Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy 20240704

To justify enslaving black people. Amy the family of Henrietta Lacks, a black cancer patient whose cells were taken by Johns Hopkins University Hospital without her consent in 1951, has settled with Pharmaceutical Company Thermo Fisher scientific. We will speak to university of pennsylvania professor Dorothy Roberts about Henrietta Lacks and other issues including the criminalization of pregnancy following the overturning of roe v. Wade. Then to the pioneering legal school Kimberle Crenshaw about attacks on the teaching of history by Florida Governor and president ial candidate ron desantis and others. Nobody can be surprised when suddenly this effort to snuff out Critical Race Theory turns out to be an effort to make antiracism unspeakable, to make where studies undoable, to make intersectionality, one of the most widespread concepts across the discipline, something that collegedirected students can only take if the states allow them to. Amy we will also talk to Kimberle Crenshaw about her new book, sayhername black womens stories of Police Violence and public silence. all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In niger, leaders of the military coup have shut down the countrys airspace, citing possible imminent military action from their neighbors after a sunday deadline to reinstate ousted president Mohamed Bazoum passed. The deadline was issued by the west african bloc ecowas, which has condemned the coup, alongside International Powers including the u. S. And former colonizer france. But many nigeriens have voiced support for the military leaders, and strongly rejected any foreign intervention. Protesters have been taking to the streets since the july 26th coup. Ecowas, french forces, decided to attack our country. They will have to walk over our bodies, spill our blood. We will do it with pride because we dont have another country. We only have niger. Since july 26, our country had decided to take charge of its own sovereignty and this is our way of demonstrating into t. Amy media reported this weekend, nigers coup generals requested defense help from the Russian Mercenary Wagner Group in the face of possible military intervention. Burkina faso and mali which also have been taken over by the military following coups previously warned any attacks on niger would be tantamount to a declaration of war against their countries as well. Niger is a major supplier of uranium to france and the european union. Ukraine says russian strikes have killed three people. Meanwhile, moscow says it shot down a drone near the capital sunday while ukrainian attacks it occupied parks of kherson. Saturday, russian strikes it a Blood Transfusion Center which president below tamia zelenskyy called a war crime. 40 Different Countries where the talks. Russia was not present. Ukraine and other countries held the talks as progress, a few concrete steps were taken. Ukrainian peace activist Yurii Sheliazhenko was charged by the Ukrainian Government with justifying russian aggression, days after his apartment was raided and searched. Sheliazhenko, member of the ukrainian pacifist movement, and world beyond war has vocally opposed any escalation of the conflict through fighting or sanctions. He spoke sunday of his persecution by ukrainian authorities. During a year, secret service surveilled me trying to find any links with russian agents. Found nothing. Still convinced him an enemy because of my work on peaceful means, to stop senseless bloodshed and destruction. Amy sheliazhenko also said he would remain in ukraine and continue his peace work from behind bars if he is imprisoned. You can see our interviews with Yurii Sheliazhenko at democracynow. Org. A Russian Court sentenced imprisoned Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny to another 19 years after convicting him of extremism charges during a closeddoor trial. The kremlin critic and nationalist politician, who is already serving an 11year term, said the charges are politically motivated and asked his supporters to keep resisting putins government and its crackdown on dissent. Navalny wrote of the new sentence, the number does not matter. Like Many Political prisoners, i am sitting on a life sentence. In pakistan, former Prime Minister imran khan has been arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts. Khan has denied this, and the dozens of other charges that were brought against him since he was removed in a noconfidence vote in april of last year. Before his arrest, khan called on his supporters to keep protesting. Have only one to appeal. Do not sit silently at home. I am struggling for you and the country and your childrens future. Amy khans lawyer has accused pakistan of an undeclared martial law in their politically motivated targeting of the former leader, who will likely be barred from National Elections that are supposed to take place this year. In other news from pakistan, a Train Derailment in the southern sindh province sunday killed at least 30 people and injured dozens. The death toll could rise as rescue operations continue. In india, Opposition Congress Party Leader Rahul Gandhi has been reinstated to parliament after the Supreme Court suspended his defamation conviction. Gandhi was suspended and sentenced to two years in prison in march for criticizing Prime Minister narendra modi. The suspension of the case means gandhi will be able to run against