democracynow--2020-08-31--Remembering Chadwick Boseman: Ibram X. Kendi on Legacy of "Black Panther" Actor, Cancer & Antiracism

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
Chadwick Boseman , the world-renowned actor , known best for his groundbreaking role in the 2018 blockbuster hit Black Panther , died on Friday at the age of 43 after a private four-year battle with colon cancer .
News of his passing shocked the public and sparked a wave of tributes to the man who played Jackie Robinson , the first Black athlete to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court ; and , of course , superhero King T ’ Challa – all while being treated for cancer .
A statement shared on Chadwick Boseman ’ s Twitter said , quote , “ A true fighter , Chadwick persevered through it all , and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much .
From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods , August Wilson ’ s Ma Rainey ’ s Black Bottom and several more , all were filmed during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It was the honor of his career to bring King T ’ Challa to life in Black Panther.
” Twitter announced the post was the , quote , “ Most liked Tweet ever .
A tribute fit for a King .
# WakandaForever.
” Black Panther is one of the highest-grossing movies of all time , earning more than $ 1.3 billion around the world .
It ’ s been called a defining moment for Black America as the first superhero movie with a majority Black cast and an African lead character .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Black Panther .
AMY GOODMAN : Part of the trailer for Black Panther , starring Chadwick Boseman .
In 2018 , Boseman returned to his alma mater , the historically Black college Howard University , to give the 2018 commencement address .
AMY GOODMAN : Boseman spoke as he was fighting for his life .
Very few people knew this at the time .
According to the American Cancer Society , rates of colon cancer are higher among Black people , who are 40 % more likely to die from the disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For more , we go to Boston , Massachusetts , where we ’ re joined by the antiracist scholar Dr. Ibram X. Kendi , who himself has battled colon cancer and on Friday celebrated two years of being cancer-free .
He tweeted Friday , the anniversary of his operation for cancer , quote , “ I see August 28th as my second birthday.
” Ibram X. Kendi is founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research , contributing writer at The Atlantic and the author of many books , including Stamped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Racist Ideas in America , How to Be an Antiracist and , most recently , the children ’ s book Antiracist Baby .
Dr. Kendi , welcome back to Democracy Now !
On Friday , I was so thrilled to see your tweet .
I mean , this was the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington , which , by the way , that date was chosen because , back in 1955 , it was the day Emmett Till was killed .
But I was so thrilled to see you talking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two years ago .
Talk about what happened , and then , the end of that night , learning the news about Chadwick Boseman .
IBRAM X. KENDI : Yeah .
I mean , August 28th is always going to be a second birthday for me .
Two years ago , I went under the knife , literally , all day long , not knowing , like many people who have stage IV colon cancer or other forms of cancer , whether that surgery would begin the beginning of my survival or whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t expect .
I didn ’ t know what was going to happen .
But fortunately , the surgery was successful .
Fortunately , the surgeons did not actually see any more cancer .
Fortunately , the pathologist , when they took out — I should say , when they studied what the surgeons took out , they didn ’ t see any cancer cells .
And so it was really the beginning of my survival .
And so , I went to bed early , as I normally do .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the night to the news that Chadwick had passed .
And at first I thought it was a nightmare .
I mean , you know , like many people , I was shocked .
And then , of course , I came to see that it was real .
And then I saw that he died of colon cancer .
And my first thought was “ Why him ?
You know , why not me ?
” And it was really — I mean , it was crushing .
It was crushing because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world , how much I adored him .
It was crushing because I know how beloved he was and still is .
And it still is crushing .
AMY GOODMAN : Ibram , can you talk about the racial disparities in healthcare , well known by many for so long in this country , but particularly focused on now as a result of the pandemic , the number of African Americans , followed by Latinx people , the percentages so disproportionate to population in the United States who die of COVID , not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ How to Be an Antiracist , “ In the United States , African Americans are 25 percent more likely to die of cancer than Whites .
My father survived prostate cancer , which kills twice as many Black men as it does White men .
Breast cancer disproportionately kills Black women.
” If you can talk further about this ?
IBRAM X. KENDI : So , yeah , I ’ ve had stage IV colon cancer .
My wife has had breast cancer .
My mother has had cancer .
My father has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cancer .
I have an uncle who died of cancer .
And cancer , like heart disease , there ’ s all sorts of racial disparities , just as there are with COVID-19 deaths .
And we literally have , and have had for quite some time , people dying quietly , really an epidemic of death , as a result of racial health disparities .
And then we have an epidemic of people blaming those people , blaming those Black people , blaming those Brown people , for dying at higher rates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system , as opposed to thinking about what policies can we change , as opposed to thinking about why is it that Black people , Black men in particular , die at higher rates from colon cancer because we ’ re more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage .
What is happening in our society that is causing so much Black death ?
Why is Black death so normal ?
How can people allow Black people to continue to die of police violence , die of cancer , day in and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out , and not be outraged ?
And that ’ s why so many people are outraged and demonstrating on the streets and have been demonstrating for months .
And they ’ ll be demonstrating for years , until this country takes Black life seriously .
AMY GOODMAN : I want to go , before we talk about what ’ s happening in Kenosha , the police shooting of Jacob Blake , what ’ s happening in Portland , what ’ s happening throughout this country , the issue of white supremacy and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the significance of Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther and what Black Panther meant for so many , not only in this country , but around the world .
IBRAM X. KENDI : I don ’ t even know if I can even — as you know , Amy , I don ’ t even know if it can even be described in words what Black Panther meant , what T ’ Challa meant , what many of those incredible characters meant , what Wakanda meant , what Wakanda still means to Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who are really striving to be antiracist , those of us who are knowledgeable about precolonial West African empires , those of us who know that the reason why there ’ s so much poverty , for instance , in Africa is not because there ’ s something wrong with African people , that if not for colonialism , if not for the slave trade , there may be a Wakanda .
And I think that Black people , I think , in the United States and all over the world , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in excellence , for them to see themselves affirmed , you know , I think was just incredible .
And I remember seeing Black Panther when I was going through chemotherapy .
I had been diagnosed weeks before the film came out .
And like other Black people who went to see the film and just as non-Black people , it gave me the ability to really step outside of myself , step outside of my world and imagine what ’ s possible .
And there ’ s nothing more radical and critical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imagination , of thinking about what is possible .
And I think Black Panther gave that to so many people .
AMY GOODMAN : I wanted to go to another clip from Black Panther .
Princess Shuri is the little sister of King T ’ Challa , the king of Wakanda .
She ’ s also the chief technology officer responsible for creating much of Wakanda ’ s tech innovations .
In this scene , she ’ s driving a car remotely from Wakanda that Black Panther is riding in South Korea as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GOODMAN : That ’ s Princess Shuri .
And if you can talk also about the role of women in Black Panther — she ’ s the chief technology officer — and also the idea of not using any resources , natural resources , in , of course , the great film director Ryan Coogler ’ s film , for war , like their vibranium , the idea of what a country would look like if they did not pour their money into weapons ?
IBRAM X. KENDI : So , yeah .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a girl dad , the portrayal of women in Black Panther is almost certainly what I admired the most , from the chief technology officer to even the baddest person on the film , who to me was the general , and so — who was my favorite character and certainly my wife ’ s favorite character .
But then , also , I just want to again emphasize that this is possible .
We currently have a tech industry where women , and particularly women of color , are far and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s not their place or imagine that they don ’ t have the intellectual capacity .
And these are all sexist and racist lies .
And women , and particularly women of color , can be the chief technology officer of the baddest place , I should say , the most technologically advanced sort of companies or places on Earth .
That ’ s possible , if we can create that type of sort of society .
AMY GOODMAN : So , it is astounding that Chadwick Boseman did not only Black Panther @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in his post this weekend , saying he himself , the director of Black Panther , did not know about Chad ’ s personal battle with colon cancer .
He wrote a moving tribute to Chadwick Boseman after his passing .
In it , he writes , “ Chad was an anomaly .
He was calm .
Assured .
Constantly studying .
But also kind , comforting , had the warmest laugh in the world , and eyes that seen much beyond his years , but could still sparkle like a child seeing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is with a heavy heart and a sense of deep gratitude to have ever been in his presence , that I have to reckon with the fact that Chad is an ancestor now .
And I know that he will watch over us , until we meet again.
” The words of Ryan Coogler .
Now , in the film Black Panther , they actually speak Xhosa , the South African language .
And your middle name , Professor Ibram X. Kendi , is Xhosa .
Is that right ?
IBRAM X. KENDI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And I ’ m actually — I ’ m at the same time shocked that Chadwick was able to still continue his craft , particularly because it ’ s so physically demanding on the body .
