democracynow--2020-07-10--"Most Important Indian Law Case in Half a Century": Supreme Court Upholds Tribal Sovereignty in OK

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
The Quaranatine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
In a major victory for Indigenous sovereignty , the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that about half of Oklahoma remains Native American land , recognizing a 19th century U.S. treaty with the Muscogee ( Creek ) Nation in a narrow 5-to-4 ruling .
Justice Neil Gorsuch , who joined the court ’ s liberal wing , wrote the majority opinion .
It began , quote , “ On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tears was a promise .
Forced to leave their ancestral lands in Georgia and Alabama , the Creek Nation received assurances that their new lands in the West would be secure forever .
… Because Congress has not said otherwise , we hold the government to its word , ” he wrote .
The landmark decision is based on the case of Jimcy McGirt , a Native man who the state of Oklahoma convicted in 1997 for sex crimes against a 4-year-old child on Muscogee ( Creek ) land .
McGirt argued that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tribe ’ s territory , the state had no jurisdiction to try his case — a claim the Supreme Court affirmed in its decision .
Cherokee writer and advocate Rebecca Nagle tweeted , quote , “ The big news at the Supreme Court today will be Trumps taxes .
But for Indians in Oklahoma , we ’ ll be talking about today for decades .
After a century of # Oklahoma not following our treaty rights , the Supreme Court said no more .
Eastern Oklahoma is Indian Country , ” she wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ historic ruling , we go to Lawrence , Kansas , where we ’ re joined by Sarah Deer , citizen of the Muscogee ( Creek ) Nation , lawyer , professor at the University of Kansas , author of The Beginning and End of Rape : Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America .
Welcome to Democracy Now !
, Sarah Deer .
Can you talk about the significance of the Supreme Court ruling , penned by none other than President Trump ’ s appointee , Neil Gorsuch ?
SARAH DEER : Well , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of all .
You know , it ’ s really interesting that the politics on the court don ’ t necessarily , when it comes to Indian Country , fall into a liberal-conservative division .
Indian law is kind of unique in that way .
In fact , Justice Ginsburg , who , of course , is a woman attorney I have utmost respect for , has not always sided with tribal interests .
But Gorsuch was an interesting selection , because although his social justice issues on other matters are problematic , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ record in the 10th Circuit of recognizing and acknowledging tribal rights .
And so , when he was nominated , in fact , the National Congress of American Indians supported his nomination , because they saw in his writings in the lower courts that he really did understand tribal sovereignty and was willing to look at the history in order to resolve disputes .
AMY GOODMAN : So , again , this ruling says that half of Oklahoma is Native American land .
What does this mean ?
SARAH DEER : Well , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not entirely accurate .
It doesn ’ t mean that the land is all under tribal control now .
What this does is it reasserts the boundaries of the reservation so we know to the extent to which the tribe would have certain kinds of criminal authority .
But , in fact , for most people who have private land , who own private businesses within the confines of the reservation , will not be affected by this decision .
It primarily affects the ability of the tribal government to assert itself in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it doesn ’ t change the status of , say , privately owned land .
AMY GOODMAN : So , let ’ s talk about what Ruth Bader Ginsburg and others raised , the issue of the thousands of convictions that have taken place there , put people in jail .
What does this mean now ?
SARAH DEER : Well , I think there ’ s a lot of overstatements of this potential problem of releasing , you know , thousands of criminals into the streets .
There ’ s been no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going in that direction .
Even though there have been two victories in the 10th Circuit on behalf of Native people , we don ’ t see a flood of Native people using these cases to try to get released .
And in fact , what will happen in most of the serious cases , so the cases involving things like murder and rape and child sexual abuse , is those will not be — those convictions may be overturned in the sense that Oklahoma was the wrong government to be prosecuting them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the federal government will take some of those folks into custody and ensure that the community is safe .
AMY GOODMAN : And , of course , Jimcy McGirt , the man who brought this case , who won , it doesn ’ t mean he goes free .
It means he has to be tried in a federal court now rather than a state court .
Is that right ?
SARAH DEER : Exactly .
And , in fact , he could be tried in tribal court , as well , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The tribe , though , has very limited power to , say , impose incarceration or fines .
And so , oftentimes with these very , very serious crimes , the federal government is the only one that can provide the kind of safety the community might be looking for .
AMY GOODMAN : The ruling was based on the Muscogee ( Creek ) Nation ’ s historic claims but could also affect four other tribes : the Cherokee , the Chickasaw , the Choctaw and Seminole tribes .
I think Jimcy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the wider implications of this ?
SARAH DEER : Sure .
Well , it ’ s a landmark case and probably the most important Indian law case in the last half a century to come down from the court .
It ’ s that powerful .
Certainly , the other four tribes that were on the Trail of Tears — the Cherokees , as you mentioned , and the like — they have very similar treaties that the Creek Nation has .
And so , while there might be some nuance and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treaty plays out for these other tribes , essentially , the question about what these treaties mean has been answered by the court , and so it would be unlikely that the state would be able to litigate successfully against those tribes to try to sort of retain their control over those reservation boundaries .
And beyond that , just the language of the decision itself goes far beyond Oklahoma , because they ’ re reiterating — what Gorsuch is doing is reiterating some foundational principles of tribal sovereignty .
And so his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Indian law cases yet to come .
AMY GOODMAN : So , you have Neil Gorsuch referencing the Trail of Tears .
Describe for us that history .
What happened ?
What forced so many Native Americans into Oklahoma ?
SARAH DEER : Well , there were just many , many wealthy people who wanted access to the land , the plantation land that was so valuable to white landowners in that time period .
See , we were in what is now Alabama and Georgia , where the plantation economies were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the way .
And Indians didn ’ t want to move .
And so , despite the fact that the court in that time period said that the president didn ’ t have the right to remove the tribes , Andrew Jackson did just that and defied the Supreme Court , marched all five tribes at bayonet point to what is now Oklahoma , against our will .
And when we got there , we were promised that we would have the land there forever .
AMY GOODMAN : And talk about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ story , President Trump saying it was his favorite president , and now , for example , the Jackson City Council in Mississippi voting to take down the statute to Andrew Jackson .
SARAH DEER : Yes .
Andrew Jackson was a brutal man .
And he , particularly around my tribe , my tribal ’ s history , the Creek Nation , engaged in warfare , dehumanized us , called us names , had no interest in compassion to be exerted towards our people , and really just marched us to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and many , many tribal members died along the way because the circumstances were so dire .
So we associate — the five tribes in Oklahoma that we ’ ve been talking about do not have any affinity or affection for Andrew Jackson .
He has been the cause of much of our troubles over the last two centuries .
AMY GOODMAN : Sarah Deer , you ’ re a citizen of the Muscogee ( Creek ) Nation .
You ’ re author of the book The Beginning and End of Rape : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This case that the Supreme Court historic decision is based on , Jimcy McGirt was involved in sexually attacking a 4-year-old child .
You have looked at violence against women and girls for years .
Put it in that context for us .
SARAH DEER : Sure .
Well , it certainly seems odd for me to advocate on behalf of a sex offender , given my work .
But in this case , I see a larger issue about safety for Native women and girls and two-spirit people who are victims of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is , while , yes , this McGirt case conviction is overturned , what I would like to see happen , going forward , now that we have this case , is that actually the tribe can pick up some of these cases , because now our territorial reach is larger , and so we can engage in crime control in a larger area of the reservation .
And I believe that tribal sovereignty is going to be key to protecting people from violence , because the state doesn ’ t have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the reservation .
The federal government is far away , you know , taking down Enron and large-scale drug trafficking rings .
And I would like to see the tribal nations , who do have criminal jurisdiction — now that ’ s expanded territorially — to really pick up these cases and try to resolve them in a way that ’ s going to make the community safe but not necessarily replicate the law-and-order model of the state and federal governments .
AMY GOODMAN : Sarah Deer , can you talk about how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Court decision on the last day of the Supreme Court ’ s term , coming down the same day , of course , as the ruling on President Trump ’ s tax returns ?
SARAH DEER : Sure .
Well , I can say the wait has been grueling .
We ’ ve been waiting for this decision for well over a year and a half .
I think that the headlines that I ’ m seeing , even in more sympathetic media , are sort of overstating the case and , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and anxiety for people in Oklahoma .
It doesn ’ t give land back , per se .
And there ’ s nothing that the tribe will be able to do to move people off their privately owned land or run their privately owned businesses .
Very little is going to change on the ground for non-Indians .
And so , when I see headlines like , you know , “ The Tribe Has Been Given Back Land , ” it overstates it quite a bit .
While it ’ s still an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ giving the tribe power over most people that live on the reservation who are non-Native .
AMY GOODMAN : And so , putting this in the context of all the protests in this country right now around racial injustice , around the whole Black Lives Matter movement , around people of color being so violated over the years , yet not recognized , changing the narrative , can you talk about how you see this decision changing the narrative and fitting into this uprising around the country ?