modi in 2024 elections. In the occupied west bank, Israeli Forces killed at least five palestinians over the weekend. Three people were shot dead sunday after Israeli Soldiers opened fire at a refugee camp. Just two days earlier, 18yearold Mahmoud Abu Saan was killed by Israeli Forces during a raid. Later that friday, 19yearold qusai matan was shot dead by Israeli Settlers who stormed the village of burqa near ramallah. Two suspects have been arrested, praised by the Israeli National security minister as heroes. Laila ghannam, governor of ramallah, cited the complicity of the International Community in israels abuses against palestinians as she spoke following the killing. Today there was a real massacre. The settlers burnt cars and a child was assassinated from zero distance, according to witnesses. We have to use the correct labels for this crime. Amy saudi arabia is urging its citizens to immediately leave lebanon amid recent violent clashes at the largest Palestinian Refugee camp, located in the Southern City of sidon. The u. K. Has also advised people to avoid most travel in lebanon, while kuwait warned its citizens to avoid areas of security disturbances. at least 13 people have been killed after fighting erupted between rival palestinian groups inside the overcrowded ein elhilweh refugee camp. At least six migrants have died, including a woman and her oneyearold child, after three boats sank in the mediterranean sea, off tunisias kerkennah islands. Two near the island of lampedusa. Dozens of people are still missing. Most of the migrants are from subsaharan africa. Tunisian authorities also said they had found the bodies of another 10 people on a beach near the port city of sfax, which has become a hub for migrants hoping to reach europe for refuge. Here in the united states, a federal Appeals Court friday struck down a jim crowera law in mississippi that permanently revoked Voting Rights for people with certain felony convictions,. The conservative panel ruled 21 that the law, which disproportionately affects black mississippians, is unconstitutional, writing, in the last 50 years, a National Consensus has emerged among against permanently disenfranchising those who have satisfied their judicially imposed sentences and thus repaid their debts to society. Mississippi stands as an outlier among its sister states, bucking a clear National Trend in our nation against permanent disenfranchisement. A texas judge ruled friday the states abortion ban is too restrictive in cases of dangerous pregnancy complications, and doctors must be allowed to perform abortions in such instances without risk of criminal prosecution. Hours later, Texas Attorney Generals Office filed an appeal, effectively blocking the order. Though the initial order was blocked, the center for reproductive rights and the women who brought the case celebrated the ruling and said the plaintiffs testimonies helped shine a spotlight on the cruelty of the law. The trial expected to clarify the use of abortions in medical emergencies is scheduled for march of next year. Meanwhile in ohio, early voters are turning out in droves in a special election over a republicanled measure that would make it harder for ohio voters to pass constitutional amendments, including a ballot measure which would guarantee ohioans the constitutional right to an abortion. The final day of voting is tomorrow, tuesday. The fda on friday approved the first pill to treat postpartum depression, which affects around one in seven people after childbirth. Doctors say only around 10 of those receive adequate care. Zuranolone, to be sold under the name zurzuvae, is manufactured by biogen and sage therapeutics, and is taken for just two weeks. But Mental Health experts warned that while the pill could help many people, it is not a cureall for postpartum mood disorders. Behavioral scientist judite blanc noted the many contributing external factors including poor Institutional Support and policies for new parents, and noting women of color and of lower socioeconomic status are most vulnerable. Blanc told the washington post, we need longer maternity leave, more Flexible Work schedules and universal child care. Here in new york city, police have charged a 17yearold with murder as a hate crime, for the fatal stabbing of oshae sibley at a brooklyn gas station late last month. 28yearold sibley, a black gay man, was a dancer and choreographer. He and his friends were dancing to beyonces renaissance album as they filled up on gas on a saturday night, when they were approached and harassed by a group of people who told them to stop dancing. The group yelled homophobic and racist slurs as the dancers defiantly carried on, before the teen stabbed oshae sibley. Vigils and protests have taken place across new york city since then. Mourners gathered at the mobil station friday where sibley was killed, while others have posted videos of themselves vogueing in tribute to oshae sibley. The influential harvard law professor and civil rights scholar Charles Ogletree has died at the age of 70. At one of the countrys most prominent law schools, he taught the future president and first lady, barack and michelle obama. He also represented anita hill when she accused u. S. Supreme Court Nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, defended rapper tupac shakur in criminal and civil cases, and fought for reparations for survivors of the 1921 tulsa race massacre. In 2010, ogletree