But at the same time , you know , I ’ m not shocked .
And I know that when I was diagnosed with colon cancer , I was in the middle of writing How to Be an Antiracist , and all I can think of was I wanted to do this before I died .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted to leave this critically important book for people .
And so I was really thinking about ensuring that I finish this before I passed away .
And I wonder if that ’ s what he was thinking , too , that he wanted to give as much as he could to the world because he knew his time was short .
And it did not matter how uncomfortable it was .
It didn ’ t matter how hard it was .
It didn ’ t matter how painful it was to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was thinking about what he wanted to provide for the world .
And it really just shows me his level of courage .
It shows me his level of commitment .
And it really shows me how much he loved humanity that he gave so much to us during his last few years .
AMY GOODMAN : L.A. Lakers star LeBron James paid tribute to Chadwick Boseman before the Lakers ’ playoff game against the Portland Trailblazers by taking a knee during the national anthem and crossing his arms across his chest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ salute .
This is LeBron James speaking Sunday about Chadwick Boseman .
AMY GOODMAN : So , that ’ s LeBron James .
I also went to add , of course — if you could talk about Wakanda being a country , what an African country looks like that ’ s not colonized ?
IBRAM X. KENDI : And it ’ s fascinating , because that is possible .
And certainly , before colonization , some of the greatest and most powerful and wealthiest and most technologically and intellectually advanced empires in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , from Ghana , Mali and Songhai .
I remember over the weekend when , I think it was , Forbes magazine stated that Jeff Bezos was the richest men that ever lived , and a lot of people corrected them and said , “ No , actually , Mansa Musa , who was the king of Mali , was reportedly even wealthier than Jeff Bezos.
” But indeed , Mansa Musa gave away a lot of his wealth .
He actually traveled on this massive pilgrimage to Egypt , and he gave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he literally destroyed the economy .
But people don ’ t know these stories .
Right ?
We ’ re not taught about precolonial West Africa .
We ’ re not even taught about Africa today .
You know , I remember going to Africa for the first time and people asking me the weirdest questions about Africa .
And it just goes to show me how little we ’ re taught about Africa and how much we ’ re taught about Europe .
And either we ’ re a multicultural nation with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ America and Asia and Europe , and we ’ re going to really teach our children and teach our adults about all these different places , just as we ’ re teaching them about Native American history and culture , or we ’ re are going to focus on Europe .
And I don ’ t think we should focus on Europe , because that ’ s a demonstration , to me , of racism .
AMY GOODMAN : I wanted to talk about Jackie Robinson and the film 42 .
Major League @ @ @ @ @ @ @ August 28th .
It was on that day in 1945 , before the March on Washington , on August 28th , 1963 , before Emmett Till was murdered August 28th , 1955 , that the baseball executive Branch Rickey met with Jackie Robinson and signed him to a contract with the minor leagues .
Two years later , he would become the first Black player in Major League Baseball , where he wore jersey number 42 .
That ’ s why in the midst of the protests this week for Jacob Blake , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stood for 42 seconds on the field Thursday , then left without playing the game , leaving behind one Black Lives Matter T-shirt on home plate .
Well , Chadwick Boseman passed away on August 28th , the day Major League Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson , the legend that Boseman played in his breakout role in the 2013 film 42 .
This is a clip .
AMY GOODMAN : And everyone should watch Chadwick Boseman in 42 .
Before we take on James Brown , and then we ’ re going to talk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country — of course , it ’ s all related .
The history is integral to what ’ s happening now .
The role of major league athletes , from the WNBA , the women ’ s basketball league , to the NBA , to football players to , what , the baseball league , MLB , which is now down to 10 % African American , still , across the board , recognizing that they have to speak up .
Their significance this week and beyond , Professor Kendi ?
IBRAM X.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to compare this to Chadwick and even Jackie Robinson and even T ’ Challa , for many people , particularly many young people , they see professional athletes , men and women , as superheroes , as heroes , as their heroes .
And so , to see those heroes , to see those superheroes demonstrate against racism , speak out against police brutality , decide that , “ No , we ’ re human , too ; we ’ re in pain , too ; we ’ re suffering , too ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and we want justice , too .
So we can ’ t play tonight .
We can ’ t play today , ” I think , was just galvanizing for so many people and affirming for so many people .
AMY GOODMAN : Now I wanted to go to the 2014 film Get On Up in which Chadwick Boseman plays James Brown , known as the Godfather of Soul .
IBRAM X. KENDI : Well , I mean , I , of course , came to know Chadwick ’ s work through his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actually really loved his portrayal of James Brown .
And I don ’ t know whether it ’ s because I ’ m a student of the Black Power movement , or I don ’ t know whether it ’ s because James Brown was such a fascinating , complex sort of historical character , or whether that James Brown and particularly his song “ Say It Loud — I ’ m Black and I ’ m Proud ” was in many ways as galvanizing for Black people and as beloved by Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But there was something about that film .
And I just think it ’ s critically important for people to not sort of make it seem as if Chadwick only did Black Panther , because he was incredible in several other films .
And more importantly , he played these incredible sort of characters and these complex characters and these Black men , in particular , who triumphed over so much adversity during extremely difficult times .
And so , I can then see how he personally could triumph over his cancer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roles .
AMY GOODMAN : We ’ re going to break and then come back to what ’ s happening today .
Of course , Chadwick Boseman also played Thurgood Marshall , the first African American Supreme Court justice .
We ’ re speaking with Ibram X. Kendi , the Andrew W. Mellon professor in the humanities at Boston University , BU , the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research .
This is Democracy Now !
President Trump promises to go to Kenosha , Wisconsin , tomorrow .
The governor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him not to come .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
Chadwick Boseman, the world-renowned actor, known best for his groundbreaking role in the 2018 blockbuster hit Black Panther, died on Friday at the age of 43 after a private four-year battle with colon cancer. News of his passing shocked the public and sparked a wave of tributes to the man who played Jackie Robinson, the first Black athlete to play Major League Baseball; Thurgood Marshall, the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court; and, of course, superhero King T’Challa – all while being treated for cancer.
A statement shared on Chadwick Boseman’s Twitter said, quote, “A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much. From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and several more, all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther.” Twitter announced the post was the, quote, “Most liked Tweet ever. A tribute fit for a King. #WakandaForever.”
Black Panther is one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, earning more than $1.3 billion around the world. It’s been called a defining moment for Black America as the first superhero movie with a majority Black cast and an African lead character. This is a clip from the trailer of Black Panther.
ULYSSES KLAUE: [played by Andy Serkis] Tell me something. What do you know about Wakanda?
EVERETT K. ROSS: [played by Martin Freeman] It’s a Third World country — textiles, shepherds, cool outfits.
ULYSSES KLAUE: All a front. Explorers have searched for it, called it El Dorado. They looked for it in South America. But it was in Africa the whole time. I’m the only one who’s seen it and made it out alive. Dude, I can see you!
W’KABI: [played by Daniel Kaluuya] The world is changing. Soon, there will only be the conquered and the conquerors. You are a good man with a good heart. And it’s hard for a good man to be a king.
AMY GOODMAN: Part of the trailer for Black Panther, starring Chadwick Boseman. In 2018, Boseman returned to his alma mater, the historically Black college Howard University, to give the 2018 commencement address.
CHADWICK BOSEMAN: I stand here today knowing that my Howard University education prepared me to play Jackie Robinson, James Brown, Thurgood Marshall and T’Challa. But what do you do when the principles and standards that were instilled in you here at Howard close the doors in front of you? Sometimes you need to get knocked down before you can really figure out what your fight is and how you need to fight it.
AMY GOODMAN: Boseman spoke as he was fighting for his life. Very few people knew this at the time. According to the American Cancer Society, rates of colon cancer are higher among Black people, who are 40% more likely to die from the disease due to later diagnosis and systemic racism.
For more, we go to Boston, Massachusetts, where we’re joined by the antiracist scholar Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, who himself has battled colon cancer and on Friday celebrated two years of being cancer-free. He tweeted Friday, the anniversary of his operation for cancer, quote, “I see August 28th as my second birthday.” Ibram X. Kendi is founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research, contributing writer at The Atlantic and the author of many books, including Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, How to Be an Antiracist and, most recently, the children’s book Antiracist Baby.
Dr. Kendi, welcome back to Democracy Now! On Friday, I was so thrilled to see your tweet. I mean, this was the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington, which, by the way, that date was chosen because, back in 1955, it was the day Emmett Till was killed. But I was so thrilled to see you talking about this amazing moment for yourself, two years ago. Talk about what happened, and then, the end of that night, learning the news about Chadwick Boseman.
