert. You yourself survived Ebola after working in Africa around that disease. And also here at home, I mean, pulling out of Charlotte, the Republican convention, because the governor wouldn’t agree to no social distancing, and he didn’t want those that came to the convention to wear masks. If you can talk about the significance, what might seem trite to some people, but what exactly masks do? And also, in this country, the states we see that have relaxed so much — he might move, announce tomorrow, the convention to Florida. There’s surges there. There’s surges in Arizona, extremely desperate question of whether a lockdown will be reimposed there. What has to happen? What exactly, when we say testing, should be available? And do you have enough masks even where you work?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER: Great. Yes. So, let me answer each of those. I think, first, on the World Health Organization, and really the rhetoric that is coming from the White House, it needs to be one of global solidarity right now. We are not going to beat this alone. I think that that’s been proven. This idea of American exceptionalism now is only true in that we have the most cases of anywhere in the world. We are not going to beat this alone. No country is going to beat this alone. As Dr. Fauci said, this is his worst nightmare. It’s my worst nightmare, as well. This is a virus that was first discovered just months ago, and has now really taken over the world. We need organizations like the World Health Organization, even if it isn’t perfect. And I’ve had qualms with it in the past. I’ve written about it, I’ve spoken about it, about the response as part of the West Africa Ebola outbreak that I witnessed firsthand. But at the end of the day, they do really, really good work, and they do the work that other organizations, including the United States, are not doing around the world, and that protects us. So, we absolutely, despite their imperfections, need to further invest and support them.
In terms of masks, masks may be, in addition to social distancing, one of the few things that really, really helps us and has proven to decrease transmission. We know that if a significant proportion of society — you know, 60, 70, 80% of people — are wearing masks, that will significantly decrease the amount of transmission and can prevent this virus from spreading very rapidly. Everyone should be wearing masks. I think, in the United States right now, we should consider the whole country as a hot zone. And the risk of transmission being very high, regardless of whether you’re in New York or North Dakota, people should be wearing a mask when they’re going outside and when they’re interacting with others that they generally don’t interact with.
We know the science is good. I will say that from a public health perspective, there was some initial reluctance and, really, I guess, some confusion early on about whether people should be using masks. We didn’t have a lot of the science to know whether it would help. We do now. And thankfully, we’re changing our recommendations.
We also were concerned about the availability of masks early on. As you mentioned, there was questions around availability of personal protective equipment, whether we had enough in hospitals to provide care while keeping providers safe. It’s better now, but there are still a lot of people who are saying that they’re reusing masks, that we still need more personal protective equipment. So, for the moment, everyone should be wearing a mask.
AMY GOODMAN: And for the protests outside?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER: Absolutely. Yeah, of course. Just because I think we have personal passions around public health crises, that doesn’t prevent us from being infected. From a public health perspective, of course I have concerns that people who are close and are yelling and are being tear-gassed and are not wearing masks, if that’s all the case, it’s certainly an environment where the coronavirus could spread.
So, what I’ve been telling everyone that’s protesting is exercise your right to protest — I think that’s great — but be safe. We are in a pandemic. We’re in a public health emergency. Wear a mask. Socially distance as much as you possibly can. Wash your hands.
AMY GOODMAN: And are you telling the authorities to stop tear-gassing and pepper-spraying the protesters?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER: I mean, well, one, it’s illegal. You should definitely stop tear-gassing. We know that what happens when people get tear-gassed is they cough, and it increases the secretions, which increases the risk. It increases the transmissibility of this virus.
In addition to that, you know, holding people and arresting them and putting them into small cells with others without masks is also, as we’ve seen from this huge number of cases in places like meatpacking plants or in jails, in prisons, the number of cases have been extremely high in those places. Putting people into holding cells for a prolonged period of time is not going to help; it’s definitely going to increase the transmissibility of this virus.
So, yes, everyone should be wearing a mask. I think everyone should have a mask on when you’re anywhere that your interacting with others can potentially spread this.
I think your other question was around testing. We know that right now testing has significantly increased in the U.S. Is it adequate? No, I don’t think so. I know I hear from a lot of people who say they still have to drive two to three hours to get a test. We still have questions around the reliability of some of serology tests, or the antibody tests. Those are the tests that will tell you whether or not you’ve been previously exposed and now have antibodies to the disease. Some of the more readily available tests just aren’t that great. And so, we can’t use them yet to make really widespread decisions on who might have antibodies, who might have protection and who can maybe more safely go back into society without the fear of being infected.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Dr. Spencer, we just have 30 seconds. Very quickly, there are 135 vaccines in development. What’s your prognosis? When will there be a vaccine or a drug treatment?