joined us on democracynow to discuss his book, the presumption of guilt the arrest of henry louis gates, jr. And race, class and crime in america. The title, the presumption of guilt, is to remind us that we remain guilty without some people knowing the facts. We do it on race, class, clothing, where you shop, where you eat. That is why the presumption of guilt is the title, to make sure we dont make assumptions about people. Judge them by the content of their character, not their skin color. Amy donald trump has been given a deadline of 5 00 p. M. Today, monday, to respond to special counsel jack smiths request for a protective order. District judge tanya chutkan, who is presiding over trumps case related to overturning the 2020 election, issued the deadline as the justice attempts to curb trumps public comments, including potentially confidential evidence, that could intimidate witnesses. On friday, trump posted on his truth social site, if you go after me, im coming after you separately, trump pleaded not guilty friday to additional charges in the federal case around his mishandling of classified documents. A woman is suing the city of detroit after she was wrongfully arrested for robbery and carjacking over faulty facial Recognition Technology. Porcha woodruff was eight months pregnant and getting her two children ready for school when Six Police Officers showed up at her home in february to take her into custody. Woodruff was detained and questioned for at least 11 hours before being charged and released on a 100,000 bond. She says she started having contractions in jail and had to be taken to the hospital after her release due to dehydration. The case was dropped a month later. Woodruff is the first black woman to be falsely identified as a crime suspect due to facial Recognition Technology. At least five other people have also been wrongfully arrested due to the technology all of them black. Activists have long warned facial Recognition Technology and Artificial Intelligence would exacerbate racial inequity in policing disproportionately impacting black people. And sunday marked the 78th anniversary of the u. S. Dropping the worlds first atomic bomb on hiroshima, killing some 140,000 people. Three days later, on august 9, 1945, the us dropped another atomic bomb on the japanese city of nagasaki, killing 74,000 people. During the annual hiroshima Peace Memorial ceremony, japanese leaders called on nations around the world to work towards nuclear disarmament. This is hiroshima mayor kazumi matsui. Leaders around the world must confront the fact that the theory of Nuclear Deterrence is falling, and that it is necessary to quickly begin concrete efforts to lead us from our harsh reality to an ideal world. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Coming up, the family of Henrietta Lacks, a black cancer patient, whose cells, known as hela cells, were taken without her consent. The family has now started with a Pharmaceutical Company. We will speak to professor Dorothy Roberts about the case as well as other cases including the criminalization of pregnancy following the overturning of roe v. Wade. [music break] amy during our break, we were showing video from fridays vigil where shae sibley was killed. The teenager charged with killing simply has been charged with murder as a hate crime. This is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin todays showing looking at the fight for reproductive rights. On friday, a texas judge ruled the states abortion ban was too restrictive in cases of dangerous pregnancy complications. The judge also ruled doctors must be allowed to perform abortions in such instances without risk of criminal prosecution. But within hours of the ruling, Texas Attorney Generals Office filed an appeal, effectively blocking the order. In july, the court in austin heard testimony from women who sued over texass abortion ban. In a dramatic moment, one of the plaintiffs, samantha casiano, vomited on the stand as she recounted her traumatic experience. Casiano was forced to carry out her pregnancy even after receiving a diagnosis of anencephaly, a severe congenital disorder that results in a baby being born without portions of its brain and skull. Another plaintiff, elizabeth weller, spoke at a press conference. I was sent home to wait for my baby to die or for my infection to start showing physical symptoms even though they were already there. But i was not sick enough to get the care i needed. There is no statement of prolife in this state when you send me home to wait for my baby to die inside me, and for me to wait for myself to get to a point where i have to gamble my uterus and gamble my life, gamble any future possibility of becoming pregnant. That is not prolife. In a sense, it is almost protorture. Amy the texas lawsuit was brought by the center for reproductive rights. It is believed to be the first lawsuit brought by women denied abortions since the Supreme Court overturned roe v. Wade last year. We are joined now by Dorothy Roberts, director of the university of Pennsylvania Program on race, science society, who has long warned against the criminalization of pregnancy and has been called a pioneer in the reproductive justice movement. She is the author of several books including fatal invention how science, politics, and big business recreate race in the twentyfirst century and killing the black body race, reproduction, and the meaning of liberty. professor