IBRAM X. KENDI: Yeah. I mean, August 28th is always going to be a second birthday for me. Two years ago, I went under the knife, literally, all day long, not knowing, like many people who have stage IV colon cancer or other forms of cancer, whether that surgery would begin the beginning of my survival or whether they would find something that they didn’t expect. I didn’t know what was going to happen. But fortunately, the surgery was successful. Fortunately, the surgeons did not actually see any more cancer. Fortunately, the pathologist, when they took out — I should say, when they studied what the surgeons took out, they didn’t see any cancer cells. And so it was really the beginning of my survival.
And so, I went to bed early, as I normally do. And I woke up in the middle of the night to the news that Chadwick had passed. And at first I thought it was a nightmare. I mean, you know, like many people, I was shocked. And then, of course, I came to see that it was real. And then I saw that he died of colon cancer. And my first thought was “Why him? You know, why not me?” And it was really — I mean, it was crushing. It was crushing because of how much he had given the world, how much I adored him. It was crushing because I know how beloved he was and still is. And it still is crushing.
AMY GOODMAN: Ibram, can you talk about the racial disparities in healthcare, well known by many for so long in this country, but particularly focused on now as a result of the pandemic, the number of African Americans, followed by Latinx people, the percentages so disproportionate to population in the United States who die of COVID, not to mention cancer? You write in How to Be an Antiracist, “In the United States, African Americans are 25 percent more likely to die of cancer than Whites. My father survived prostate cancer, which kills twice as many Black men as it does White men. Breast cancer disproportionately kills Black women.” If you can talk further about this?
IBRAM X. KENDI: So, yeah, I’ve had stage IV colon cancer. My wife has had breast cancer. My mother has had cancer. My father has had cancer. My grandfather died of cancer. I have an uncle who died of cancer. And cancer, like heart disease, there’s all sorts of racial disparities, just as there are with COVID-19 deaths. And we literally have, and have had for quite some time, people dying quietly, really an epidemic of death, as a result of racial health disparities.
And then we have an epidemic of people blaming those people, blaming those Black people, blaming those Brown people, for dying at higher rates, as opposed to thinking about our system, as opposed to thinking about what policies can we change, as opposed to thinking about why is it that Black people, Black men in particular, die at higher rates from colon cancer because we’re more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage. What is happening in our society that is causing so much Black death? Why is Black death so normal? How can people allow Black people to continue to die of police violence, die of cancer, day in and day out, year in and year out, and not be outraged?
And that’s why so many people are outraged and demonstrating on the streets and have been demonstrating for months. And they’ll be demonstrating for years, until this country takes Black life seriously.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go, before we talk about what’s happening in Kenosha, the police shooting of Jacob Blake, what’s happening in Portland, what’s happening throughout this country, the issue of white supremacy and President Trump — I want to go to the significance of Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther and what Black Panther meant for so many, not only in this country, but around the world.
IBRAM X. KENDI: I don’t even know if I can even — as you know, Amy, I don’t even know if it can even be described in words what Black Panther meant, what T’Challa meant, what many of those incredible characters meant, what Wakanda meant, what Wakanda still means to Black people, and particularly those of us who are really striving to be antiracist, those of us who are knowledgeable about precolonial West African empires, those of us who know that the reason why there’s so much poverty, for instance, in Africa is not because there’s something wrong with African people, that if not for colonialism, if not for the slave trade, there may be a Wakanda.
And I think that Black people, I think, in the United States and all over the world, for them to see themselves in greatness and in excellence, for them to see themselves affirmed, you know, I think was just incredible. And I remember seeing Black Panther when I was going through chemotherapy. I had been diagnosed weeks before the film came out. And like other Black people who went to see the film and just as non-Black people, it gave me the ability to really step outside of myself, step outside of my world and imagine what’s possible. And there’s nothing more radical and critical to transforming the world than a radical imagination, of thinking about what is possible. And I think Black Panther gave that to so many people.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go to another clip from Black Panther. Princess Shuri is the little sister of King T’Challa, the king of Wakanda. She’s also the chief technology officer responsible for creating much of Wakanda’s tech innovations. In this scene, she’s driving a car remotely from Wakanda that Black Panther is riding in South Korea as he’s being chased.
T’CHALLA: [played by Chadwick Boseman] Shuri!
SHURI: [played by Letitia Wright] Yes! Yes! Yes!
COMPUTER: Remote driving system activated.
SHURI: Wait. Which side of the road is it?
T’CHALLA: For Bast’s sake, just drive!
SHURI: OK, calm down. Woo! Let’s go! Hey, look at your suit. You’ve been taking bullets, charging it up with kinetic energy.
T’CHALLA: Pull around the truck.
DRIVER: Where’d he go?
SHURI: Show-off.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Princess Shuri. And if you can talk also about the role of women in Black Panther — she’s the chief technology officer — and also the idea of not using any resources, natural resources, in, of course, the great film director Ryan Coogler’s film, for war, like their vibranium, the idea of what a country would look like if they did not pour their money into weapons?
IBRAM X. KENDI: So, yeah. I mean, as a father, as a girl dad, the portrayal of women in Black Panther is almost certainly what I admired the most, from the chief technology officer to even the baddest person on the film, who to me was the general, and so — who was my favorite character and certainly my wife’s favorite character.
But then, also, I just want to again emphasize that this is possible. We currently have a tech industry where women, and particularly women of color, are far and away underrepresented or imagine that it’s not their place or imagine that they don’t have the intellectual capacity. And these are all sexist and racist lies. And women, and particularly women of color, can be the chief technology officer of the baddest place, I should say, the most technologically advanced sort of companies or places on Earth. That’s possible, if we can create that type of sort of society.
AMY GOODMAN: So, it is astounding that Chadwick Boseman did not only Black Panther, and Ryan Coogler wrote about this in his post this weekend, saying he himself, the director of Black Panther, did not know about Chad’s personal battle with colon cancer. He wrote a moving tribute to Chadwick Boseman after his passing. In it, he writes, “Chad was an anomaly. He was calm. Assured. Constantly studying. But also kind, comforting, had the warmest laugh in the world, and eyes that seen much beyond his years, but could still sparkle like a child seeing something for the first time. It is with a heavy heart and a sense of deep gratitude to have ever been in his presence, that I have to reckon with the fact that Chad is an ancestor now. And I know that he will watch over us, until we meet again.” The words of Ryan Coogler. Now, in the film Black Panther, they actually speak Xhosa, the South African language. And your middle name, Professor Ibram X. Kendi, is Xhosa. Is that right?
IBRAM X. KENDI: Yes, Xolani. Yes. And I’m actually — I’m at the same time shocked that Chadwick was able to still continue his craft, particularly because it’s so physically demanding on the body. But at the same time, you know, I’m not shocked. And I know that when I was diagnosed with colon cancer, I was in the middle of writing How to Be an Antiracist, and all I can think of was I wanted to do this before I died. I wanted to leave this legacy. I wanted to leave this critically important book for people. And so I was really thinking about ensuring that I finish this before I passed away.
And I wonder if that’s what he was thinking, too, that he wanted to give as much as he could to the world because he knew his time was short. And it did not matter how uncomfortable it was. It didn’t matter how hard it was. It didn’t matter how painful it was to get out of bed. You know, he was thinking about what he wanted to provide for the world. And it really just shows me his level of courage. It shows me his level of commitment. And it really shows me how much he loved humanity that he gave so much to us during his last few years.
AMY GOODMAN: L.A. Lakers star LeBron James paid tribute to Chadwick Boseman before the Lakers’ playoff game against the Portland Trailblazers by taking a knee during the national anthem and crossing his arms across his chest to give the “Wakanda forever” salute. This is LeBron James speaking Sunday about Chadwick Boseman.
LEBRON JAMES: We’re already limited in the sense that, you know, given that type of power, that type of stage that he had, and especially in that industry, you don’t see many Black male and female actors being able to put on that stage, and for him to be as transcendent as he was. … But then you add on the fact that growing up as a Black kid, you had superheroes that you looked up to, but they weren’t Black. You know, you had Batman, you had Superman, you had Spider-Man, and so on and so on. And for Ryan Coogler and for that cast, and for him himself to be able to make Black Panther, that even though we knew it was like a fictional story, it actually felt real. It actually felt like we finally had our Black superhero, and nobody can touch us.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s LeBron James. I also went to add, of course — if you could talk about Wakanda being a country, what an African country looks like that’s not colonized?