SARAH DEER : Sure .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gorsuch — Gorsuch is a beautiful writer .
And there ’ s no doubt in my mind that he used logic and legal reasoning to reach his decision .
But his writing conveys something a little bit more , that we typically don ’ t see from the court , and that is a sense of empathy and compassion .
And again , I ’ m not suggesting that was the basis of his decision , but to offer that in the rhetoric of his prose gives me great , great hope .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ coming at a very interesting time .
While this case actually precedes the rising up of the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement , I think it ’ s part of that same — the same effort to raise awareness about oppression .
And I think that Native people owe a debt of gratitude to the leadership of Black Lives Matter , because in raising those issues of race and injustice , we ’ ve also been able to elevate the issues of Native racism and injustice .
And people who are sympathetic to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amenable to the sympathies for Native people .
So I think it ’ s not a coincidence that this case comes out at that kind of time .
AMY GOODMAN : We have to leave it there .
Sarah Deer , citizen of the Muscogee ( Creek ) Nation , we thank you so much .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
Stay safe .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! The Quaranatine Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
In a major victory for Indigenous sovereignty, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that about half of Oklahoma remains Native American land, recognizing a 19th century U.S. treaty with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in a narrow 5-to-4 ruling.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, who joined the court’s liberal wing, wrote the majority opinion. It began, quote, “On the far end of the Trail of Tears was a promise. Forced to leave their ancestral lands in Georgia and Alabama, the Creek Nation received assurances that their new lands in the West would be secure forever. … Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word,” he wrote.
The landmark decision is based on the case of Jimcy McGirt, a Native man who the state of Oklahoma convicted in 1997 for sex crimes against a 4-year-old child on Muscogee (Creek) land. McGirt argued that because the crime took place on the tribe’s territory, the state had no jurisdiction to try his case — a claim the Supreme Court affirmed in its decision.
Cherokee writer and advocate Rebecca Nagle tweeted, quote, “The big news at the Supreme Court today will be Trumps taxes. But for Indians in Oklahoma, we’ll be talking about today for decades. After a century of #Oklahoma not following our treaty rights, the Supreme Court said no more. Eastern Oklahoma is Indian Country,” she wrote.
Well, for more on this historic ruling, we go to Lawrence, Kansas, where we’re joined by Sarah Deer, citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, lawyer, professor at the University of Kansas, author of The Beginning and End of Rape: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Sarah Deer. Can you talk about the significance of the Supreme Court ruling, penned by none other than President Trump’s appointee, Neil Gorsuch?
SARAH DEER: Well, thank you for having me, first of all.
You know, it’s really interesting that the politics on the court don’t necessarily, when it comes to Indian Country, fall into a liberal-conservative division. Indian law is kind of unique in that way. In fact, Justice Ginsburg, who, of course, is a woman attorney I have utmost respect for, has not always sided with tribal interests.
But Gorsuch was an interesting selection, because although his social justice issues on other matters are problematic, he actually has a pretty good track record in the 10th Circuit of recognizing and acknowledging tribal rights. And so, when he was nominated, in fact, the National Congress of American Indians supported his nomination, because they saw in his writings in the lower courts that he really did understand tribal sovereignty and was willing to look at the history in order to resolve disputes.
AMY GOODMAN: So, again, this ruling says that half of Oklahoma is Native American land. What does this mean?
SARAH DEER: Well, I have to say that’s not entirely accurate. It doesn’t mean that the land is all under tribal control now. What this does is it reasserts the boundaries of the reservation so we know to the extent to which the tribe would have certain kinds of criminal authority. But, in fact, for most people who have private land, who own private businesses within the confines of the reservation, will not be affected by this decision. It primarily affects the ability of the tribal government to assert itself in partnership with the federal government, but it doesn’t change the status of, say, privately owned land.
AMY GOODMAN: So, let’s talk about what Ruth Bader Ginsburg and others raised, the issue of the thousands of convictions that have taken place there, put people in jail. What does this mean now?
SARAH DEER: Well, I think there’s a lot of overstatements of this potential problem of releasing, you know, thousands of criminals into the streets. There’s been no indication that there’s a trend going in that direction. Even though there have been two victories in the 10th Circuit on behalf of Native people, we don’t see a flood of Native people using these cases to try to get released.
And in fact, what will happen in most of the serious cases, so the cases involving things like murder and rape and child sexual abuse, is those will not be — those convictions may be overturned in the sense that Oklahoma was the wrong government to be prosecuting them, but there’s no doubt that the federal government will take some of those folks into custody and ensure that the community is safe.
AMY GOODMAN: And, of course, Jimcy McGirt, the man who brought this case, who won, it doesn’t mean he goes free. It means he has to be tried in a federal court now rather than a state court. Is that right?
SARAH DEER: Exactly. And, in fact, he could be tried in tribal court, as well, because the tribe also shares that jurisdiction. The tribe, though, has very limited power to, say, impose incarceration or fines. And so, oftentimes with these very, very serious crimes, the federal government is the only one that can provide the kind of safety the community might be looking for.
AMY GOODMAN: The ruling was based on the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s historic claims but could also affect four other tribes: the Cherokee, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw and Seminole tribes. I think Jimcy McGirt is Seminole. Can you talk about the wider implications of this?
SARAH DEER: Sure. Well, it’s a landmark case and probably the most important Indian law case in the last half a century to come down from the court. It’s that powerful. Certainly, the other four tribes that were on the Trail of Tears — the Cherokees, as you mentioned, and the like — they have very similar treaties that the Creek Nation has. And so, while there might be some nuance and difference in terms of exactly how the treaty plays out for these other tribes, essentially, the question about what these treaties mean has been answered by the court, and so it would be unlikely that the state would be able to litigate successfully against those tribes to try to sort of retain their control over those reservation boundaries.
And beyond that, just the language of the decision itself goes far beyond Oklahoma, because they’re reiterating — what Gorsuch is doing is reiterating some foundational principles of tribal sovereignty. And so his analysis will have implications for all kinds of Indian law cases yet to come.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you have Neil Gorsuch referencing the Trail of Tears. Describe for us that history. What happened? What forced so many Native Americans into Oklahoma?
SARAH DEER: Well, there were just many, many wealthy people who wanted access to the land, the plantation land that was so valuable to white landowners in that time period. See, we were in what is now Alabama and Georgia, where the plantation economies were at their strongest. And Indians were in the way. And Indians didn’t want to move.
And so, despite the fact that the court in that time period said that the president didn’t have the right to remove the tribes, Andrew Jackson did just that and defied the Supreme Court, marched all five tribes at bayonet point to what is now Oklahoma, against our will. And when we got there, we were promised that we would have the land there forever.
AMY GOODMAN: And talk about how President Andrew Jackson fits into this story, President Trump saying it was his favorite president, and now, for example, the Jackson City Council in Mississippi voting to take down the statute to Andrew Jackson.
SARAH DEER: Yes. Andrew Jackson was a brutal man. And he, particularly around my tribe, my tribal’s history, the Creek Nation, engaged in warfare, dehumanized us, called us names, had no interest in compassion to be exerted towards our people, and really just marched us to a death march, west to Oklahoma, and many, many tribal members died along the way because the circumstances were so dire. So we associate — the five tribes in Oklahoma that we’ve been talking about do not have any affinity or affection for Andrew Jackson. He has been the cause of much of our troubles over the last two centuries.
AMY GOODMAN: Sarah Deer, you’re a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. You’re author of the book The Beginning and End of Rape: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America. This case that the Supreme Court historic decision is based on, Jimcy McGirt was involved in sexually attacking a 4-year-old child. You have looked at violence against women and girls for years. Put it in that context for us.
SARAH DEER: Sure. Well, it certainly seems odd for me to advocate on behalf of a sex offender, given my work. But in this case, I see a larger issue about safety for Native women and girls and two-spirit people who are victims of violence, because what this is doing is, while, yes, this McGirt case conviction is overturned, what I would like to see happen, going forward, now that we have this case, is that actually the tribe can pick up some of these cases, because now our territorial reach is larger, and so we can engage in crime control in a larger area of the reservation.
And I believe that tribal sovereignty is going to be key to protecting people from violence, because the state doesn’t have a vested interest in necessarily the safety of the reservation. The federal government is far away, you know, taking down Enron and large-scale drug trafficking rings. And I would like to see the tribal nations, who do have criminal jurisdiction — now that’s expanded territorially — to really pick up these cases and try to resolve them in a way that’s going to make the community safe but not necessarily replicate the law-and-order model of the state and federal governments.
AMY GOODMAN: Sarah Deer, can you talk about how the media has covered this historic Supreme Court decision on the last day of the Supreme Court’s term, coming down the same day, of course, as the ruling on President Trump’s tax returns?