roberts, welcome to democracy now great to have you with us. Talk about the significance of the judges ruling, striking down a part of the texas abortion ban. Dorothy good to be on your program. Thanks very much. This is a significant ruling in the sense that the testimonies of the women we just heard part of, shows how cruel and i think the word torture is appropriate that bans on abortion are. The kinds of positions they put doctors into have to gamble the life of pregnant people in order to avoid prosecution. I think it is one of the most unethical, inhumane aspects of compelling birth, which is what abortion bands do, is this way of completely devaluing the life of the pregnant patient, and putting doctors in a position to decide how close to death should i let my patient go before i perform a needed medical procedure for fear of being prosecuted. Fear of a crime. Having said that, it is also important to note, that that is only one of the many, many cruelties, injustices of banning abortion. I think it is a mistake to just focus on cases where the patients life is at risk. To overturn those portions of laws restricting access to abortion or banning it completely. What these laws do is compel people to give birth. They are fundamental, atrocious violations of peoples autonomy. They are a form of misogyny against women, who are the main people who become pregnant, but also end up criminalizing pregnancy in general by any birthing people, potentially birthing people, are at risk of arrest and prosecution and incarceration, if they dont meet the standard of the state for producing a healthy baby. Let me explain what i mean by that. We see for decades something i worried about in 1997, wrote about in my book. It is not only prosecuting women for terminating a pregnancy, but also prosecuting women who are accused of being pregnant and using drugs or some other conduct that the state claims is harmful to a fetus. We have seen women incarcerated for stillbirths, women who wanted to give birth, but are punished because they did not produce a healthy baby. We see the excuse that the Supreme Court gave, that you can just turn over your child to a safe haven, turn over the baby to adoption. This idea that people could be forced to turn over their baby for adoption, which is a complete lie. It is false. Many women end up keeping their babies when prevented from terminating their pregnancy, only making their lives struggle to take care of their families, which puts them at risk of having their children taken from them. This is an important victory, although it has been stayed on appeal. Its important to me because it shows the cruelty and torture of bans on abortion but does not capture the full extent of harm. These bans should be overturned as unconstitutional altogether. Amy tomorrow, tuesday, ohio residents will vote on a single ballot item, issue one, which would raise the threshold to amend the ohio constitution from a simple majority to 60 of the vote. Republican state lawmakers introduced issue one to make it harder for voters to enshrine abortion rights in the states constitution when they vote on a prochoice amendment in the november general election. This is very interesting, a little convoluted. They are not voting on the abortion referendum tomorrow, but republicans are trying to invalidate that referendum to be put to ohioans in november. It was funded by Richard Ellis you line, from outside the state, an illinois billionaire. Talk about the significance of what is taking place, this vote tomorrow. Dorothy we are in a battle in this nation on this question of being free or being compelled to give birth. A question which we could trace all the way back to the institution of slavery and the question that was on the ballot, in congress before passing the reconstruction amendment. Whether we will have a nation that is free or a nation that compels people to give birth for the benefit of the state. Part of that battle is those of us who want a free nation where you cannot be compelled to give birth, where there should actually be support for reproductive justice, support for our reproductive autonomy, are being protested against, trying to put impediments for us, to allow the people of state to protect the right to abortion. This is a ploy behind the political right wing and republicans, to make it harder for the people of the state to take legislative effort, to ensure the right to abortion. When the Supreme Court says, all we are doing is giving the freedom to states to decide the question of abortion, that is actually not true, because now you have the right wing trying to put barriers in front of people passing laws or amendments to constitutions that enshrine the right to reproductive freedom. Amy Richard Uihlein and his wife elizabeth are conservative donors and heirs to the schlitts fortune. The family of Henrietta Lacks, a black cancer patient, whose cells were taken by Johns Hopkins in 1951, has reached a settlement over the unethical use of her cells with Pharmaceutical Company Thermo Fisher scientific. Henrietta lacks family has denounced the racist medical system that allowed the Biotech Company to make billions in profit from the hela cell line Henrietta Lacks which helped produce remedies for multiple diseases, including the first polio vaccine. Details of the settlement were not made public, but the plaintiffs celebrated the lawsuits resolution last tuesday, on Henrietta