DR. CRAIG SPENCER: We have one drug that shortens the time that people are sick. We don’t know about the impact on mortality. There are other treatments that are in process now. Hopefully some of them work.
In terms of vaccines, we will have a vaccine, very likely, that we know is effective, probably at some time later this year. The bigger process is going to be how do we scale it up to make hundreds of millions of doses; how do we do it in a way that we can get it to all of the people that deserve it, not just the people that can pay for it. I think these are going to be some of the bigger questions and bigger problems that we’re going to face, going forward. But I’m optimistic that we’ll have a vaccine or many vaccines, hopefully, in the next year.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Craig Spencer, we want to thank you so much for being with us, director of global health in emergency medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. And thank you so much for your work as an essential worker. Dr. Spencer’s recent piece, we’ll link to at democracynow.org. It’s in The Washington Post, headlined “The strange new quiet in New York emergency rooms.”
When we come back, George Floyd’s brother testifies before Congress, a day after he laid his brother to rest. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-06-11--Headlines for June 11, 2020

Headlines for June 11, 2020

The number of confirmed U.S. coronavirus cases has officially topped 2 million , the highest number in the world by @ @ @ @ @ officials say the true number of infections is certain to be many times greater .
@ @ @ @ @ toll is nearing 113,000 , and at least 12 states are reporting an increase in @ @ @ @ @ , which lifted its stay-at-home order on May 15 , more than three-quarters of the @ @ @ @ @ units are filled amid a spike in COVID-19 patients .
Public health officials are urging @ @ @ @ @ warning the governor to immediately prepare field hospitals to handle a coming flood of new @ @

The number of confirmed U.S. coronavirus cases has officially topped 2 million, the highest number in the world by far — but public health officials say the true number of infections is certain to be many times greater. Officially, the U.S. death toll is nearing 113,000, and at least 12 states are reporting an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
In Arizona, which lifted its stay-at-home order on May 15, more than three-quarters of the state’s intensive care units are filled amid a spike in COVID-19 patients. Public health officials are urging new social distancing measures and warning the governor to immediately prepare field hospitals to handle a coming flood of new patients.


democracynow--2020-06-12--Angela Davis: Dems & GOP Tied to Corporate Capitalism, But We Must Vote So Trump Is "Forever Ousted"

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : We only have two minutes , and I want to get to the election .
When I interviewed you in 2016 , you said you wouldn ’ t support either main-party candidate at the time .
What are your thoughts today for 2020 ?
ANGELA DAVIS : Well , my position really hasn ’ t changed .
I ’ m not going to actually support either of the major candidates .
But I do think we have to participate in the election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t to say that I won ’ t vote for the Democratic candidate .
What I ’ m saying is that in our electoral system as it exists , neither party represents the future that we need in this country .
Both parties remain connected to corporate capitalism .
But the election will not so much be about who gets to lead the country to a better future , but rather how we can support ourselves and our own ability to continue to organize and place pressure on those in power .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a question about which candidate would allow that process to unfold .
So I think that we ’ re going to have to translate some of the passion that has characterized these demonstrations into work within the electoral arena , recognizing that the electoral arena is not the best place for the expression of radical politics .
But if we want to continue this work , we certainly need a person in office who will be more amenable to our mass pressure .
And to me , that is the only thing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But we have to persuade people to go out and vote to guarantee that the current occupant of the White House is forever ousted .
AMY GOODMAN : Angela Davis , I want to thank you so much for this hour , world-renowned abolitionist , author , activist , professor emerita at the University of California , Santa Cruz , author of many books , including Freedom Is a Constant Struggle : Ferguson , Palestine , and the Foundations of a Movement .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
Thanks so much @ @ @ @ @ @ @

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We only have two minutes, and I want to get to the election. When I interviewed you in 2016, you said you wouldn’t support either main-party candidate at the time. What are your thoughts today for 2020?
ANGELA DAVIS: Well, my position really hasn’t changed. I’m not going to actually support either of the major candidates. But I do think we have to participate in the election. I mean, that isn’t to say that I won’t vote for the Democratic candidate. What I’m saying is that in our electoral system as it exists, neither party represents the future that we need in this country. Both parties remain connected to corporate capitalism. But the election will not so much be about who gets to lead the country to a better future, but rather how we can support ourselves and our own ability to continue to organize and place pressure on those in power. And I don’t think there’s a question about which candidate would allow that process to unfold.
So I think that we’re going to have to translate some of the passion that has characterized these demonstrations into work within the electoral arena, recognizing that the electoral arena is not the best place for the expression of radical politics. But if we want to continue this work, we certainly need a person in office who will be more amenable to our mass pressure. And to me, that is the only thing that someone like a Joe Biden represents. But we have to persuade people to go out and vote to guarantee that the current occupant of the White House is forever ousted.