SARAH DEER: Sure. Well, I can say the wait has been grueling. We’ve been waiting for this decision for well over a year and a half. I think that the headlines that I’m seeing, even in more sympathetic media, are sort of overstating the case and, I think, creating a lot of fear and anxiety for people in Oklahoma. It doesn’t give land back, per se. And there’s nothing that the tribe will be able to do to move people off their privately owned land or run their privately owned businesses. Very little is going to change on the ground for non-Indians. And so, when I see headlines like, you know, “The Tribe Has Been Given Back Land,” it overstates it quite a bit. While it’s still an important case, it’s not giving the tribe power over most people that live on the reservation who are non-Native.
AMY GOODMAN: And so, putting this in the context of all the protests in this country right now around racial injustice, around the whole Black Lives Matter movement, around people of color being so violated over the years, yet not recognized, changing the narrative, can you talk about how you see this decision changing the narrative and fitting into this uprising around the country?
SARAH DEER: Sure. Well, I think that the way Gorsuch — Gorsuch is a beautiful writer. And there’s no doubt in my mind that he used logic and legal reasoning to reach his decision. But his writing conveys something a little bit more, that we typically don’t see from the court, and that is a sense of empathy and compassion. And again, I’m not suggesting that was the basis of his decision, but to offer that in the rhetoric of his prose gives me great, great hope.
And I do think that this is coming at a very interesting time. While this case actually precedes the rising up of the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement, I think it’s part of that same — the same effort to raise awareness about oppression. And I think that Native people owe a debt of gratitude to the leadership of Black Lives Matter, because in raising those issues of race and injustice, we’ve also been able to elevate the issues of Native racism and injustice. And people who are sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement are more amenable to the sympathies for Native people. So I think it’s not a coincidence that this case comes out at that kind of time.
AMY GOODMAN: We have to leave it there. Sarah Deer, citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, we thank you so much. I’m Amy Goodman. Stay safe.


democracynow--2020-07-10--"House of Absolute Horrors": Mary Trump's Book Reveals How Trump Family Gave Rise to a "Sociopath"

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : So , let ’ s talk about that .
Let ’ s talk about Donald Trump ’ s niece , Mary Trump , a clinical psychologist , and her new book , Too Much and Never Enough : How My Family Created the World ’ s Most Dangerous Man .
Mary Trump ’ s father was Fred Trump Jr .
He was Donald Trump ’ s older brother .
Fred Jr. died of a heart attack in 1981 after a struggle with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that after Donald Trump ’ s inauguration , quote , “ the smallest thing — seeing Donald ’ s face or hearing my own name , both of which happened dozens of times a day — took me back to the time when my father had withered and died beneath the cruelty and contempt of my grandfather .
I had lost him when he was only 42 and I was 16 .
The horror of Donald ’ s cruelty was being magnified by the fact that his acts were now official U.S. policy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she wrote .
Donald Trump ’ s younger brother , Robert , is seeking to block the sale of the book , saying it violates a confidentially agreement .
However , the publisher , Simon & Schuster , told a court Thursday that 600,000 copies of the book have already been distributed , ahead of its July 14th publishing date .
A court ruling is expected any day now .
And though the book is out , Mary Trump has been enjoined from speaking .
So , talk about , since you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and written about some of what she writes about in this book , the significance of this book .
DAVID CAY JOHNSTON : Well , we ’ ve broadly known that the house Donald Trump grew up in was a house of absolute horrors .
His father was a monster .
He was a very , very competent businessman , but he was corrupt .
His business partner was a front for the Genovese and Gambino crime families .
But what Mary brings to this book is an insider ’ s knowledge , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So she ’ s able to tell anecdotes we have never heard before .
There ’ s lots of new information like that .
She ’ s able to connect the nature of this house and what went on .
I mean , on the night that her father had his heart attack and was taken from the Trump father , Fred Trump , and Mary Trump ’ s mansion to the hospital , the parents just sat in the living room and did nothing .
And Donald and his sister Elizabeth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of people do that ?
This is not a house of love .
This is a house of lucre , where the only thing that matters and the only measurement was : How much money did you bring in today ?
Who did you cheat today ?
It didn ’ t matter if you lie , cheat and steal , so long as you got the money .
That made you a winner .
And Donald Trump , recognizing that his older brother was not built to deal with dad — he withered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ escape him , he was a pilot for TWA airlines for a period of time — saw opportunity .
And he then shaped himself to be what his father wanted , to be the magnification of his father .
And , in fact , many of Donald Trump ’ s stunts , I ’ ve written about in the past , as have others , actually began with Fred Trump .
He just was not as widely known outside of the outer boroughs of New York .
I think this is a very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s not terribly long .
It ’ s crisply written .
And I encourage everybody to read this book .
I think it will open people ’ s eyes to how did this sociopath get to the White House .
AMY GOODMAN : And that ’ s certainly what the psychologist , his niece , calls him , a “ sociopath.
” Finally , Mary Trump alleges that President Trump , Donald Trump , paid a friend to take his SATs .
DAVID CAY JOHNSTON : Well , at the time that you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it was easy to hire someone to cheat for you .
Today they have photo IDs and proctors , and they check all these things .
But , I mean , it was not unheard of during the ’ 60s for rich boys to hire other — or maybe rich girls — to hire other people to take their tests .
And , of course , we had colleges all over the place that were accepting students who were not qualified , and helping them evade the draft , which meant that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poor boys , went off to die in Vietnam .
Well , Donald Trump has famously said , you know , he was dodging venereal disease in Manhattan with all the women he was chasing , and that was his Vietnam .
AMY GOODMAN : David Cay Johnston , I want to thank you very much for being with us , and we ’ ll continue to cover these stories , Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter , previously with The New York Times , now with DCReport.org .
He has written two books on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we look at another major Supreme Court decision , delivering a major victory for Indigenous sovereignty in Oklahoma .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: So, let’s talk about that. Let’s talk about Donald Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, a clinical psychologist, and her new book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man. Mary Trump’s father was Fred Trump Jr. He was Donald Trump’s older brother. Fred Jr. died of a heart attack in 1981 after a struggle with alcohol and addiction.
Mary Trump wrote that after Donald Trump’s inauguration, quote, “the smallest thing — seeing Donald’s face or hearing my own name, both of which happened dozens of times a day — took me back to the time when my father had withered and died beneath the cruelty and contempt of my grandfather. I had lost him when he was only 42 and I was 16. The horror of Donald’s cruelty was being magnified by the fact that his acts were now official U.S. policy, affecting millions of people,” she wrote.
Donald Trump’s younger brother, Robert, is seeking to block the sale of the book, saying it violates a confidentially agreement. However, the publisher, Simon & Schuster, told a court Thursday that 600,000 copies of the book have already been distributed, ahead of its July 14th publishing date. A court ruling is expected any day now. And though the book is out, Mary Trump has been enjoined from speaking.
So, talk about, since you’ve written two books on Donald Trump and written about some of what she writes about in this book, the significance of this book.
DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Well, we’ve broadly known that the house Donald Trump grew up in was a house of absolute horrors. His father was a monster. He was a very, very competent businessman, but he was corrupt. His business partner was a front for the Genovese and Gambino crime families.
But what Mary brings to this book is an insider’s knowledge, combined with her Ph.D. in clinical psychology. So she’s able to tell anecdotes we have never heard before. There’s lots of new information like that. She’s able to connect the nature of this house and what went on.
I mean, on the night that her father had his heart attack and was taken from the Trump father, Fred Trump, and Mary Trump’s mansion to the hospital, the parents just sat in the living room and did nothing. And Donald and his sister Elizabeth went to the movies. What kind of people do that? This is not a house of love. This is a house of lucre, where the only thing that matters and the only measurement was: How much money did you bring in today? Who did you cheat today? It didn’t matter if you lie, cheat and steal, so long as you got the money. That made you a winner.
And Donald Trump, recognizing that his older brother was not built to deal with dad — he withered under his father, he tried to escape him, he was a pilot for TWA airlines for a period of time — saw opportunity. And he then shaped himself to be what his father wanted, to be the magnification of his father. And, in fact, many of Donald Trump’s stunts, I’ve written about in the past, as have others, actually began with Fred Trump. He just was not as widely known outside of the outer boroughs of New York.
I think this is a very, very important book. It’s not terribly long. It’s crisply written. And I encourage everybody to read this book. I think it will open people’s eyes to how did this sociopath get to the White House.
AMY GOODMAN: And that’s certainly what the psychologist, his niece, calls him, a “sociopath.” Finally, Mary Trump alleges that President Trump, Donald Trump, paid a friend to take his SATs.
DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Well, at the time that you and I would have taken our SATs, it was easy to hire someone to cheat for you. Today they have photo IDs and proctors, and they check all these things. But, I mean, it was not unheard of during the ’60s for rich boys to hire other — or maybe rich girls — to hire other people to take their tests. And, of course, we had colleges all over the place that were accepting students who were not qualified, and helping them evade the draft, which meant that poor boys, often Black and Brown poor boys, went off to die in Vietnam. Well, Donald Trump has famously said, you know, he was dodging venereal disease in Manhattan with all the women he was chasing, and that was his Vietnam.