Lacks birthday. This is her grandson, alfred lacks. Our family member, our loved one, Henrietta Lacks, 103 years old today. It has been said, today could not have been a more fitting day for her to have justice. For her family to have relief. It was a long fight, it was a long fight, over 70 years. Henrietta lacks gets her day. Amy the lacks family announced its lawsuit in 2021, 70 years to the day after Henrietta Lackss death. This is her granddaughter, kimberly lacks, speaking alongside Attorney Ben Crump in 2021. I think about my grandmother, as i said before, laying in that hospital room, and how they came in when she had radiation going through her body, in horrific pain, all they were concerned was about taking cell tissue from her body. That was terrible. On top of that, nobody had any idea. They acted like she was alone. They didnt reach out to her husband, aunts, cousins, anyone to let them know what was taking place. That is disgraceful and definitely racism in my opinion. The family, she was treated horribly. My father, one thing i can say about him, he is a sweet man. He always said, who wouldnt want a pocket full of money . Everybody wants money. But there is a Bigger Picture. He did say to me, he was sickly, but he was happy to know that we would finally get justice. We were finally going to get justice for Henrietta Lacks, his mother. Amy the settlement could not lead other companies to watch and how they are profiting from biological specimens and questioning how they were collected. In 2010, journalist Rebecca Skloot published that many institutions to address their role in exploiting lacks, including the National Institutes of health or nih, which is the largest public funder of Biomedical Research. The nih opened a dialogue with the lacks family which led to a hela cell working group to improve transparency by reviewing proposals for projects that use the full dna sequence of cells. Still with us is Dorothy Roberts, director of the university of Pennsylvania Program on race, science society. In 2014, she gave the Henrietta Lacks amaury lecture interestingly at the Johns Hopkins institute for clinical and translational research. Talk about the significance. We dont know how much the settlement is about the significance of the contribution that Henrietta Lacks made perhaps unknowingly to global science and medicine, the number of people that she helped. Dorothy yes. I like the way that her granddaughter said there is a Bigger Picture to this. This settlement is long overdue compensation to the descendants of Henrietta Lacks, not only for taking her cells without her consent and knowledge, but also the compensation for the immeasurable medical expenses her cells have given humanity, and that multiple biotech companies, including the one that settled with the lacks family, have reaped in profits from those advances. To me, this settlement represents a broader message that the lacks family fight for justice in science and medicine sends to us. It is a form of reparations, i think, for all of us, for the way that biomedical science has used black peoples bodies for centuries in experimentation without consent, without direct benefit to the people who contributed to the science. Although it has benefited millions of people, maybe everyone in this nation certainly, globally, has benefited in some way from these remarkable cells that multiply endlessly, can be used in multiple ways, and have been used by science for the development of the polio vaccine, covid vaccine, hpv, cells went up in space to see what the effect of weightlessness would be on them, they have contributed to in vitro fertilization, i could go on and on. They are absolutely irreplaceable and remarkable and immeasurable in terms of what they contributed. I want to emphasize also what the lacks family for fight and compensation means for justice more broadly. I think its important to understand that what happened to Henrietta Lacks didnt just happen to her, it is a part of a long history of exploitation and experimentation of black people in Biomedical Research. That has been grounded on a racist myth of black biological difference. This is a myth that human beings are naturally divided into distinct races. That was invented by western scientists in order to justify enslaving black people and experimenting on black peoples bodies. Henrietta lacks story refutes this ideology, which underlies so much of Biomedical Research in the united states. This idea that black bodies are different innately, in fact, inferior, and therefore need to be enslaved or regulated, can be used for experimentation because they are so innately distinct. Yet, her cells have been used to benefit all of humanity. Her story itself refutes this really toxic, damaging, horrible underlying racist ideology. In particular, Biomedical Research. Then there are other implications, as well, not just for acquiring consent. The lacks family got a settlement earlier from the National Institutes of health, an agreement that they could have more control over how Henrietta Lacks cells were used. So it raises a question of how scientists today continue to take part of peoples bodies, including their cells, without informed consent. It also raises issues about access to health care, the benefits of scientific research, so often, scientists would go into black communities to use black patients, incarcerated people, children in foster care for their studies without