IBRAM X. KENDI: And it’s fascinating, because that is possible. And certainly, before colonization, some of the greatest and most powerful and wealthiest and most technologically and intellectually advanced empires in the world were in Africa, you know, from Ghana, Mali and Songhai. I remember over the weekend when, I think it was, Forbes magazine stated that Jeff Bezos was the richest men that ever lived, and a lot of people corrected them and said, “No, actually, Mansa Musa, who was the king of Mali, was reportedly even wealthier than Jeff Bezos.” But indeed, Mansa Musa gave away a lot of his wealth. He actually traveled on this massive pilgrimage to Egypt, and he gave away so much gold in Egypt, he literally destroyed the economy.
But people don’t know these stories. Right? We’re not taught about precolonial West Africa. We’re not even taught about Africa today. You know, I remember going to Africa for the first time and people asking me the weirdest questions about Africa. And it just goes to show me how little we’re taught about Africa and how much we’re taught about Europe. And either we’re a multicultural nation with people who come from Africa and Latin America and Asia and Europe, and we’re going to really teach our children and teach our adults about all these different places, just as we’re teaching them about Native American history and culture, or we’re are going to focus on Europe. And I don’t think we should focus on Europe, because that’s a demonstration, to me, of racism.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to talk about Jackie Robinson and the film 42. Major League Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson Day Friday, August 28th. It was on that day in 1945, before the March on Washington, on August 28th, 1963, before Emmett Till was murdered August 28th, 1955, that the baseball executive Branch Rickey met with Jackie Robinson and signed him to a contract with the minor leagues. Two years later, he would become the first Black player in Major League Baseball, where he wore jersey number 42. That’s why in the midst of the protests this week for Jacob Blake, the New York Mets and Miami Marlins stood for 42 seconds on the field Thursday, then left without playing the game, leaving behind one Black Lives Matter T-shirt on home plate. Well, Chadwick Boseman passed away on August 28th, the day Major League Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson, the legend that Boseman played in his breakout role in the 2013 film 42. This is a clip.
JACKIE ROBINSON: [played by Chadwick Boseman] Give me a uniform, give me a number on my back, and I’ll give you the guts.
I’m just a ball player.
MR. BROCK: [played by James Pickens Jr.] You’re a hero.
BEN CHAPMAN: [played by Alan Tudyk] Why don’t you look in the mirror? This is a white man’s game.
JACKIE ROBINSON: I’m not going anywhere! I’m right here!
PEE WEE REESE: [played by Lucas Black] Maybe tomorrow we’ll all wear 42.
AMY GOODMAN: And everyone should watch Chadwick Boseman in 42. Before we take on James Brown, and then we’re going to talk about what’s happening in this country — of course, it’s all related. The history is integral to what’s happening now. The role of major league athletes, from the WNBA, the women’s basketball league, to the NBA, to football players to, what, the baseball league, MLB, which is now down to 10% African American, still, across the board, recognizing that they have to speak up. Their significance this week and beyond, Professor Kendi?
IBRAM X. KENDI: Well, I mean, to compare this to Chadwick and even Jackie Robinson and even T’Challa, for many people, particularly many young people, they see professional athletes, men and women, as superheroes, as heroes, as their heroes. And so, to see those heroes, to see those superheroes demonstrate against racism, speak out against police brutality, decide that, “No, we’re human, too; we’re in pain, too; we’re suffering, too; we’re outraged, too; and we want justice, too. So we can’t play tonight. We can’t play today,” I think, was just galvanizing for so many people and affirming for so many people.
AMY GOODMAN: Now I wanted to go to the 2014 film Get On Up in which Chadwick Boseman plays James Brown, known as the Godfather of Soul.
JAMES BROWN: [played by Chadwick Boseman] I got you! When I hit that stage, you people better be ready, especially the white folk. Hit it!
BOBBY BYRD: [played by Nelsan Ellis] Every man in this band walk taller because they’re with James Brown.
JAMES BROWN: Are we done, Mr. Byrd?
BOBBY BYRD: I’m afraid not, Mr. Brown.
JAMES BROWN: I said, “Are we done?”
BOBBY BYRD: I think we got more funk in the trunk.
Open up your ears. The man’s a genius.
AMY GOODMAN: James Brown. Ibram Kendi?
IBRAM X. KENDI: Well, I mean, I, of course, came to know Chadwick’s work through his portrayal of Jackie Robinson, but I actually really loved his portrayal of James Brown. And I don’t know whether it’s because I’m a student of the Black Power movement, or I don’t know whether it’s because James Brown was such a fascinating, complex sort of historical character, or whether that James Brown and particularly his song “Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud” was in many ways as galvanizing for Black people and as beloved by Black people who loved themselves as Black Panther. But there was something about that film.
And I just think it’s critically important for people to not sort of make it seem as if Chadwick only did Black Panther, because he was incredible in several other films. And more importantly, he played these incredible sort of characters and these complex characters and these Black men, in particular, who triumphed over so much adversity during extremely difficult times. And so, I can then see how he personally could triumph over his cancer to be able to play those final roles.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to break and then come back to what’s happening today. Of course, Chadwick Boseman also played Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court justice. We’re speaking with Ibram X. Kendi, the Andrew W. Mellon professor in the humanities at Boston University, BU, the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. This is Democracy Now! President Trump promises to go to Kenosha, Wisconsin, tomorrow. The governor, the lieutenant governor are pleading with him not to come. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-09-02--Kenosha Journalist Quits over Coverage of Jacob Blake Protests, Citing Ignorance, Lack of Diversity

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 .
President Trump traveled to Kenosha , Wisconsin , Tuesday despite fierce opposition to his visit by Wisconsin ’ s governor , its first Black lieutenant governor and Kenosha ’ s mayor .
Kenosha erupted in protests last week after the police shot Jacob Blake at point-blank range in the back at least seven times , leaving him paralyzed .
During the protests , a 17-year-old white vigilante @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protesters and injured a third .
Trump has refused to condemn the killings .
During his visit to Kenosha , Trump did not meet with Jacob Blake ’ s family or directly mention Jacob Blake ’ s name .
Trump also reiterated his recent comparison of cops who shoot with golfers who choke .
AMY GOODMAN : And that word “ choke ” is not lost on many .
While many in the mainstream media talk about golfers choking over a three-foot putt , many are talking about George Floyd being choked to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many other African Americans in the custody of police , choked by police .
During his visit , Trump also repeated the falsehood that he ordered the National Guard to Kenosha , when in fact it was the state ’ s governor .
This is Jacob Blake ’ s uncle , Justin Blake , speaking at a rally in Kenosha as Trump visited .
AMY GOODMAN : For more , we go to Kenosha , Wisconsin , where we ’ re joined by Daniel Thompson .
Up until Saturday he was digital editor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protest the paper ’ s coverage of a rally Saturday following the police shooting of Jacob Blake .
He was the only full-time Black staff member at the Kenosha paper .
Daniel , welcome to Democracy Now !
Explain what happened .
Why did you quit ?
DANIEL THOMPSON : Well , thank you for having me .
I quit because I went to the event Saturday as a citizen .
In fact , I was on vacation last week from the paper .
And the event itself was very peaceful .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quote that Kenosha News put in the headline .
And honestly , right when it happened , you could tell that a lot of people in the crowd didn ’ t agree with it .
And my personal opinion is that speaker should have never been there .
But it was peaceful .
It was beautiful .
I mean , I had pictures of children , Amish and Mennonite children playing with each other there .
There was a child that was helping to hold a peace sign banner with me , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They just wanted to help hold a banner , so I let them hold a banner with me .
And even Mr. Blake ’ s father had called for a night of peace across the nation .
And a lot of the speakers did that .
And the funny thing is , I got home , and I was feeling really good about the event , and I had completely almost forgotten about that quote , really .
It wasn ’ t at the front of my mind because it wasn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It wasn ’ t — AMY GOODMAN : So , just to say that the headline itself that the Kenosha News ran was “ Kenosha speaker : 'If you kill one of us , it 's time for us to kill one of yours.
’ ” DANIEL THOMPSON : Yes , something to that effect .
I have a screenshot of it .
But , yes , the person said that .
And they might have also been a person that led a chant that ended with race first , which I also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that side of it .
When I got home and I saw the newspaper ’ s headline , at first I thought it might have been a state or national story that had been caught up in the website .
But when I realized it was a story about the event I was at , that ’ s when I contacted my boss .
And you can see how that exchange went .
AMY GOODMAN : Explain .
Talk about how that exchange went — they changed the headline — what they changed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
DANIEL THOMPSON : Well , what happened was , basically , when I saw the headline and I read the — or , I started reading the story and realized it was the same event , I was pretty livid , immediately .