AMY GOODMAN: David Cay Johnston, I want to thank you very much for being with us, and we’ll continue to cover these stories, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, previously with The New York Times, now with DCReport.org. He has written two books on Donald Trump.
When we come back, we look at another major Supreme Court decision, delivering a major victory for Indigenous sovereignty in Oklahoma. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-07-10--Supreme Court Rules Trump Is Not Above the Law, But Public Unlikely to See Tax Returns by Election

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
In a pair of 7-to-2 rulings , the Supreme Court has rejected President Trump ’ s claim of absolute immunity under the law .
The court ruled a Manhattan grand jury can have access to the president ’ s tax returns , but it remains unlikely any of Trump ’ s tax returns will be seen before the election .
In both cases , Chief Justice John Roberts , Brett Kavanaugh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ justices .
Roberts wrote , quote , “ In our system , the public has a right to every man ’ s evidence [ and ] since the founding of the Republic , every man has included the President of the United States.
” Chief Justice Roberts cited historic rulings requiring President Richard Nixon to release tapes from his Oval Office conversations and President Bill Clinton to provide evidence in a sexual harassment lawsuit .
He also relied on an 1807 trial in which Aaron Burr subpoenaed Thomas Jefferson , a move Chief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time .
Roberts wrote , quote , “ Two hundred years ago , a great jurist of our Court established that no citizen , not even the President , is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding .
We reaffirm that principle today and hold that the President is neither absolutely immune from state criminal subpoenas seeking his private papers nor entitled to a heightened standard of need.
” In a separate decision , the court affirmed that Congress can subpoena records from a president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reconsider the significant separation of powers concerns before such subpoenas are approved .
Donald Trump lashed out at the rulings .
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP : Well , the rulings were basically starting all over again , sending everything back down to the lower courts , and you start all over again .
And so , from a certain point , I ’ m satisfied .
From another point , I ’ m not satisfied , because , frankly , this is a political witch hunt , the likes of which nobody ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a pure witch hunt .
It ’ s a hoax , just like the Mueller investigation was a hoax , that I won .
And this is another hoax .
This is purely political .
I win at the federal level , and we won very decisively , and so they send it into New York .
And you know what ’ s going on in New York .
Everyone ’ s leaving .
It ’ s turned out to be a hellhole .
AMY GOODMAN : We go now to Rochester , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ joined by David Cay Johnston , Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist , previously with The New York Times , now founder and editor of DCReport.org , has reported on Donald Trump for 30 years , his recent piece headlined “ The Supreme Court Hands Trump An Election Boost.
” He ’ s written two books on President Trump .
Your former newspaper , The New York Times , David , its headline , six-column banner headline , “ President Is Not 'Above the Law , ' Justices Decide.
” And President Trump calls this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
DAVID CAY JOHNSTON : Well , it is not the least bit surprising that all nine justices , including the two dissenters , agree that the president of the United States is not above the law and must comply with lawful subpoenas .
What ’ s troubling about the decision is that the court didn ’ t say , “ And the subpoena may be enforced forthwith.
” Instead , they sent it back to the U.S. District Court in Manhattan , where there will be further wrangling over this .
Now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complaints about the Manhattan grand jury subpoena to federal court , removed it from the state court in so doing .
The Supreme Court , therefore , could have said , you know , “ You chose your forum to seek your remedies .
You ’ ve lost .
And the subpoena is proper.
” By taking this back to a lower court , it has encouraged further litigation , which may be very brief or may go on for months .
And that benefits Trump politically .
So , legally , Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ m sorry , legally , he had a big loss ; politically , he got a win out of this court .
And this decision , I think , also reinforces a very disturbing trend in the Roberts court , which seems to be that if you ’ re wealthy and can afford more due process , the court will encourage you to get all the due process you want .
That sends a signal to prosecutors and regulators not to mess with people who are going to fight back , because they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so just look the other way or don ’ t pick up cases like this .
AMY GOODMAN : So , in terms of the election , this was a big political win for Donald Trump , though he didn ’ t exactly take it that way , though his attorney , of course , who argued before the Supreme Court , took it as a big win .
But talk about the difference between the congressional case and the New York case , because in the New York case , you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What could happen , even after Trump steps down , if he agrees to , as president of the United States ?
DAVID CAY JOHNSTON : Well , Donald Trump can — and , I suspect , likely will — pardon himself , assuming he is voted out of office .
And that ’ s no certainty at all .
But that only covers federal crimes .
The New York case is a state case , brought by the district attorney in Manhattan , and presidential pardons do not apply .
The Manhattan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Donald Trump ’ s federal tax returns , because the IRS and all the states share information with one another .
What they don ’ t have and what they ’ re seeking with a subpoena are the business records and accounting records , because if those don ’ t line up , if Donald Trump ’ s tax returns deviate from the business and accounting records , then that ’ s fraud .
Now , the other case , which was also 7 to 2 , involved Congress ’ s duty , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , after all , makes the laws .
And the president , the executive , basically is assigned to do and fulfill the obligations and responsibilities that Congress assigns to him .
However , in this case , the three committees issued very , very broad subpoenas .
I mean , they wanted stuff down to credit card records .
And the court was skeptical of the scope of that claim , and perhaps rightly so .
I think that the proper groundwork wasn ’ t laid there .
On the other hand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ key members of the House , says they will now go back and lay the groundwork for this so that they can obtain the records they ’ re seeking of the president .
And keep in mind that Donald Trump has worked very hard to hide his business records , and we know why .
I revealed four years ago that he had had two income tax fraud trials over his 1984 tax return .
They were civil fraud , not criminal fraud .
The New York Times , in a work that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said was inspired by my work , wrote this remarkable , absolutely perfectly executed piece in October of 2018 , in which they said flat out Donald Trump and his siblings are serial tax cheats .
And we now know that the principal source of records that they used for this came from Mary Trump , Donald Trump ’ s niece , who just published a book about him .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman. In a pair of 7-to-2 rulings, the Supreme Court has rejected President Trump’s claim of absolute immunity under the law. The court ruled a Manhattan grand jury can have access to the president’s tax returns, but it remains unlikely any of Trump’s tax returns will be seen before the election. In both cases, Chief Justice John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch sided with the liberal justices.
Roberts wrote, quote, “In our system, the public has a right to every man’s evidence [and] since the founding of the Republic, every man has included the President of the United States.” Chief Justice Roberts cited historic rulings requiring President Richard Nixon to release tapes from his Oval Office conversations and President Bill Clinton to provide evidence in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
He also relied on an 1807 trial in which Aaron Burr subpoenaed Thomas Jefferson, a move Chief Justice John Marshall deemed legal at the time. Roberts wrote, quote, “Two hundred years ago, a great jurist of our Court established that no citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding. We reaffirm that principle today and hold that the President is neither absolutely immune from state criminal subpoenas seeking his private papers nor entitled to a heightened standard of need.”
In a separate decision, the court affirmed that Congress can subpoena records from a president, but ordered a lower court to reconsider the significant separation of powers concerns before such subpoenas are approved.
Donald Trump lashed out at the rulings.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, the rulings were basically starting all over again, sending everything back down to the lower courts, and you start all over again. And so, from a certain point, I’m satisfied. From another point, I’m not satisfied, because, frankly, this is a political witch hunt, the likes of which nobody’s ever seen before. It’s a pure witch hunt. It’s a hoax, just like the Mueller investigation was a hoax, that I won. And this is another hoax. This is purely political. I win at the federal level, and we won very decisively, and so they send it into New York. And you know what’s going on in New York. Everyone’s leaving. It’s turned out to be a hellhole.
AMY GOODMAN: We go now to Rochester, New York, where we’re joined by David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, previously with The New York Times, now founder and editor of DCReport.org, has reported on Donald Trump for 30 years, his recent piece headlined “The Supreme Court Hands Trump An Election Boost.” He’s written two books on President Trump.
Your former newspaper, The New York Times, David, its headline, six-column banner headline, “President Is Not 'Above the Law,' Justices Decide.” And President Trump calls this whole thing a hoax. Your response?
DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Well, it is not the least bit surprising that all nine justices, including the two dissenters, agree that the president of the United States is not above the law and must comply with lawful subpoenas.
What’s troubling about the decision is that the court didn’t say, “And the subpoena may be enforced forthwith.” Instead, they sent it back to the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where there will be further wrangling over this. Now, Donald Trump chose to take his complaints about the Manhattan grand jury subpoena to federal court, removed it from the state court in so doing. The Supreme Court, therefore, could have said, you know, “You chose your forum to seek your remedies. You’ve lost. And the subpoena is proper.” By taking this back to a lower court, it has encouraged further litigation, which may be very brief or may go on for months. And that benefits Trump politically. So, legally, Trump had a big loss — I’m sorry, legally, he had a big loss; politically, he got a win out of this court.
And this decision, I think, also reinforces a very disturbing trend in the Roberts court, which seems to be that if you’re wealthy and can afford more due process, the court will encourage you to get all the due process you want. That sends a signal to prosecutors and regulators not to mess with people who are going to fight back, because they will tie up your limited resources, so just look the other way or don’t pick up cases like this.