engaging the community in the design of the research, or giving back to the people that lived there. All of this is part of the flight and that the lacks family has been waiting for justice. I just think it is a wonderful way that they have given us, all of us, through henriettas cel ls, but also their fight for justice, to examine this issue of racism in Biomedical Research, science more broadly. Amy i wanted to end by asking you about the shocking story out of detroit, michigan involving a woman named Porcha Woodruff who was eight months pregnant when police mistakenly arrested for robbery and carjacking. Six officers showed up at her home as she was getting her kids ready for school. She was held for released on a 11 hours, 100,000 bond. She said she started to have contractions in jail, later was released with dehydration. A month later, prosecutors dropped the case because the Detroit Police had made the arrest based on a faulty facial recognition match. According to the aclu, woodruff is at least the sixth person to report being falsely accused of a crime as a result of facial Recognition Technology. All six people have been black. Porcha woodruff is now suing the city of detroit. The New York Times had a story on this saying, Porcha Woodruff thought that the police were joking. She was the first woman to be known to be arrested as a result of incorrect facial technology. They asked her to step outside because she was under arrest for robbery and carjacking. She looked at them, pointed to her stomach and said, are you kidding . Professor roberts, talk about the significance of this and what she went through in that last month of pregnancy. Dorothy this story captures so much of what we have been talking about, about the devaluation of black peoples lives, black womens lives, and the way that these deep myths about black biological difference and inferiority, the need for regulation and surveillance, get embedded into technology. They are embedded in medical technologies, embedded in police technologies, embedded in Artificial Intelligence algorithms, predictive analytics. One piece of this is the fact that the six cases that we know of false arrest based on false ai facial recognition involved black people. That is not an accident. That is because racism gets embedded into the technology. It is in the databases, because the databases are based on Police Arrests already or Police Action which we know is targeted at black people. So, the data itself gets embedded with racism. That way in which algorithms are created have assumptions that are racist. With the facial recognition, the way that the facial Recognition Technology is created, is more likely to target black faces. All of this has been shown in research. There is this idea that ai will be more objective than a bias decisionmaking of judges, police, prosecutors, but if it embeds prior biased decisions come it will produce these oppressive outcomes. And if it is being used by Police Departments that are racist, they will be used in racist ways, which gets me to the next point, the way that she was treated. An eightmonth pregnant woman was treated cruelly and inhumanely by these police officers, which reflects the way that Police Interact with black communities in general, but also the devaluation of black womens childbearing, this point that we started out with. The devaluation of the autonomy, humanity of lack women black women. A key aspect of the subjugation of black people in general have been the devaluation of black childbearing. The idea that black women passed down negative, antisocial traits to their children, almost is stated in biological terms. That devaluation of black women, especially in terms of their childbearing, is a part of the basis for reproductive servitude, which we were talking about earlier, but also part of the reason why black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancyrelated causes, maternal mortality, than white women in america. This one incident reveals this deeply entangled way in which car several systems in america rely on this myth of biological race and innate inferiority of black people, which is so deeply embedded, many people just take it for granted. Amy we will continue the discussion with our next guest. Thank you so much for being with us come professor Dorothy Roberts, director of the university of Pennsylvania Program on race, science society. She is the author of a number of books. Next, we will speak with a pioneering legal scholar, Kimberle Crenshaw, author of the new book, sayhername black womens stories of Police Violence and public silence. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We spend the rest of the hour with acclaimed scholar, activist Kimberle Crenshaw. She has a new book out honoring the stories of 177 black women and girls killed by police between 1975 and last year, who then had their lives race from memory when their deaths were not covered or misrepresented by the media, or were excluded from text. She focused online stories. In a recent l. A. Times oped, she notes black women and girls are more likely than any other group of women to be killed by the police and the confluence of factors that converge to make black women and girls the most affordable of all women to state violence also conspired to erase their loss of life both in individual cases and as a group. Professor Kimberle Crenshaw is professor of law at ucla and columbia university, author