And I had screenshot it , circled it and sent it to not only my boss — my former boss , Bob Heisse , but also two of the reporting staff , just to let them know .
And by that point , I was already talking myself down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to give Bob the chance to address it , because the thing is , me and Bob Heisse did not have a bad working relationship at all .
In fact , we had conversations like this multiple times in the newsroom about various topics .
And most of the time , we were able to compromise , or he would listen to me .
So , when he defended it , when I got that response , it was almost immediate .
I mean , it was a 20-minute time period between me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ letter of resignation .
AMY GOODMAN : So , they changed the headline to “ Kenosha speaker strays from message at rally , ” but the online article still included only the video of that speaker ’ s remarks , and the video ’ s caption still is the previous headline .
We only have two minutes , but can you talk , since media can so much shape public opinion , overall , how you feel the Kenosha News contributed to what you were concerned about , a climate misrepresented in Kenosha @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : OK .
So , I had been actually following protests since the first night they came to Kenosha following the shooting of George Floyd .
So , I ’ ve been among these local protesters , and I ’ ve gotten to know a lot of them .
So , over time , I ’ ve started to see that people — people like to think that there are two groups , that there ’ s protesters and counterprotesters .
But it ’ s not .
You really have multiple groups , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some of them aren ’ t .
So , now more than ever for the media , it ’ s important to try to give a full , accurate picture .
And I think there is also the impulse now , because more companies are moving to digital and trying to get digital subscriptions , that you ’ re seeing more sensational headlines now to get more page views .
And it ’ s not — I don ’ t think the situation happened out of any malicious intent .
I think it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diversity or diverse voices that were part of the decision .
AMY GOODMAN : Are you going to keep writing ?
How are you going to let people know what ’ s going on in Kenosha , framing it in your own perspective ?
DANIEL THOMPSON : Yes .
Since I resigned — so , I think of my resignation as a leap of faith , really .
I mean , I had nowhere to go from Kenosha News .
But I took that leap of faith , and the community that I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kenosha , caught me .
And if you look at my GoFundMe for unemployment , I ’ m over $ 21,000 now , and I only asked for $ 5,000 .
And I do plan on , whatever the end total is by September 14th , donating half back to the Uptown neighborhood , which was badly destroyed throughout — DANIEL THOMPSON : — throughout all this .
DANIEL THOMPSON : But I ’ m going to — DANIEL THOMPSON : I ’ ll be in Kenosha .
I ’ ll stay in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reporting .
AMY GOODMAN : You ’ re starting — and you hope to start an independent media company in Kenosha ?
AMY GOODMAN : Well , Daniel Thompson , I want to thank you for being with us .
And I just wanted to update people : Local TV station WTMJ-TV reports Kenosha business owner declines President Trump photo op , so a former owner had to come in and replace him .
Daniel Thompson , former digital editor at Kenosha News , who resigned his position in protest of a headline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Blake .
That does it for our broadcast .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
Wear a mask .
Save lives .
Stay safe .

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.
President Trump traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, Tuesday despite fierce opposition to his visit by Wisconsin’s governor, its first Black lieutenant governor and Kenosha’s mayor.
Kenosha erupted in protests last week after the police shot Jacob Blake at point-blank range in the back at least seven times, leaving him paralyzed. During the protests, a 17-year-old white vigilante armed with a semiautomatic rifle killed two protesters and injured a third.
Trump has refused to condemn the killings. During his visit to Kenosha, Trump did not meet with Jacob Blake’s family or directly mention Jacob Blake’s name. Trump also reiterated his recent comparison of cops who shoot with golfers who choke.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have to condemn the dangerous anti-police rhetoric. It’s getting more and more. It’s very unfair. You have some bad apples. We all know that. And those will be taken care of through the system. And nobody is going to be easy on them, either. And you have people that choke.
AMY GOODMAN: And that word “choke” is not lost on many. While many in the mainstream media talk about golfers choking over a three-foot putt, many are talking about George Floyd being choked to death, and Eric Garner and so many other African Americans in the custody of police, choked by police.
During his visit, Trump also repeated the falsehood that he ordered the National Guard to Kenosha, when in fact it was the state’s governor.
This is Jacob Blake’s uncle, Justin Blake, speaking at a rally in Kenosha as Trump visited.
JUSTIN BLAKE: We don’t have any words for the orange man. All I ask is that he keep his disrespect, his foul language far away from our family. We need a president that’s going to unite our country and take us in a different direction. … Our nephew was shot seven times in the back. Nothing can justify that. He had no weapon. And he’s paralyzed right now in the hospital. And our family is thanking everybody around the world for all their well-wishes and prayers.
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where we’re joined by Daniel Thompson. Up until Saturday he was digital editor at Kenosha News, but resigned to protest the paper’s coverage of a rally Saturday following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. He was the only full-time Black staff member at the Kenosha paper.
Daniel, welcome to Democracy Now! Explain what happened. Why did you quit?
DANIEL THOMPSON: Well, thank you for having me. I quit because I went to the event Saturday as a citizen. In fact, I was on vacation last week from the paper. And the event itself was very peaceful. There was one speaker that did give the quote that Kenosha News put in the headline. And honestly, right when it happened, you could tell that a lot of people in the crowd didn’t agree with it. And my personal opinion is that speaker should have never been there.
But it was peaceful. It was beautiful. I mean, I had pictures of children, Amish and Mennonite children playing with each other there. There was a child that was helping to hold a peace sign banner with me, that I didn’t even know. They just wanted to help hold a banner, so I let them hold a banner with me. And even Mr. Blake’s father had called for a night of peace across the nation. And a lot of the speakers did that.
And the funny thing is, I got home, and I was feeling really good about the event, and I had completely almost forgotten about that quote, really. It wasn’t at the front of my mind because it wasn’t such a prominent part of it. It wasn’t —
AMY GOODMAN: So, just to say that the headline itself that the Kenosha News ran was “Kenosha speaker: 'If you kill one of us, it's time for us to kill one of yours.’”
DANIEL THOMPSON: Yes, something to that effect. I have a screenshot of it. But, yes, the person said that. And they might have also been a person that led a chant that ended with race first, which I also cringed at. But that was on that side of it.
When I got home and I saw the newspaper’s headline, at first I thought it might have been a state or national story that had been caught up in the website. But when I realized it was a story about the event I was at, that’s when I contacted my boss. And you can see how that exchange went.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain. Talk about how that exchange went — they changed the headline — what they changed it to, and why you quit.
DANIEL THOMPSON: Well, what happened was, basically, when I saw the headline and I read the — or, I started reading the story and realized it was the same event, I was pretty livid, immediately. And I had screenshot it, circled it and sent it to not only my boss — my former boss, Bob Heisse, but also two of the reporting staff, just to let them know. And by that point, I was already talking myself down from just quitting.
And I wanted to give Bob the chance to address it, because the thing is, me and Bob Heisse did not have a bad working relationship at all. In fact, we had conversations like this multiple times in the newsroom about various topics. And most of the time, we were able to compromise, or he would listen to me. So, when he defended it, when I got that response, it was almost immediate. I mean, it was a 20-minute time period between me contacting him initially and me sending my letter of resignation.
AMY GOODMAN: So, they changed the headline to “Kenosha speaker strays from message at rally,” but the online article still included only the video of that speaker’s remarks, and the video’s caption still is the previous headline. We only have two minutes, but can you talk, since media can so much shape public opinion, overall, how you feel the Kenosha News contributed to what you were concerned about, a climate misrepresented in Kenosha, in your town?
DANIEL THOMPSON: OK. So, I had been actually following protests since the first night they came to Kenosha following the shooting of George Floyd. So, I’ve been among these local protesters, and I’ve gotten to know a lot of them. So, over time, I’ve started to see that people — people like to think that there are two groups, that there’s protesters and counterprotesters. But it’s not. You really have multiple groups, and some of them are violent, some of them aren’t.
So, now more than ever for the media, it’s important to try to give a full, accurate picture. And I think there is also the impulse now, because more companies are moving to digital and trying to get digital subscriptions, that you’re seeing more sensational headlines now to get more page views. And it’s not — I don’t think the situation happened out of any malicious intent. I think it was simply ignorance and a lack of diversity or diverse voices that were part of the decision.
AMY GOODMAN: Are you going to keep writing? How are you going to let people know what’s going on in Kenosha, framing it in your own perspective?