AMY GOODMAN: So, in terms of the election, this was a big political win for Donald Trump, though he didn’t exactly take it that way, though his attorney, of course, who argued before the Supreme Court, took it as a big win. But talk about the difference between the congressional case and the New York case, because in the New York case, you’re talking about a criminal prosecution. What could happen, even after Trump steps down, if he agrees to, as president of the United States?
DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Well, Donald Trump can — and, I suspect, likely will — pardon himself, assuming he is voted out of office. And that’s no certainty at all. But that only covers federal crimes. The New York case is a state case, brought by the district attorney in Manhattan, and presidential pardons do not apply. The Manhattan district attorney already has the information on Donald Trump’s federal tax returns, because the IRS and all the states share information with one another. What they don’t have and what they’re seeking with a subpoena are the business records and accounting records, because if those don’t line up, if Donald Trump’s tax returns deviate from the business and accounting records, then that’s fraud.
Now, the other case, which was also 7 to 2, involved Congress’s duty, powers and rights of oversight. Congress, after all, makes the laws. And the president, the executive, basically is assigned to do and fulfill the obligations and responsibilities that Congress assigns to him. However, in this case, the three committees issued very, very broad subpoenas. I mean, they wanted stuff down to credit card records. And the court was skeptical of the scope of that claim, and perhaps rightly so. I think that the proper groundwork wasn’t laid there. On the other hand, Adam Schiff, one of the key members of the House, says they will now go back and lay the groundwork for this so that they can obtain the records they’re seeking of the president.
And keep in mind that Donald Trump has worked very hard to hide his business records, and we know why. I revealed four years ago that he had had two income tax fraud trials over his 1984 tax return. They were civil fraud, not criminal fraud. The New York Times, in a work that they, in print, very nicely said was inspired by my work, wrote this remarkable, absolutely perfectly executed piece in October of 2018, in which they said flat out Donald Trump and his siblings are serial tax cheats. And we now know that the principal source of records that they used for this came from Mary Trump, Donald Trump’s niece, who just published a book about him.


democracynow--2020-07-10--Brazilian Epidemiologist Slams Bolsonaro's COVID Response as Far-Right President Tests Positive

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : We begin today ’ s show in Brazil , where coronavirus cases are soaring .
More than 1.7 million people have tested positive .
Nearly 70,000 have died .
Brazil is the second-hardest-hit nation in the world after the United States .
On Tuesday , the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro announced he had tested positive for COVID-19 , after months of downplaying the severity of the pandemic .
He recently developed a high fever and a cough , and said he ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s been proven ineffective against COVID-19 , in some cases deadly .
AMY GOODMAN : As President Bolsonaro announced he had tested positive , he took off his mask .
Some of the reporters who were present have now been put in quarantine , and the Brazilian Press Association has filed a criminal complaint to the Brazilian Supreme Court .
They allege Bolsonaro committed at least two crimes , by putting someone ’ s life or health at imminent risk and failing to prevent the spread of an infectious disease .
All @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 55 days with no health minister .
The last two were fired or resigned within 30 days of each other for endorsing science .
The grandmother of Brazil ’ s first lady Michelle Bolsonaro is also suffering from COVID-19 .
She was recently transferred to an ICU unit and is reportedly intubated .
For more , we go to Brazil , where we ’ re joined by Cesar Victora , a Brazilian epidemiologist who led the first study to assess the prevalence of coronavirus in Brazil .
He coordinates the International Center for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Pelotas in Brazil , where he ’ s emeritus professor of epidemiology .
He also has honorary appointments at Oxford , Harvard and Johns Hopkins universities .
Professor Victora , thanks so much for joining us .
Can you talk about your president testing positive as he has downplayed the pandemic , calling it a “ little flu , ” taking off his mask at his press briefing , exposing journalists , and then the bigger story of what ’ s happening in Brazil , directly connected , I believe , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ morning , Amy .
Thanks for the invitation .
It ’ s a real pleasure to be here today .
Bad political leadership is a major risk factor for the spread of the pandemic , not only in Brazil , but also in your own country .
Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied the importance of the pandemic .
As you just mentioned , he dismissed two health ministers who were against the use of hydroxychloroquine and were in favor of social distancing .
He has repeatedly joined crowds in front of his presidential palace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he hugs people and people take selfies with him .
And there ’ s been very few times he has worn a mask .
Even now as he gave the news that he was infected , then he took a couple steps back , and he removed his mask in front of a whole team of journalists , who — the Press Association now suing him .
So , the bad leadership means that the federal government is saying this is not — you know , this is a “ small flu , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and nobody will — you know , it will only affect a few people , it ’ s not severe , and that means that social distancing is not important .
He ’ s been in sharp contrast with many state governors and city mayors , who have been acting in a much more responsible way .
But the contradictory advice that the population is getting from a president who says , “ This is not a big problem , and you should not worry about it .
Let ’ s reopen the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good advice provided by medical associations , by scientists , by many state governors and city mayors — so , it ’ s a very complicated situation .
AMY GOODMAN : I wanted to ask about his approach to those in rainforest area , Indigenous people throughout Brazil , as he vetoed legislation to help them , also talked about the possibility of sending the military in to bring them hydroxychloroquine .
Of course , this is the drug that President Trump touted , that turns out , in a number of studies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but could possibly be deadly with coronary implications .
CESAR VICTORA : Oh , absolutely .
Let me tell you what ’ s happening to the rainforest now , because everybody ’ s concerned about the pandemic .
And so , deforestation is now at a record pace , because the first thing that Bolsonaro did , well before the pandemic , he and his minister of environment , who is a very controversial person , they have relaxed all the system that took account of deforestation , including the satellite photos and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ top — one of the top Brazilian scientists , who was in charge of that surveillance system , which would show record levels of deforestation .
At the same time , he has always — you know , since he was — he ’ s been for 28 years a member of parliament , in the House in Brazil .
And he was always saying Indigenous people should not be protected , they have to be brought into civilization , he would reduce the size of Indigenous reservations and so on .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , you can ’ t blame him for doing what he said he would do .
You know , those people who voted for him knew who he was .
It was amazing that he actually got about 55 % of the vote in Brazil .
Many of those people have repented and now regretting having ever voted for him .
But I just wanted to give you a little bit of data on the Indigenous population .
We have completed now three rounds of surveys , each one in the largest 133 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is our sample size in each round .
The most hardly affected groups are Indigenous people .
They ’ re five times as likely to have antibodies against COVID , which means that they have been exposed to the virus , than whites .
So it ’ s a fivefold difference between Indigenous population and whites .
And the government is playing down these numbers , completely trying to avoid disseminating these results , because they think it will look bad for Brazil , which obviously it does , and also because they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Indigenous population .
AMY GOODMAN : We interviewed Sebastião Salgado , the — well , as you know , famous — AMY GOODMAN : — world-famous Brazilian photojournalist , who charges Bolsonaro with genocide against the Indigenous people , with how he is dealing with the virus , particularly in relation to the Indigenous population .
CESAR VICTORA : Absolutely .
And this issue of , you know , his proposal of distributing chloroquine to the Indigenous population through the Army is complete nonsense .
It ’ s completely — you know , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Brazil , the Medical Association , the specialist groups .
And he actually is — you know , what may well happen — he is taking hydroxychloroquine for his COVID .
We know that COVID has a case fatality rate which is pretty low , so most people survive .
So , the next step , if he survives , which he ’ s very likely to do , is that he will take credit for it and say , “ That ’ s because I took hydroxychloroquine.
” I mean , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
His argument is that , since there ’ s nothing else to do , why not take chloroquine ?
But , as you just said , Amy , it has very serious cardiovascular side effects that could actually kill the person , rather than being killed by COVID .
AMY GOODMAN : Dr. Cesar Victora , you led the first study that assessed the prevalence of coronavirus in Brazil , and you said , in fact , there are several epidemics .
Explain .
CESAR VICTORA : Exactly .
You know , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the epidemic came through the Amazon River , which was not where we expected .
We thought it would be arriving in Rio , in São Paulo , in the touristy cities in the northeast where lots of Italians , for example , come in for holidays .
And actually , our hypothesis right now is that there ’ s a lot of — there are several Chinese industries in the city of Manaus , which is the largest city in the Amazon .
And Manaus is a tax-free industrial hub , where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ factories and sell to Brazil without paying importation tax .
So , there ’ s a strong exchange between Manaus , which is the first city in the Amazon where COVID was detected , as early as February .
And from Manaus , people travel in boats to the rest of the Amazon region .
These boats are always overcrowded .
And the boat trips take several hours , and even , for some cities , it takes two or three days by boat .
So , being in a crowded boat with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ why the Amazon was hit so hard .
Now , the epidemic in the Amazon is already going down .
In some cities , we tested 25 % of the population had antibodies , which is a very , very high level .