of the new book sayhername black womens stories of Police Violence and public silence. Professor crenshaw, welcome back to democracy now sadly, your book is more relevant today than ever. Talk about what you wrote it, why we should know some of these stories of these women. Kimberle such a pleasure to be back and an honor to be on with my sisterinlaw, Dorothy Roberts, who effectively laid out what the conditions are that contribute to black womens vulnerability to state violence, and the erasure of that vulnerability. We call it the loss of the loss, the marginalization of black women. There are stories of black women , just not at the center of how we imagine at the center of Police Violence, assault on black bodies. Yet, it is at the core of so many dementias of antiblack racism. We have heard about the Henrietta Lacks story, exploitation of her cells. We also heard about the exploitation of black womens productive labor. Black women were the force of american wealth. We are, we were, it is through our bodies that the slave population came into existence, which is the predicate for american superpower status. Yet, we are the last ones to be talked about, the last ones to be elevated, the last ones to be elevated and marched on behalf of when we are killed, when we are falsely accused, when we die disproportionately in childbirth, and when our productive labor benefits the entire country. Say her name is the one imperative that we can do something about. We cannot give these women back to their families, but we can make sure they are not lost to history. We can make sure the circumstances under which black women suffer are a of our consciousness about what in society need to be addressed, in order to achieve a fully inclusive democracy. Amy if you could talk about some of the women. You talk about the erasure at so many levels, the story of their lives, all the stories of knowing about them after they have lost their lives at the hands of police. Share that storytelling that you say is so important. Kimberle one of the things we wanted to do with telling the stories is brought on the circumstances, so that people understand that some black women are killed, not because they were engaged in any kind of lawlessness, but because the family called for help. Tamisha anderson was killed a few days before tamir rice was by the Cleveland Police department. She was having a Mental Health episode. Her family called 911, thinking they would get help. Instead they got armed officers that body slammed her, tried to force her into a confined space, and then knelt on her, george floyd style, holding a gun to the family, preventing them from coming to her assistance. Another was killed within seconds of police arriving on a Mental Health disorder. This was days after michael brown. These are some of the ways in which black people lose their lives they have to encounter police. Police coming, not trained to deal with the situation, having stereotypes about black people not just lack men. The person who killed michelle said that his life was in danger from this 52 woman because of the look in her eyes. We are looking at stereotypes about black women, where they are never seen as damsels in distress, just as likely to be seen as threats as their male counterparts. Which is why although black women are less than 10 of the population, account for more than 1 5 of the People Killed by the police. These are the stories that we need to have in order to have the whole expanse of vulnerability. Only when you have the full story can you actually demand the transformation that are necessary to protect people against this particular risk. Amy professor crenshaw, you are now in marthas vineyard, where you have just completed a session on Critical Race Theory. You coined this term. Of course, it is the subject of i should say, the target, for the second and running for the republican nomination after donald trump, Florida Governor ron desantis. You have been traveling through florida, talking about this issue. Talk about how critical race nearly relates to this kind of erasure we are seeing here and how you are try to fight against it. Kimberle Critical Race Theory has been weaponized by the far right folks, folks like christopher rufo, as a container for all of the anxieties, all the discomfort, all of the retrenchment, reaction to the antiracist demonstrations, to what happened after george floyd. It is a convenient way of capturing that anxiety. It just so happens that Critical Race Theory is really something, the study of how racial inequality is reproduced, embedded in our institutions, and our structures more broadly across society. The goal of the africanamerican policy forum Critical Race Theory Summer School for the past four years is to frame Critical Race Theory in ways that people can recognize it. So when people give their children the talk, for example, the talk is not about the birds and the bees. It is what black parents must tell their children to increase their odds to survive an encounter with police. It is the wisdom, the knowledge, the ways that we have had to encounter a world that is not country blind. Intersectionality also tells us that we have to give that talk not just to our sons but daughters. That is what say her name is all about. We began Critical Race Theory Summer School, life panels can be found on youtube. The point is to say that the attack on black knowledge is an attack on black