DANIEL THOMPSON: Yes. Since I resigned — so, I think of my resignation as a leap of faith, really. I mean, I had nowhere to go from Kenosha News. But I took that leap of faith, and the community that I’ve been covering, which is Kenosha, caught me. And if you look at my GoFundMe for unemployment, I’m over $21,000 now, and I only asked for $5,000. And I do plan on, whatever the end total is by September 14th, donating half back to the Uptown neighborhood, which was badly destroyed throughout —
AMY GOODMAN: We have 10 seconds.
DANIEL THOMPSON: — throughout all this.
AMY GOODMAN: And starting —
DANIEL THOMPSON: But I’m going to —
AMY GOODMAN: Go ahead.
DANIEL THOMPSON: I’ll be in Kenosha. I’ll stay in Kenosha, and I’ll be reporting.
AMY GOODMAN: You’re starting — and you hope to start an independent media company in Kenosha?
DANIEL THOMPSON: Yes, yes.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Daniel Thompson, I want to thank you for being with us. And I just wanted to update people: Local TV station WTMJ-TV reports Kenosha business owner declines President Trump photo op, so a former owner had to come in and replace him. Daniel Thompson, former digital editor at Kenosha News, who resigned his position in protest of a headline he says mischaracterized the rally for Jacob Blake.
That does it for our broadcast. I’m Amy Goodman. Wear a mask. Save lives. Stay safe.


democracynow--2020-09-02--"We Feel Betrayed": NYC Reaches Deal with Teachers to Reopen Schools & Avert Strike, But Is It Safe?

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 turn back here to New York City , where unions representing teachers and principals have reached a deal with the city to avert a strike by delaying the reopening of the largest public school system in the United States by two weeks .
New York is the only major urban school district in the country planning to reopen classrooms in the fall , though many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The powerful United Federation of Teachers union had expressed concern over the lack of testing for teachers , the lack of protective gear , the condition of school buildings that lack good ventilation .
The union ’ s executive committee was considering a strike as late as Monday .
But after negotiations , New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced yesterday that New York ’ s 1.1 million schoolchildren will now start in-person instruction 10 days later than originally scheduled , on September 21st .
AMY GOODMAN : Agreeing to a major @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York City would require monthly random testing of between 10 and 20 % of students and staff at all city school buildings starting in October , with results ready within 48 hours .
For more on what this means here in New York and how it compares to school districts around the country , we ’ re joined by two guests .
Aixa Rodriguez is a Bronx-based high school English as a second language teacher — ESL — member of United Federation of Teachers ’ MORE Caucus .
That ’ s the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Eric Blanc is a reporter for Jacobin and author of the book Red State Revolt : The Teachers ’ Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics .
We welcome you both to Democracy Now !
Aixa Rodriguez , let ’ s begin with you .
How do you feel about the fact that your union did not go out on strike yesterday and has agreed to this two-week delay ?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ : All of us jumped on a — can you hear me ?
All of us jumped on a conversation right afterwards .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ as if it is an inadequate plan .
And we ’ re not happy .
AMY GOODMAN : What do you want to see ?
Explain what ’ s happening in New York City .
AIXA RODRIGUEZ : This was rushed .
We want the receipts .
They broke faith and broke trust .
We have no faith in them since March , since the sickout that we were forced to have to close schools .
We understand that the same problems still exist .
We ’ re just being told with hyperbolic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken care of .
We haven ’ t seen the receipts of all the repairs that are supposed to happen , and we do not believe it will happen in like 10 days .
There ’ s no way .
AMY GOODMAN : Talk about who your students are , Aixa .
AIXA RODRIGUEZ : Well , my students — as an ESL teacher , my students are immigrants from all over the world .
In my classroom , I have at least five continents and a whole bunch of languages represented .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a reality check that any infection that would happen between me and them , or them and me , could have serious consequences .
I lost my grandmother to COVID .
My mother was hospitalized .
We were quarantined in here and Puerto Rico .
Had I been in the classroom , I could have passed it to my African students , Dominican students , Mexican students , Bengali students , in five different boroughs .
And I could have been the new Typhoid Mary , a superspreader event in all the different @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vulnerable .
So , this is a real situation for me because of the nature of who my students are .
AMY GOODMAN : So , can you talk about what you ’ ve said , that this makes you question whether Black lives matter ?
I mean , many parents of color are also deeply concerned and feel the other way , that they want their kids to be reconnected and to be in school .
Your thoughts ?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ : I don ’ t like remote learning , either .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ But I know very well that the schools that many of these students are attending have been neglected for years , for decades .
They do not have the HVAC systems with the filters that are necessary .
The windows do not open .
They ’ re claiming to have fixed it all , but the reality is , the teachers who have been in these buildings for a long time remember the times they were trying to fix PCBs in the windows and the asbestos , and we still know that mold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for years .
So , these things are not going to be remedied immediately , and the kids are going to be put in these environments where there ’ s no soap , there ’ s no hot water , the kids can ’ t wash their hands , you know , the kids are going to be sitting in rows .
It ’ s not going to be the same .
It ’ s going to be two days out of the week .
And — AMY GOODMAN : How are they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ AIXA RODRIGUEZ : Testing the air circulation with toilet paper just to see that it ’ s coming out doesn ’ t mean that it ’ s actually good air .
I worked in the Martin Luther King building , the same building where that video of the toilet paper test was happening .
In fact , that room was on the fourth floor around the corner from my room .
And I know that we can ’ t even handle basic issues in that room when it comes to smells after gym @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have the door open , having to have a fan in that room , under regular circumstances , let alone understanding that we ’ re talking about the spread of COVID .
AMY GOODMAN : So , let me ask you about — AIXA RODRIGUEZ : So , very oppressed as we ’ re feeling .
AMY GOODMAN : — a major union demand that the mayor did agree to , which is the city would require monthly random testing of between 10 and 20 % of students and staff in all city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ results back in 48 hours .
So , when you go back in , you are not being tested ?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ : Not automatically .
We got emails suggesting that we do .
AIXA RODRIGUEZ : Highly suggesting — yeah , it ’ s a suggestion .
It ’ s a hint .
There ’ s no actual plan to make it happen before we set foot in there .
It ’ s a highly suggestive thing , until they get this whole system running , which is why we felt as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not a deal .
Like , what is this ?
It ’ s , you know , a very hyperbolic , “ Oh , we ’ re the greatest school .
We ’ re going to do the greatest plan , and we did the greatest this.
” And then we find that nothing is in place .
AIXA RODRIGUEZ : The nurses are not in place .
Nothing .
AMY GOODMAN : And that ’ s important to talk about .
We ’ re not just talking about teachers ; you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talking about the nurses — all of the staff that keep these schools going .
And just explain : How does it work ?
Are kids going back every day or a portion of every week ?
And can kids opt total remote ?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ : So , kids can opt total remote .
Definitely , they can .
The kids who have opted for blended , because parents want to go back to work .
We want a little bit of normalcy .
They will come two days out of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — the other group of kids will come the other two days .
So , it ’ s not like a five-day week .
And a lot of parents brought up , “ Hold up .
Wait a minute .
I can ’ t work like this .
My job doesn ’ t function two days a week .
I still have to find child care or some type of supervision for the other three days.
” So , it ’ s a false normal .
It ’ s still remote , regardless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to be in person .
Three days out of the week will still be remote .
AMY GOODMAN : So , you ’ re with MORE .
MORE is the caucus of UFT .
UFT has now agreed with and applauded the mayor for delaying the reopening of the schools , but , moving forward with that , threatening a strike .
Are you talking about a wildcat strike ?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ : The feeling of betrayal is very , very big .
And the fear of life and death is still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the reality is , the Unity Caucus has been in charge for 60 years , and this is the — we expected to be betrayed , and here we are again , you know , getting our hopes up to actually see some changes and some fixes , and then not even a vote , and a very undemocratic process to even like vote for a vote .
To even say that we ’ re going to have a vote was undemocratic .
Overnight , with less than 24 hours , no chances @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and discuss it with the rank and file .
So , there ’ s many rank and file who really feel as if they have no choice , because their son has chemo and is sick , and they are not allowed to get a medical accommodation because it ’ s not their condition that ’ s the problem , their child ’ s condition .
AMY GOODMAN : Aixa , very quickly , at the beginning of the pandemic , how did the city deal with the pandemic ?
Do you know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ died here in New York City ?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ : So , here ’ s the question .
We got something from 79 to 100 teachers .
And the way teachers were labeled or educators were labeled didn ’ t give a full picture , because they started to chop up the groups .
School safety agents were listed under NYPD .
Anybody who was under DC 37 , the cafeteria workers , custodial , all of those , listed under there , 150 , that number .