Now it ’ s going down in the northeast and moving — in the north and moving to the northeast , which is also a very poor area .
The north and northeast are the two poorest areas in the country .
We , here in the south , where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have relatively low prevalence , but it ’ s also increasing rapidly in the last couple weeks .
So , it ’ s several epidemics .
And the striking thing is , it did start with the white , educated , rich people , who traveled abroad and who came from Italy , for example , or Spain .
But now it ’ s disseminating through the population .
And the poor Brazilians — the poorest 20 % of the population is twice more likely to have antibodies than the richest 20 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have antibodies than whites .
Indigenous are particularly high-risk , too .
AMY GOODMAN : So , let ’ s talk about why this is , Dr. Victora , the extreme inequality in Brazil , both class and racial .
Brazil ’ s six richest men in the country hold the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the population .
Explain why there are these disparities .
CESAR VICTORA : Well , this is part of our historical pattern , our colonization , which is , the Portuguese , when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in , they gave large pieces of land — and I mean , you know , seriously , millions of acres to people , to Portuguese people , to settle .
Most of the settlement of Brazil was done by people — unlike the United States , they were not moving to a new country to make that their homeland .
They were not escaping from conditions of poverty or religious persecution in Europe .
They were just people who came here to make money and go back .
So , the land @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and it led to this issue that we now have a small proportion of rich people — and not only farmers , it ’ s industry and everything , but it led to this hugely segregated society .
Also , Brazil had the largest number of African slaves brought , relative to any other country in America — in the Americas .
So , the Black population , the African Brazilians , have always been kept in very poor conditions of living and so on .
And what explains their higher rate of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in favelas or in cramped situations , lots of people in the same home , very hard to practice social isolation .
They live on — they earn their money to buy their food on a daily basis doing informal work , which means that they have to go out ; otherwise , they won ’ t have food to eat .
And so , it ’ s a combination of several conditions .
One more thing is that they often do not have proper water and sanitation facilities , and therefore things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because they have to bring water from other places .
AMY GOODMAN : And you have Bolsonaro , who said , when talking about masks — he said — he taunted staffers wearing face masks to protect against COVID by claiming they were , quote , “ for fairies.
” Here you have what many call “ the tropical Trump , ” very close to President Trump , actually visited with Trump in Mar-a-Lago , and already there , there were infections of his press secretary and questions of if — AMY GOODMAN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and his team had been infected .
Can you talk about President Trump ’ s effect and his same approach as your president , Bolsonaro , in basically downplaying this pandemic , President Trump saying 99 % of the COVID-19 cases are harmless ?
CESAR VICTORA : Yes .
Well , Trump appears to be Bolsonaro ’ s idol .
You know , whatever Trump does , such as leaving the WHO , which is a — it ’ s unbelievable .
I ’ ve worked with the WHO for 40 years in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I still can ’ t believe that Trump has actually pulled out of the WHO .
But Bolsonaro is now saying he ’ s going to do the same thing .
So , Trump is in favor of hydroxychloroquine ; Bolsonaro is in favor .
Now , FDA doesn ’ t allow hydroxychloroquine in the U.S. , and Trump is giving huge stocks of hydroxychloroquine to Brazil .
And Bolsonaro says he ’ s very happy to receive those .
So , you know , it ’ s a really bad combination of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this region of the world .
AMY GOODMAN : And number one and number two — President Trump proudly often talking about the United States as being number one — but number one and number two in COVID infections .
I want to thank you so much , Dr. Cesar Victora — AMY GOODMAN : — Brazilian epidemiologist , who led the first study to assess the prevalence of coronavirus in Brazil , coordinates the International Center for Equity in Health at the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil , where he ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the president is not above the law .
So says the Supreme Court , including President Trump ’ s two appointees .
We ’ ll speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Brazil, where coronavirus cases are soaring. More than 1.7 million people have tested positive. Nearly 70,000 have died. Brazil is the second-hardest-hit nation in the world after the United States. On Tuesday, the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro announced he had tested positive for COVID-19, after months of downplaying the severity of the pandemic. He recently developed a high fever and a cough, and said he’s taking hydroxychloroquine, even though it’s been proven ineffective against COVID-19, in some cases deadly.
PRESIDENT JAIR BOLSONARO: [translated] Here, I’m taking the third doses of hydroxychloroquine. I feel very well. There are other things that can help battle coronavirus, and we know none has been scientifically proven. But it’s working for me.
AMY GOODMAN: As President Bolsonaro announced he had tested positive, he took off his mask. Some of the reporters who were present have now been put in quarantine, and the Brazilian Press Association has filed a criminal complaint to the Brazilian Supreme Court. They allege Bolsonaro committed at least two crimes, by putting someone’s life or health at imminent risk and failing to prevent the spread of an infectious disease.
All of this comes as Brazil has gone 55 days with no health minister. The last two were fired or resigned within 30 days of each other for endorsing science. The grandmother of Brazil’s first lady Michelle Bolsonaro is also suffering from COVID-19. She was recently transferred to an ICU unit and is reportedly intubated.
For more, we go to Brazil, where we’re joined by Cesar Victora, a Brazilian epidemiologist who led the first study to assess the prevalence of coronavirus in Brazil. He coordinates the International Center for Equity in Health at the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil, where he’s emeritus professor of epidemiology. He also has honorary appointments at Oxford, Harvard and Johns Hopkins universities.
Professor Victora, thanks so much for joining us. Can you talk about your president testing positive as he has downplayed the pandemic, calling it a “little flu,” taking off his mask at his press briefing, exposing journalists, and then the bigger story of what’s happening in Brazil, directly connected, I believe, to his attitude?
CESAR VICTORA: Good morning, Amy. Thanks for the invitation. It’s a real pleasure to be here today.
Bad political leadership is a major risk factor for the spread of the pandemic, not only in Brazil, but also in your own country. Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied the importance of the pandemic. As you just mentioned, he dismissed two health ministers who were against the use of hydroxychloroquine and were in favor of social distancing. He has repeatedly joined crowds in front of his presidential palace, usually on Sunday mornings, where he hugs people and people take selfies with him. And there’s been very few times he has worn a mask. Even now as he gave the news that he was infected, then he took a couple steps back, and he removed his mask in front of a whole team of journalists, who — the Press Association now suing him.
So, the bad leadership means that the federal government is saying this is not — you know, this is a “small flu,” as Bolsonaro said early on, and nobody will — you know, it will only affect a few people, it’s not severe, and that means that social distancing is not important. He’s been in sharp contrast with many state governors and city mayors, who have been acting in a much more responsible way. But the contradictory advice that the population is getting from a president who says, “This is not a big problem, and you should not worry about it. Let’s reopen the economy right away,” and the good advice provided by medical associations, by scientists, by many state governors and city mayors — so, it’s a very complicated situation.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to ask about his approach to those in rainforest area, Indigenous people throughout Brazil, as he vetoed legislation to help them, also talked about the possibility of sending the military in to bring them hydroxychloroquine. Of course, this is the drug that President Trump touted, that turns out, in a number of studies, not only to be ineffective, but could possibly be deadly with coronary implications.
CESAR VICTORA: Oh, absolutely. Let me tell you what’s happening to the rainforest now, because everybody’s concerned about the pandemic. And so, deforestation is now at a record pace, because the first thing that Bolsonaro did, well before the pandemic, he and his minister of environment, who is a very controversial person, they have relaxed all the system that took account of deforestation, including the satellite photos and so on. And he fired the top — one of the top Brazilian scientists, who was in charge of that surveillance system, which would show record levels of deforestation.
At the same time, he has always — you know, since he was — he’s been for 28 years a member of parliament, in the House in Brazil. And he was always saying Indigenous people should not be protected, they have to be brought into civilization, he would reduce the size of Indigenous reservations and so on. And he’s actually — you know, you can’t blame him for doing what he said he would do. You know, those people who voted for him knew who he was. It was amazing that he actually got about 55% of the vote in Brazil. Many of those people have repented and now regretting having ever voted for him.
But I just wanted to give you a little bit of data on the Indigenous population. We have completed now three rounds of surveys, each one in the largest 133 cities throughout the country. Thirty-three thousand is our sample size in each round. The most hardly affected groups are Indigenous people. They’re five times as likely to have antibodies against COVID, which means that they have been exposed to the virus, than whites. So it’s a fivefold difference between Indigenous population and whites. And the government is playing down these numbers, completely trying to avoid disseminating these results, because they think it will look bad for Brazil, which obviously it does, and also because they don’t really care about the Indigenous population.
AMY GOODMAN: We interviewed Sebastião Salgado, the — well, as you know, famous —
CESAR VICTORA: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: — world-famous Brazilian photojournalist, who charges Bolsonaro with genocide against the Indigenous people, with how he is dealing with the virus, particularly in relation to the Indigenous population.
CESAR VICTORA: Absolutely. And this issue of, you know, his proposal of distributing chloroquine to the Indigenous population through the Army is complete nonsense. It’s completely — you know, he has completely ignored the scientific community in Brazil, the Medical Association, the specialist groups.