AMY GOODMAN: Angela Davis, I want to thank you so much for this hour, world-renowned abolitionist, author, activist, professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz, author of many books, including Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us. Stay safe.


democracynow--2020-06-12--Angela Davis Slams Trump Rally in Tulsa, Massacre Site, on Juneteenth Celebration of End of Slavery

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , as we spend the hour with the legendary activist , scholar , Angela Davis , professor emerita at University of California , Santa Cruz .
President Trump has announced he ’ s holding his first campaign rally since the quarantine , since lockdowns across the country , since the pandemic .
He ’ s holding it in Tulsa , Oklahoma , on June 19th — a highly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 1865 , that enslaved Africans in Texas first learned they were free , two years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation .
The day is now celebrated as Juneteenth .
California Senator Kamala Harris tweeted in response , “ This isn ’ t just a wink to white supremacists — he ’ s throwing them a welcome home party , ” unquote .
Well , Tulsa recently marked the 99th anniversary of one of the deadliest mass killings of African Americans in U.S. history .
In 1921 , a white mob @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most of them Black , after a Black man was accused of assaulting a white woman .
The white mobs destroyed a thriving African American business district known at the time as the Black Wall Street of America .
Well , this all comes as a Tulsa police major is coming under fire after denying systemic racism in the police force there and saying African Americans probably should be shot more .
Listen carefully .
This is Major Travis Yates in an interview with KFAQ .
AMY GOODMAN : “ We ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be ” ?
Tulsa ’ s mayor and police chief have both blasted Yates for the comment , but he remains on the force .
And on Friday , President Trump will be there .
Angela Davis , your thoughts on the significance of the moment , the place ?
ANGELA DAVIS : Well , that ’ s — well , you know , I can ’ t even respond to anything he does anymore .
It ’ s just so , so , so , so ridiculous .
And it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he represents a sector of the population in this country that wants to return to the past — “ Make America great again ” — with all of its white supremacy , with all of its misogyny .
And I think that at this moment we are recognizing that we can not be held back by such forces as those represented by the current occupant of the White House .
I doubt very seriously whether the people who come out to hear him in Tulsa on this historic day — of course , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ African descent will be observing Juneteenth as an emancipatory moment in our history .
But I think that our role is to start to begin to translate some of the energy and passion into transforming institutions .
The process has already begun , and it can ’ t be turned back , at least not by the current occupant of the White House .
I ’ m not suggesting that it ’ s easy to create lasting change , but at least now we can see that it is possible .
When someone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ matter , ” even though he did not mention Colin Kaepernick , and even though he may have — he probably did not really mean it , what that means is that the NFL recognizes that it has to begin a new process , that there is a further expansion of popular consciousness .
In New York , of course , you need to ask whether you really want to create new jails in the boroughs in the aftermath of closing Rikers , or whether you need new services .
You know , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case of Jussie Smollett , and I ’ m wondering why — in Chicago , given the conditions surrounding the murder of Laquan McDonald , the police department should be thoroughly investigated .
And we need to ask : How is it that the public could so easily be rallied to the police narrative of what happened in the case of Jussie Smollett ?
So , there is so much to be done .
And I think that the rallies that the current occupant of the White House is holding will fade into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in history .
AMY GOODMAN : Angela Davis , I wanted to ask you about another event that ’ s taking place on Juneteenth , on June 19th .
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is finally going to issue you the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Award during a virtual event on Juneteenth .
And I wanted to ask you about this , because you returned to your hometown of Birmingham , Alabama , last February after the institute had at first rescinded the award due to your support for BDS — Boycott , Divestment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Palestinians .
After outcry , the institute reversed its decision .
More than 3,000 people gathered to see you talk at an alternative event to honor you , which was hosted by the Birmingham Committee for Truth and Reconciliation .
This is a clip of your comments that day .
AMY GOODMAN : We were there covering this amazing moment , where the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute had rescinded the award to you , the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Award , went through enormous turmoil .
The mayor of Birmingham , so many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it , but then this process happened , and you are going to be awarded this .
Can you talk about the significance of this moment ?
And what do you plan to say on Juneteenth , the day that President Trump will be in Tulsa ?
ANGELA DAVIS : Well , thank you for reminding me that these two events are happening on the same day .
And , of course , that was , I think , the last time I actually saw you in person , Amy , in Birmingham @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last period , including within the context of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute .
They have completely reorganized .
They have reorganized their board .
They have been involved in conversations with the community .