So , if you add @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which is the administration ; the educators that are teachers , also paraprofessionals — it was a significant number , like just like 300 , 400 people .
And I have no clue about the students ; just anecdotally , from here and there , because a lot of the kids survived , people are still around , but now have health conditions that are lingering from COVID .
So , yeah , the numbers being like talked about is not a full number , because we ’ re not including everybody @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we were to talk about everybody who works in a school , including every single one of those small populations , that ’ s a bigger number than the 79 to 100 that we ’ re told were a UFT member .
AMY GOODMAN : Which is still horrifying .
Eric Blanc , I wanted to turn to you to put New York in a national context .
You wrote the book Red State Revolt : The Teachers ’ Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics .
Talk about New York being the only school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power of the teachers around the country , and what ’ s happening — the only major school district in the country .
ERIC BLANC : Right .
This is the first thing that needs to be highlighted , is that all other big cities in the United States right now have begun with remote learning .
And there ’ s a reason for that : It ’ s not safe to open schools in the middle of a raging pandemic .
Look at Florida .
Florida is a really good example .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Florida opened their schools .
You ’ ve seen in the last two-and-a-half weeks a 23 % rise in transmission rates amongst children .
Just recently , a 6-year-old girl died from the virus .
And so , when educators in New York are saying it ’ s not safe to go back , that ’ s not just born out of paranoia ; that ’ s born out of looking at what happens when you open the schools .
Other major cities have closed , thankfully , and that ’ s because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all across the country , a really unprecedented upsurge .
It ’ s even higher than the strikes we saw in 2018 and 2019 in West Virginia , Chicago , Los Angeles .
We ’ ve seen really an unprecedented upsurge all across the country of educators fighting , because they understand this is life or death , not just for themselves , but for their students , for the parents , for the community .
So , I just see , every day , new districts , in red states , blue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actions .
They ’ re getting on Zoom calls .
They ’ re speaking with parents .
And they ’ re saying , “ We want to go back to our classrooms , but only when it ’ s safe.
” That means fully funding our schools .
It means taxing the rich , so that we can have safe and equitable schools .
AMY GOODMAN : How responsive have the union leadership been to the rank and file around the country ?
ERIC BLANC : Yeah , it ’ s very uneven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unions , like in Chicago , in Los Angeles , taking the lead of organizing with the rank and file , meeting with parents , and building really the kind of social justice unionism , together with the ranks and parents , to make it so that they were able to keep the schools remote learning in the fall and raise demands on behalf of parents so that the schools are not just opened safely , but fully funded .
So , when you see progressive union leadership in alliance with the rank @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really major .
Unfortunately , there are examples — and New York is one of them — in which you see union leaders oftentimes leaning more towards an alliance with Democratic politicians rather than their own memberships .
And that ’ s pitted the leadership against the ranks , because the ranks understand , probably better than anybody else , the conditions in the schools , the fears of the parents , and the understanding that the way you win against billionaires and the politicians that are bought off is not by backroom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s through , if necessary , taking disruptive action to force the politicians to do the right thing .
Where union leaders have had that stance , they ’ ve had tremendous support with the ranks .
But where they haven ’ t , you ’ ve seen real conflicts .
And that ’ s what I think you ’ re seeing in New York right now .
AMY GOODMAN : What is the push to open the schools ?
And what about the disparity in learning of wealthier kids who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ internet , have computers , have space , and poorer kids ?
And how do you deal with this ?
ERIC BLANC : Yeah , there ’ s a tremendous amount of hypocrisy being put out there right now , because , nominally , the reason that the schools are being reopened is politicians are saying it ’ s placing an inordinate burden on working-class parents .
There ’ s some truth to this .
Remote learning hurts everybody .
But the reality is : Who are the parents who in New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right now to keep their kids at home ?
It ’ s parents who are richer , who are whiter , who have the money to hire child care or to stay at home themselves .
So , who ’ s going to suffer from a premature opening are working-class communities of color , who are forced , by necessity , to send their kids into the schools .
And the reality is , this crisis is a racial justice crisis , and it ’ s an equity crisis , because you have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right ?
— who have seen their wealth increase by $ 45 billion just since the beginning of the pandemic .
Why aren ’ t they paying their fair share ?
If we tax them sufficiently , you would have more than enough money so that working-class parents , so that communities of color could have a safe reopening , and so parents and educators and students could feel safe .
But the fact that we are not taxing the rich like they should means that it ’ s a lose-lose situation .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but it ’ s even more catastrophic to have a premature school reopening .
AMY GOODMAN : Eric Blanc , I want to thank you for being with us , reporter with Jacobin and The Nation , and Aixa Rodriguez , a New York City ESL teacher , UFT MORE Caucus .
That ’ s the Movement of Rank and File Educators .
Next up , as President Trump visits Kenosha without saying Jacob Blake ’ s name once , we ’ ll speak to , well , the former digital editor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resigned his position in protest of a headline he says mischaracterized an early rally for Jacob Blake .
Stay with us .

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 turn back here to New York City, where unions representing teachers and principals have reached a deal with the city to avert a strike by delaying the reopening of the largest public school system in the United States by two weeks.
New York is the only major urban school district in the country planning to reopen classrooms in the fall, though many students have opted for remote learning. The powerful United Federation of Teachers union had expressed concern over the lack of testing for teachers, the lack of protective gear, the condition of school buildings that lack good ventilation. The union’s executive committee was considering a strike as late as Monday. But after negotiations, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced yesterday that New York’s 1.1 million schoolchildren will now start in-person instruction 10 days later than originally scheduled, on September 21st.
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO: And what we’ve agreed to is to make sure that the health measures are in place, to make sure there is time for the appropriate preparation for our educators, to make sure that we can have the smoothest beginning of the school year, even under extraordinarily challenging conditions, and to move forward in a spirit of unity.
AMY GOODMAN: Agreeing to a major union demand, Mayor de Blasio said New York City would require monthly random testing of between 10 and 20% of students and staff at all city school buildings starting in October, with results ready within 48 hours.
For more on what this means here in New York and how it compares to school districts around the country, we’re joined by two guests. Aixa Rodriguez is a Bronx-based high school English as a second language teacher — ESL — member of United Federation of Teachers’ MORE Caucus. That’s the Movement of Rank and File Educators. Eric Blanc is a reporter for Jacobin and author of the book Red State Revolt: The Teachers’ Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Aixa Rodriguez, let’s begin with you. How do you feel about the fact that your union did not go out on strike yesterday and has agreed to this two-week delay?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ: All of us jumped on a — can you hear me? All of us jumped on a conversation right afterwards. We feel betrayed, and we feel as if it is an inadequate plan. And we’re not happy.
AMY GOODMAN: What do you want to see? Explain what’s happening in New York City.
AIXA RODRIGUEZ: This was rushed. We want the receipts. They broke faith and broke trust. We have no faith in them since March, since the sickout that we were forced to have to close schools. We understand that the same problems still exist. We’re just being told with hyperbolic language how everything is going to be taken care of. We haven’t seen the receipts of all the repairs that are supposed to happen, and we do not believe it will happen in like 10 days. There’s no way.
AMY GOODMAN: Talk about who your students are, Aixa.
AIXA RODRIGUEZ: Well, my students — as an ESL teacher, my students are immigrants from all over the world. In my classroom, I have at least five continents and a whole bunch of languages represented. And for me, it’s a reality check that any infection that would happen between me and them, or them and me, could have serious consequences. I lost my grandmother to COVID. My mother was hospitalized. We were quarantined in here and Puerto Rico. Had I been in the classroom, I could have passed it to my African students, Dominican students, Mexican students, Bengali students, in five different boroughs. And I could have been the new Typhoid Mary, a superspreader event in all the different boroughs and multiple different communities that are vulnerable. So, this is a real situation for me because of the nature of who my students are.
AMY GOODMAN: So, can you talk about what you’ve said, that this makes you question whether Black lives matter? I mean, many parents of color are also deeply concerned and feel the other way, that they want their kids to be reconnected and to be in school. Your thoughts?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ: I don’t like remote learning, either. I want to be in school. But I know very well that the schools that many of these students are attending have been neglected for years, for decades. They do not have the HVAC systems with the filters that are necessary. The windows do not open. They’re claiming to have fixed it all, but the reality is, the teachers who have been in these buildings for a long time remember the times they were trying to fix PCBs in the windows and the asbestos, and we still know that mold and all those things have been happening for years.