And he actually is — you know, what may well happen — he is taking hydroxychloroquine for his COVID. We know that COVID has a case fatality rate which is pretty low, so most people survive. So, the next step, if he survives, which he’s very likely to do, is that he will take credit for it and say, “That’s because I took hydroxychloroquine.”
I mean, he doesn’t respect clinical trials. His argument is that, since there’s nothing else to do, why not take chloroquine? But, as you just said, Amy, it has very serious cardiovascular side effects that could actually kill the person, rather than being killed by COVID.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Cesar Victora, you led the first study that assessed the prevalence of coronavirus in Brazil, and you said, in fact, there are several epidemics. Explain.
CESAR VICTORA: Exactly. You know, very unexpectedly, the first wave of the epidemic came through the Amazon River, which was not where we expected. We thought it would be arriving in Rio, in São Paulo, in the touristy cities in the northeast where lots of Italians, for example, come in for holidays.
And actually, our hypothesis right now is that there’s a lot of — there are several Chinese industries in the city of Manaus, which is the largest city in the Amazon. And Manaus is a tax-free industrial hub, where foreign companies can put on their own factories and sell to Brazil without paying importation tax. So, there’s a strong exchange between Manaus, which is the first city in the Amazon where COVID was detected, as early as February. And from Manaus, people travel in boats to the rest of the Amazon region. These boats are always overcrowded. And the boat trips take several hours, and even, for some cities, it takes two or three days by boat. So, being in a crowded boat with someone who has COVID may well explain why the Amazon was hit so hard.
Now, the epidemic in the Amazon is already going down. In some cities, we tested 25% of the population had antibodies, which is a very, very high level. Now it’s going down in the northeast and moving — in the north and moving to the northeast, which is also a very poor area. The north and northeast are the two poorest areas in the country. We, here in the south, where I live, are relatively — we have relatively low prevalence, but it’s also increasing rapidly in the last couple weeks. So, it’s several epidemics.
And the striking thing is, it did start with the white, educated, rich people, who traveled abroad and who came from Italy, for example, or Spain. But now it’s disseminating through the population. And the poor Brazilians — the poorest 20% of the population is twice more likely to have antibodies than the richest 20%. The Blacks are more likely to have antibodies than whites. Indigenous are particularly high-risk, too.
AMY GOODMAN: So, let’s talk about why this is, Dr. Victora, the extreme inequality in Brazil, both class and racial. Brazil’s six richest men in the country hold the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the population. Explain why there are these disparities.
CESAR VICTORA: Well, this is part of our historical pattern, our colonization, which is, the Portuguese, when they colonized Brazil, they usually came in, they gave large pieces of land — and I mean, you know, seriously, millions of acres to people, to Portuguese people, to settle. Most of the settlement of Brazil was done by people — unlike the United States, they were not moving to a new country to make that their homeland. They were not escaping from conditions of poverty or religious persecution in Europe. They were just people who came here to make money and go back. So, the land structure in Brazil is very unfair, and it led to this issue that we now have a small proportion of rich people — and not only farmers, it’s industry and everything, but it led to this hugely segregated society.
Also, Brazil had the largest number of African slaves brought, relative to any other country in America — in the Americas. So, the Black population, the African Brazilians, have always been kept in very poor conditions of living and so on. And what explains their higher rate of COVID antibodies is that they usually live in favelas or in cramped situations, lots of people in the same home, very hard to practice social isolation. They live on — they earn their money to buy their food on a daily basis doing informal work, which means that they have to go out; otherwise, they won’t have food to eat. And so, it’s a combination of several conditions. One more thing is that they often do not have proper water and sanitation facilities, and therefore things like washing hands is not trivial, because they have to bring water from other places.
AMY GOODMAN: And you have Bolsonaro, who said, when talking about masks — he said — he taunted staffers wearing face masks to protect against COVID by claiming they were, quote, “for fairies.” Here you have what many call “the tropical Trump,” very close to President Trump, actually visited with Trump in Mar-a-Lago, and already there, there were infections of his press secretary and questions of if —
CESAR VICTORA: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: — you know, President Trump and his team had been infected. Can you talk about President Trump’s effect and his same approach as your president, Bolsonaro, in basically downplaying this pandemic, President Trump saying 99% of the COVID-19 cases are harmless?
CESAR VICTORA: Yes. Well, Trump appears to be Bolsonaro’s idol. You know, whatever Trump does, such as leaving the WHO, which is a — it’s unbelievable. I’ve worked with the WHO for 40 years in many places of the world, and I still can’t believe that Trump has actually pulled out of the WHO. But Bolsonaro is now saying he’s going to do the same thing. So, Trump is in favor of hydroxychloroquine; Bolsonaro is in favor. Now, FDA doesn’t allow hydroxychloroquine in the U.S., and Trump is giving huge stocks of hydroxychloroquine to Brazil. And Bolsonaro says he’s very happy to receive those. So, you know, it’s a really bad combination of leaders in the two largest countries in this region of the world.
AMY GOODMAN: And number one and number two — President Trump proudly often talking about the United States as being number one — but number one and number two in COVID infections. I want to thank you so much, Dr. Cesar Victora —
CESAR VICTORA: Thank you, Amy.
AMY GOODMAN: — Brazilian epidemiologist, who led the first study to assess the prevalence of coronavirus in Brazil, coordinates the International Center for Equity in Health at the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil, where he’s emeritus professor of epidemiology.
Next, the president is not above the law. So says the Supreme Court, including President Trump’s two appointees. We’ll speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-07-10--Headlines for July 10, 2020

Headlines for July 10, 2020

In a major campaign speech , Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden laid out a $ 700 billion economic recovery plan focused on increasing federal spending on U.S.-made products and technology .
He dubbed the plan “ Buy American.
” The proposal has been compared to Senator Elizabeth Warren ’ s campaign call to invest $ 1.5 trillion in federal spending on U.S.-made clean energy products .
Biden spoke in Pennsylvania .
Joe Biden : “ Donald Trump may believe that pitting Americans against Americans will benefit him .
I don ’ t .
We have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a racial justice crisis , a climate crisis .
We need to come together to solve these crises , to solve them as Americans .
This is our moment to imagine and to build a new American economy for our families and for our communities.
” Meanwhile , a task force made up of allies of Joe Biden and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has released policy recommendations that will be used to draft the Democratic Party ’ s new platform .
The task force endorsed free pre-K , tuition-free public college for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carbon-free power by 2035 , the end of private prisons and the end of cash bail .
The report didn ’ t endorse two key planks of Sanders ’ s campaign : Medicare for All and a Green New Deal .

In a major campaign speech, Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden laid out a $700 billion economic recovery plan focused on increasing federal spending on U.S.-made products and technology. He dubbed the plan “Buy American.” The proposal has been compared to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s campaign call to invest $1.5 trillion in federal spending on U.S.-made clean energy products. Biden spoke in Pennsylvania.
Joe Biden: “Donald Trump may believe that pitting Americans against Americans will benefit him. I don’t. We have a health crisis, an economic crisis, a racial justice crisis, a climate crisis. We need to come together to solve these crises, to solve them as Americans. This is our moment to imagine and to build a new American economy for our families and for our communities.”
Meanwhile, a task force made up of allies of Joe Biden and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has released policy recommendations that will be used to draft the Democratic Party’s new platform. The task force endorsed free pre-K, tuition-free public college for most families, student loan forgiveness, carbon-free power by 2035, the end of private prisons and the end of cash bail. The report didn’t endorse two key planks of Sanders’s campaign: Medicare for All and a Green New Deal.


democracynow--2020-07-13--Disability Rights Activists Take On Twin Pandemics of Racist Police Brutality & COVID-19

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 .
Nearly two months after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked an international uprising , Black Lives Matter protesters have maintained pressure in the streets , city halls , their communities to demand the defunding of police and addressing systemic racism .
We look now at an underreported but critical part of the fight against police brutality : the devastating impact police violence has on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people .
No U.S. federal agency officially tracks the number of disabled Americans who are killed by the police .
But according to at least one study , up to one-half of people killed by law enforcement in the U.S. have a disability .
Haben Girma , a disability rights lawyer and the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School , tweeted , quote , “ Disabled black people are killed by police at staggeringly high rates in part because police enter situations expecting people to hear commands , see visual commands & @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , then they use force # BlackDisabledLivesMatter.
” For more , we ’ re joined by two guests .
In Berkeley , California , Leroy Moore is with us , a Black disabled activist , artist , founder of Krip-Hop Nation , co-founder of POOR Magazine .
Leroy has cerebral palsy .
And in Oakland , Lisa “ Tiny ” Gray-Garcia is with us , co-founder of POOR Magazine , as well , an activist and writer .
We welcome you both to Democracy Now !
Leroy , I assume you heard a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the story of an attempted lynching of an African American man in Indiana .