Of course , as you know , the mayor of Birmingham was threatening to withdraw funding from the institute .
There was a generalized uprising in the Black community .
And , you know , while at first it was a total shock to me that they offered this award to me , and then they rescinded it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that was an important moment , because it encouraged people to think about the meaning of human rights and why is it that Palestinians could be excluded from the process of working toward human rights .
Palestinian activists have long supported Black people ’ s struggle against racism .
When I was in jail , solidarity coming from Palestine was a major source of courage for me .
In Ferguson , Palestinians were the first to express international solidarity .
And there has been this very important connection between the two struggles for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ m going to be really happy to receive the award , which now represents a rethinking of the rather backward position that the institute assumed , that Palestinians could be excluded from the circle of those working toward a future of justice , equality and human rights .
AMY GOODMAN : Speaking about what ’ s going on in the West Bank right now and about the whole issue of international solidarity , the global response to the killing of George Floyd .
In the occupied West Bank , protesters denounced Floyd ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iyad el-Hallak , a 32-year-old Palestinian special needs student who was shot to death by Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem .
He was reportedly chanting “ Black lives matter ” and “ Palestinian lives matter , ” when Israeli police gunned him down , claiming he was armed .
These links that you ’ re seeing , not only in Palestine and the United States , but around the world , the kind of global response , the tens of thousands of people who marched in Spain , who marched in England @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all over the world , as this touches a chord and they make demands in their own countries , not only in solidarity with what ’ s happening in the United States ?
And then I want to ask you about the U.S. election that ’ s coming up in November .
ANGELA DAVIS : Well , yes , Palestinian activists have long supported Black people ’ s struggle against racism , as I pointed out .
And I ’ m hoping that today ’ s young activists recognize how important Palestinian solidarity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that they recognize that we have a profound responsibility to support Palestinian struggles , as well .
I think it ’ s also important for us to look in the direction of Brazil , whose current political leader competes with our current political leader in many dangerous ways , I would say .
Brazil — if we think we have a problem with racist police violence in the United States of America , look at Brazil .
Marielle Franco was assassinated because she was challenging the militarization of the police and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4,000 people were killed last year alone by the police in Brazil .
So , I ’ m saying this because — AMY GOODMAN : And , of course , the president of Brazil , a close ally of President Trump .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman, as we spend the hour with the legendary activist, scholar, Angela Davis, professor emerita at University of California, Santa Cruz.
President Trump has announced he’s holding his first campaign rally since the quarantine, since lockdowns across the country, since the pandemic. He’s holding it in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 19th — a highly symbolic day. It was June 19, 1865, that enslaved Africans in Texas first learned they were free, two years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The day is now celebrated as Juneteenth. California Senator Kamala Harris tweeted in response, “This isn’t just a wink to white supremacists — he’s throwing them a welcome home party,” unquote.
Well, Tulsa recently marked the 99th anniversary of one of the deadliest mass killings of African Americans in U.S. history. In 1921, a white mob killed as many as 300 people, most of them Black, after a Black man was accused of assaulting a white woman. The white mobs destroyed a thriving African American business district known at the time as the Black Wall Street of America.
Well, this all comes as a Tulsa police major is coming under fire after denying systemic racism in the police force there and saying African Americans probably should be shot more. Listen carefully. This is Major Travis Yates in an interview with KFAQ.
MAJ. TRAVIS YATES: If a certain group is committing more crimes, more violent crimes, then that number is going to be higher. Who in the world in their right mind would think that our shootings should be right along the U.S. census line? All of the research says we’re shooting African Americans about 24% less than we probably ought to be, based on the crimes being committed.
AMY GOODMAN: “We’re shooting them less than they probably ought to be”? Tulsa’s mayor and police chief have both blasted Yates for the comment, but he remains on the force. And on Friday, President Trump will be there. Angela Davis, your thoughts on the significance of the moment, the place?
ANGELA DAVIS: Well, that’s — well, you know, I can’t even respond to anything he does anymore. It’s just so, so, so, so ridiculous. And it is, however, important to recognize that he represents a sector of the population in this country that wants to return to the past — “Make America great again” — with all of its white supremacy, with all of its misogyny. And I think that at this moment we are recognizing that we cannot be held back by such forces as those represented by the current occupant of the White House. I doubt very seriously whether the people who come out to hear him in Tulsa on this historic day — of course, all over the country, people of African descent will be observing Juneteenth as an emancipatory moment in our history.