freedom, but not just black freedom, it is an attack on our multiracial democracy. That is what january 6 that is what january 6 was all about, that is what this upcoming prosecution is all about. This is why the story that we tell about our lives is essential to this entire multiracial democracy. Amy explain how it links to january 6. Of course, we are speaking to you after President Trump was indicted yet again around basically trying to phone meant a coup detat, trying to overthrow the 2020 election. Kimberle one of the most striking images of january 6 were the images of confederate flags marching through the capital. It has never happened before. Through the capitol. If you look at their complaint, where do they focus their complaint . Around largely black and brown the cities. Atlanta, philadelphia, milwaukee, detroit. The argument is that these votes were illegitimate boats vote s. These poll workers were illegitimate poll workers. This is a deep undercurrent in American Society that has always felt the participation of nonwhite people, particularly black people, was somehow contradictory, not consistent with the idea of who this democracy is supposed to be for and about. Our Supreme Court basically said that africanamericans can never be citizens because of their enslaved ability. What was done to us was a feature of who we are. This was not an accident. This is the argument that trump was able to dog whistle. As far as the allegations against him are concerned, we are using laws that were developed to address the ways in which conspiracies can rob us of our citizenship and right to vote, can still be used to correct the situation. Amy let me ask you about Governor Ron Desantis who has doubled down on the florida board of education rules to teach students that enslaved black people developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit. last month, Governor Desantis defended the curriculum. I think they will probably show some of the folks that eventually parlayed being a blacksmith into doing some things later in life. But the reality is, all of that is rooted in whatever is factual. They listed everything out. If you have any questions, just ask the department of education. You can ask these folks. These were scholars that put that together, not anything that was done politically. Amy the naacp has called floridas new curriculum a sanitized and dishonest telling of the history of slavery in america. this comes as one of desantis appointees to the disney tax structure is drawn criticism for reportedly teaching a seminar where he said whites were also slaves in america and discredited research that there was the irish slave trade. Meanwhile, cbs reports that two of the largest organizations that cater to black professional say they are moving their conventions out of the florida because the governor and state lawmakers have become increasingly insensitive to people of color. Alpha pie all of us said their convention was set to take place in orlando but is looking elsewhere because of Governor Desantis harmful racist and insensitive policies against the black community. If you can respond to all of this. Kimberle [laughter] we have been trying to respond to it for the last three years. The attacks on Critical Race Theory, attacks on antiracism, it was always going here. This is what its all about. The effort to both sides slavery. The effort to say, at least a gave africans at skills, there was a benefit to it. This is an old ideology. The fact that people dont recognize it underscores how much ignorance there currently is about our own history. The idea that black people were benefited. That somehow they would have been unmoored to any kind of productive labor that it not been for enslavement. This is the rationale for enslavement, rationale for the civil war. These are the ideas that the daughters of confederacy tried to hardwire into our system. When there is a pushback against that, broadening of our understanding of how slavery was rationalized, how slavery was based on the forced reproduction of black women. All of these facts that have been marginalized are now framed by the antiwoke cabal as indoctrination. It is counter indoctrination. This is true indoctrination. Finally, people can see it for what it is worth. Amy finally, the news of the death of the harvard law professor, civil rights activist Charles Ogletree at the age of 70 this past weekend. Talk about his significance. Kimberle i have a very special relationship with professor ogletree. I was a part of anita hills legal team, was so overwhelmed and moved by his willingness to defend her, i understand that even though she was a witness, she was going to be treated as a defendant. This is what we understood from the beginning about black womens ability to testify, to tell the truth about their experiences. We are not seen as credible across the country, across all groups. His loss is unimaginable. At the same time, we have to remember he was a warrior for justice. Amy w [chanting foreign langu] matt davis bali is one of the worlds most popular holiday destinations, but has it become a victim of its own success . Wayan tourism started to explode. More peoples coming in from outside than the peoples living here. Matt decades of unhinged Tourist Development has come at a cost. Gary bencheghib the island of gods had become the island of trash. [singing foreign language] matt now, mostly closed to the outside world,