So, these things are not going to be remedied immediately, and the kids are going to be put in these environments where there’s no soap, there’s no hot water, the kids can’t wash their hands, you know, the kids are going to be sitting in rows. It’s not going to be the same. It’s going to be two days out of the week. And —
AMY GOODMAN: How are they testing the air circulation, Aixa?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ: Testing the air circulation with toilet paper just to see that it’s coming out doesn’t mean that it’s actually good air. I worked in the Martin Luther King building, the same building where that video of the toilet paper test was happening. In fact, that room was on the fourth floor around the corner from my room. And I know that we can’t even handle basic issues in that room when it comes to smells after gym or after lunch, and having to have the door open, having to have a fan in that room, under regular circumstances, let alone understanding that we’re talking about the spread of COVID.
AMY GOODMAN: So, let me ask you about —
AIXA RODRIGUEZ: So, very oppressed as we’re feeling.
AMY GOODMAN: — a major union demand that the mayor did agree to, which is the city would require monthly random testing of between 10 and 20% of students and staff in all city school buildings starting in October, with results back in 48 hours. So, when you go back in, you are not being tested?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ: Not automatically. We got emails suggesting that we do.
AMY GOODMAN: And kids?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ: Highly suggesting — yeah, it’s a suggestion. It’s a hint. There’s no actual plan to make it happen before we set foot in there. It’s a highly suggestive thing, until they get this whole system running, which is why we felt as if this is not — this is not a deal. Like, what is this? It’s, you know, a very hyperbolic, “Oh, we’re the greatest school. We’re going to do the greatest plan, and we did the greatest this.” And then we find that nothing is in place.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to —
AIXA RODRIGUEZ: The nurses are not in place. Nothing.
AMY GOODMAN: And that’s important to talk about. We’re not just talking about teachers; you’re talking about the janitor staff, talking about the nurses — all of the staff that keep these schools going. And just explain: How does it work? Are kids going back every day or a portion of every week? And can kids opt total remote?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ: So, kids can opt total remote. Definitely, they can. The kids who have opted for blended, because parents want to go back to work. We want a little bit of normalcy. They will come two days out of the week and switch the other two days — the other group of kids will come the other two days. So, it’s not like a five-day week. And a lot of parents brought up, “Hold up. Wait a minute. I can’t work like this. My job doesn’t function two days a week. I still have to find child care or some type of supervision for the other three days.” So, it’s a false normal. It’s still remote, regardless of them saying that it’s going to be in person. Three days out of the week will still be remote.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you’re with MORE. MORE is the caucus of UFT. UFT has now agreed with and applauded the mayor for delaying the reopening of the schools, but, moving forward with that, threatening a strike. Are you talking about a wildcat strike?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ: The feeling of betrayal is very, very big. And the fear of life and death is still there. So, I mean, the reality is, the Unity Caucus has been in charge for 60 years, and this is the — we expected to be betrayed, and here we are again, you know, getting our hopes up to actually see some changes and some fixes, and then not even a vote, and a very undemocratic process to even like vote for a vote. To even say that we’re going to have a vote was undemocratic. Overnight, with less than 24 hours, no chances for delegates to talk to their chapters and discuss it with the rank and file. So, there’s many rank and file who really feel as if they have no choice, because their son has chemo and is sick, and they are not allowed to get a medical accommodation because it’s not their condition that’s the problem, their child’s condition.
AMY GOODMAN: Aixa, very quickly, at the beginning of the pandemic, how did the city deal with the pandemic? Do you know how many staff and how many students died here in New York City?
AIXA RODRIGUEZ: So, here’s the question. We got something from 79 to 100 teachers. And the way teachers were labeled or educators were labeled didn’t give a full picture, because they started to chop up the groups. School safety agents were listed under NYPD. Anybody who was under DC 37, the cafeteria workers, custodial, all of those, listed under there, 150, that number. So, if you add up all the different pieces — CSA, which is the administration; the educators that are teachers, also paraprofessionals — it was a significant number, like just like 300, 400 people.
And I have no clue about the students; just anecdotally, from here and there, because a lot of the kids survived, people are still around, but now have health conditions that are lingering from COVID.
So, yeah, the numbers being like talked about is not a full number, because we’re not including everybody who works in a school. If we were to talk about everybody who works in a school, including every single one of those small populations, that’s a bigger number than the 79 to 100 that we’re told were a UFT member.
AMY GOODMAN: Which is still horrifying. Eric Blanc, I wanted to turn to you to put New York in a national context. You wrote the book Red State Revolt: The Teachers’ Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics. Talk about New York being the only school district opting to stay open, the power of the teachers around the country, and what’s happening — the only major school district in the country.
ERIC BLANC: Right. This is the first thing that needs to be highlighted, is that all other big cities in the United States right now have begun with remote learning. And there’s a reason for that: It’s not safe to open schools in the middle of a raging pandemic. Look at Florida. Florida is a really good example. This is one of the exceptions. Florida opened their schools. You’ve seen in the last two-and-a-half weeks a 23% rise in transmission rates amongst children. Just recently, a 6-year-old girl died from the virus. And so, when educators in New York are saying it’s not safe to go back, that’s not just born out of paranoia; that’s born out of looking at what happens when you open the schools.
Other major cities have closed, thankfully, and that’s because of this movement we’ve seen all across the country, a really unprecedented upsurge. It’s even higher than the strikes we saw in 2018 and 2019 in West Virginia, Chicago, Los Angeles. We’ve seen really an unprecedented upsurge all across the country of educators fighting, because they understand this is life or death, not just for themselves, but for their students, for the parents, for the community.
So, I just see, every day, new districts, in red states, blue states, in which teachers are organizing actions. They’re getting on Zoom calls. They’re speaking with parents. And they’re saying, “We want to go back to our classrooms, but only when it’s safe.” That means fully funding our schools. It means taxing the rich, so that we can have safe and equitable schools.
AMY GOODMAN: How responsive have the union leadership been to the rank and file around the country?
ERIC BLANC: Yeah, it’s very uneven. Thankfully, you see really progressive unions, like in Chicago, in Los Angeles, taking the lead of organizing with the rank and file, meeting with parents, and building really the kind of social justice unionism, together with the ranks and parents, to make it so that they were able to keep the schools remote learning in the fall and raise demands on behalf of parents so that the schools are not just opened safely, but fully funded. So, when you see progressive union leadership in alliance with the rank and file, the changes have been really major.
Unfortunately, there are examples — and New York is one of them — in which you see union leaders oftentimes leaning more towards an alliance with Democratic politicians rather than their own memberships. And that’s pitted the leadership against the ranks, because the ranks understand, probably better than anybody else, the conditions in the schools, the fears of the parents, and the understanding that the way you win against billionaires and the politicians that are bought off is not by backroom deals, but through organizing. And it’s through, if necessary, taking disruptive action to force the politicians to do the right thing. Where union leaders have had that stance, they’ve had tremendous support with the ranks. But where they haven’t, you’ve seen real conflicts. And that’s what I think you’re seeing in New York right now.
AMY GOODMAN: What is the push to open the schools? And what about the disparity in learning of wealthier kids who can do it online, have good internet, have computers, have space, and poorer kids? And how do you deal with this?
ERIC BLANC: Yeah, there’s a tremendous amount of hypocrisy being put out there right now, because, nominally, the reason that the schools are being reopened is politicians are saying it’s placing an inordinate burden on working-class parents. There’s some truth to this. Remote learning hurts everybody. But the reality is: Who are the parents who in New York City are going to have the opportunity right now to keep their kids at home? It’s parents who are richer, who are whiter, who have the money to hire child care or to stay at home themselves. So, who’s going to suffer from a premature opening are working-class communities of color, who are forced, by necessity, to send their kids into the schools.
And the reality is, this crisis is a racial justice crisis, and it’s an equity crisis, because you have 118 billionaires in New York alone — right? — who have seen their wealth increase by $45 billion just since the beginning of the pandemic. Why aren’t they paying their fair share? If we tax them sufficiently, you would have more than enough money so that working-class parents, so that communities of color could have a safe reopening, and so parents and educators and students could feel safe. But the fact that we are not taxing the rich like they should means that it’s a lose-lose situation. Remote learning is not a good situation, but it’s even more catastrophic to have a premature school reopening.
AMY GOODMAN: Eric Blanc, I want to thank you for being with us, reporter with Jacobin and The Nation, and Aixa Rodriguez, a New York City ESL teacher, UFT MORE Caucus. That’s the Movement of Rank and File Educators.
Next up, as President Trump visits Kenosha without saying Jacob Blake’s name once, we’ll speak to, well, the former digital editor of the Kenosha News. He just resigned his position in protest of a headline he says mischaracterized an early rally for Jacob Blake. Stay with us.