But I think that our role is to start to begin to translate some of the energy and passion into transforming institutions. The process has already begun, and it can’t be turned back, at least not by the current occupant of the White House. I’m not suggesting that it’s easy to create lasting change, but at least now we can see that it is possible. When someone like Roger Goodell says “Black lives matter,” even though he did not mention Colin Kaepernick, and even though he may have — he probably did not really mean it, what that means is that the NFL recognizes that it has to begin a new process, that there is a further expansion of popular consciousness.
In New York, of course, you need to ask whether you really want to create new jails in the boroughs in the aftermath of closing Rikers, or whether you need new services. You know, I’ve been thinking about the case of Jussie Smollett, and I’m wondering why — in Chicago, given the conditions surrounding the murder of Laquan McDonald, the police department should be thoroughly investigated. And we need to ask: How is it that the public could so easily be rallied to the police narrative of what happened in the case of Jussie Smollett?
So, there is so much to be done. And I think that the rallies that the current occupant of the White House is holding will fade into — don’t even merit footnotes in history.
AMY GOODMAN: Angela Davis, I wanted to ask you about another event that’s taking place on Juneteenth, on June 19th. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is finally going to issue you the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Award during a virtual event on Juneteenth. And I wanted to ask you about this, because you returned to your hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, last February after the institute had at first rescinded the award due to your support for BDS — Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement — and your support of Palestinians. After outcry, the institute reversed its decision. More than 3,000 people gathered to see you talk at an alternative event to honor you, which was hosted by the Birmingham Committee for Truth and Reconciliation. This is a clip of your comments that day.
ANGELA DAVIS: It became clear to me that this might actually be a teachable moment.
IMANI PERRY: Yes.
ANGELA DAVIS: … That we might seize this moment to reflect on what it means to live on this planet in the 21st century and our responsibilities not only to people in our immediate community, but to people all over the planet.
AMY GOODMAN: We were there covering this amazing moment, where the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute had rescinded the award to you, the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Award, went through enormous turmoil. The mayor of Birmingham, so many people across the spectrum criticized them for it, but then this process happened, and you are going to be awarded this. Can you talk about the significance of this moment? And what do you plan to say on Juneteenth, the day that President Trump will be in Tulsa?
ANGELA DAVIS: Well, thank you for reminding me that these two events are happening on the same day. And, of course, that was, I think, the last time I actually saw you in person, Amy, in Birmingham. A lot has happened over the last period, including within the context of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. They have completely reorganized. They have reorganized their board. They have been involved in conversations with the community. Of course, as you know, the mayor of Birmingham was threatening to withdraw funding from the institute. There was a generalized uprising in the Black community.
And, you know, while at first it was a total shock to me that they offered this award to me, and then they rescinded it, I’m realizing now that that was an important moment, because it encouraged people to think about the meaning of human rights and why is it that Palestinians could be excluded from the process of working toward human rights. Palestinian activists have long supported Black people’s struggle against racism. When I was in jail, solidarity coming from Palestine was a major source of courage for me. In Ferguson, Palestinians were the first to express international solidarity. And there has been this very important connection between the two struggles for many decades, so that I’m going to be really happy to receive the award, which now represents a rethinking of the rather backward position that the institute assumed, that Palestinians could be excluded from the circle of those working toward a future of justice, equality and human rights.
AMY GOODMAN: Speaking about what’s going on in the West Bank right now and about the whole issue of international solidarity, the global response to the killing of George Floyd. In the occupied West Bank, protesters denounced Floyd’s murder and the recent killing of Iyad el-Hallak, a 32-year-old Palestinian special needs student who was shot to death by Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem. He was reportedly chanting “Black lives matter” and “Palestinian lives matter,” when Israeli police gunned him down, claiming he was armed. These links that you’re seeing, not only in Palestine and the United States, but around the world, the kind of global response, the tens of thousands of people who marched in Spain, who marched in England, in Berlin, in Munich, all over the world, as this touches a chord and they make demands in their own countries, not only in solidarity with what’s happening in the United States? And then I want to ask you about the U.S. election that’s coming up in November.
ANGELA DAVIS: Well, yes, Palestinian activists have long supported Black people’s struggle against racism, as I pointed out. And I’m hoping that today’s young activists recognize how important Palestinian solidarity has been to the Black cause, and that they recognize that we have a profound responsibility to support Palestinian struggles, as well.
I think it’s also important for us to look in the direction of Brazil, whose current political leader competes with our current political leader in many dangerous ways, I would say. Brazil — if we think we have a problem with racist police violence in the United States of America, look at Brazil. Marielle Franco was assassinated because she was challenging the militarization of the police and the racist violence unleashed there. I think 4,000 people were killed last year alone by the police in Brazil. So, I’m saying this because —
AMY GOODMAN: And, of course, the president of Brazil, a close ally of President Trump.