We are talking to you today about two pandemics .
One is the pandemic of police brutality , and then around COVID-19 and the disabled .
But what do you want people to understand about the disabled when it comes to police violence ?
LEROY MOORE : Yeah , I want them to understand that people with disabilities have always been attacked by police , and people with disabilities and poor people have our own answers .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rid of police and really know our neighbor .
And POOR Magazine has a workshop called Never Call the Police .
And that is a policy that we ’ ve lived by for almost 20 years .
AMY GOODMAN : Lisa “ Tiny ” Gray-Garcia , you have a guide in POOR Magazine called “ How to Not Call the Police EVER.
” Explain what it says .
LISA ” TINY ” GRAY-GARCIA : Thank you , Amy , for having us on , but I also want to thank all the — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman who barely was alive in these occupied lands , and all the poor people , who are rarely , if ever , seen .
As far as the guide , the reality is , as houseless people , as poor folks , as Indigenous peoples on this land , we have never been safe .
There ’ s a false sense and a false notion of safety that ’ s kept in place by people with guns and weaponry .
People are killed all the time .
Shoutout to Luis Demetrio Góngora @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in San Francisco for being houseless , for having a 311 — in other words , a help call .
What people don ’ t understand is that those three numbers , 911 , never mean that we are going to be safe .
And one of the things that we try to teach people is how to unlink their minds from the lie of safety in regards to police , but actually to teach people the , first of all , bloody , genocidal history of police , the killing of Indigenous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could occupy this land , the killing of enslaved people , and then now , 21st century , the killing of poor people , Black and Brown people and houseless people all the time under the guise of “ I just wanted to see if they were OK .
I don ’ t know why this Black person is in the park with me.
” You know , it ’ s not just the cult of the Karens , but it ’ s the cult of the “ caring , ” this notion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ help by calling somebody with those numbers.
” And , of course , there ’ s very real reasons that people feel afraid , and we ’ re not disrespecting that at all .
But we have actually lived this as houseless and disabled and Black and Brown and Indigenous people at Homefulness for 21 years , because we know that those calls end to the test , arrest and incarceration of us .
AMY GOODMAN : Let me bring Leroy Moore back in .
Can you talk about the links between disability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
LEROY MOORE : Yeah .
Disability justice came out of Sins Invalid .
And Patty Berne and all of us came up with disability justice .
And disability justice really says that the disability rights movement hasn ’ t really respected people of color , people that are queer , people that are transgender .
So , disability justice brings it outside of the courtroom and makes us live what we live by .
And it says that , you know , disabled people of color , disabled people that are transgender @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the answers , and we live by our lives .
And we fight racism , sexism , ageism around disability justice .
Once again , Patty Berne started that .
AMY GOODMAN : And , Tiny , if you could talk about Po ’ People ’ s Survival Guide thru COVID-19 and the Virus of Poverty , that the two of you edited together ?
LISA ” TINY ” GRAY-GARCIA : [ inaudible ] since people were in occupied Huichin — Corrina and Fui and so many more .
One of the things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is that we start all of our media , all of our poor people media , all of our land-use projects , by asking permission first of the folks who were intentionally removed of this land .
So , the poor people ’ s guide is because , as poor folks , how do you shelter in place when you don ’ t have a place ?
How do you actually even get safe ?
A shoutout to Driver Plaza and Aunti Frances .
This is a small area in North Oakland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken because politricksters , as I call them , and gentrifiers don ’ t want to see poor people , Black people , houseless people in their neighborhood .
What we say is that there ’ s a pandemic called poverty that was here long before COVID-19 , in addition to PoLice terror and occupation .
And so , we put this survival guide out to actually give resources to houseless folks on the street who are not being put in thousands of vacant hotel rooms across occupied — AMY GOODMAN : And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to link to that .
I want to thank Lisa “ Tiny ” Gray-Garcia , co-founder , with Leroy Moore , of POOR Magazine .
Leroy Moore , disabled activist , Krip-Hop Nation founder .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
Thanks so much .

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. Nearly two months after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked an international uprising, Black Lives Matter protesters have maintained pressure in the streets, city halls, their communities to demand the defunding of police and addressing systemic racism.
We look now at an underreported but critical part of the fight against police brutality: the devastating impact police violence has on people with disabilities, especially Black disabled people. No U.S. federal agency officially tracks the number of disabled Americans who are killed by the police. But according to at least one study, up to one-half of people killed by law enforcement in the U.S. have a disability. Haben Girma, a disability rights lawyer and the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, tweeted, quote, “Disabled black people are killed by police at staggeringly high rates in part because police enter situations expecting people to hear commands, see visual commands & more. When we can’t, then they use force #BlackDisabledLivesMatter.”
For more, we’re joined by two guests. In Berkeley, California, Leroy Moore is with us, a Black disabled activist, artist, founder of Krip-Hop Nation, co-founder of POOR Magazine. Leroy has cerebral palsy. And in Oakland, Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia is with us, co-founder of POOR Magazine, as well, an activist and writer.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Leroy, I assume you heard a little bit of what we just broadcast, the story of an attempted lynching of an African American man in Indiana. We are talking to you today about two pandemics. One is the pandemic of police brutality, and then around COVID-19 and the disabled. But what do you want people to understand about the disabled when it comes to police violence?
LEROY MOORE: Yeah, I want them to understand that people with disabilities have always been attacked by police, and people with disabilities and poor people have our own answers. And our own answers is to really get rid of police and really know our neighbor. And POOR Magazine has a workshop called Never Call the Police. And that is a policy that we’ve lived by for almost 20 years.
AMY GOODMAN: Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia, you have a guide in POOR Magazine called “How to Not Call the Police EVER.” Explain what it says.
LISA ”TINY” GRAY-GARCIA: Thank you, Amy, for having us on, but I also want to thank all the — my mama, a disabled, houseless woman who barely was alive in these occupied lands, and all the poor people, who are rarely, if ever, seen.
As far as the guide, the reality is, as houseless people, as poor folks, as Indigenous peoples on this land, we have never been safe. There’s a false sense and a false notion of safety that’s kept in place by people with guns and weaponry. People are killed all the time. Shoutout to Luis Demetrio Góngora Pat, a houseless Indigenous man killed in San Francisco for being houseless, for having a 311 — in other words, a help call.
What people don’t understand is that those three numbers, 911, never mean that we are going to be safe. And one of the things that we try to teach people is how to unlink their minds from the lie of safety in regards to police, but actually to teach people the, first of all, bloody, genocidal history of police, the killing of Indigenous peoples of this land so that they could occupy this land, the killing of enslaved people, and then now, 21st century, the killing of poor people, Black and Brown people and houseless people all the time under the guise of “I just wanted to see if they were OK. I don’t know why this Black person is in the park with me.” You know, it’s not just the cult of the Karens, but it’s the cult of the “caring,” this notion that “I’m trying to help by calling somebody with those numbers.”
And, of course, there’s very real reasons that people feel afraid, and we’re not disrespecting that at all. But we have actually lived this as houseless and disabled and Black and Brown and Indigenous people at Homefulness for 21 years, because we know that those calls end to the test, arrest and incarceration of us.
AMY GOODMAN: Let me bring Leroy Moore back in. Can you talk about the links between disability justice, Leroy, and racial justice?
LEROY MOORE: Yeah. Disability justice came out of Sins Invalid. And Patty Berne and all of us came up with disability justice. And disability justice really says that the disability rights movement hasn’t really respected people of color, people that are queer, people that are transgender. So, disability justice brings it outside of the courtroom and makes us live what we live by. And it says that, you know, disabled people of color, disabled people that are transgender, disabled people that are poor have the answers, and we live by our lives. And we fight racism, sexism, ageism around disability justice. Once again, Patty Berne started that.
AMY GOODMAN: And, Tiny, if you could talk about Po’ People’s Survival Guide thru COVID-19 and the Virus of Poverty, that the two of you edited together?
LISA ”TINY” GRAY-GARCIA: [inaudible] since people were in occupied Huichin — Corrina and Fui and so many more. One of the things, the reason I bring that up, is that we start all of our media, all of our poor people media, all of our land-use projects, by asking permission first of the folks who were intentionally removed of this land.
So, the poor people’s guide is because, as poor folks, how do you shelter in place when you don’t have a place? How do you actually even get safe?
A shoutout to Driver Plaza and Aunti Frances. This is a small area in North Oakland that is currently having their handwashing station taken because politricksters, as I call them, and gentrifiers don’t want to see poor people, Black people, houseless people in their neighborhood.
What we say is that there’s a pandemic called poverty that was here long before COVID-19, in addition to PoLice terror and occupation. And so, we put this survival guide out to actually give resources to houseless folks on the street who are not being put in thousands of vacant hotel rooms across occupied —
AMY GOODMAN: And, Lisa, we’re going to link to that. I want to thank Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia, co-founder, with Leroy Moore, of POOR Magazine. Leroy Moore, disabled activist, Krip-Hop Nation founder. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks so much.