Transcripts For RT Watching The Hawks 20240712

This country late into the heat of the early summer night on friday june 12th Atlanta Police officer Garrett Rolfe chose to shoot and kill 27 year old rae sharp brooks for that most heinous crime of being supremely drunk and passed out in a wendys fast food drive through or is the state president of the georgia n. W. C p reverend james wood also rightfully observed this is not the 1st time a black man has been killed for sleeping. Just 48 hours later after the wendys burned in the protesters had to add yet another name to that now growing list of lives lost the Police Violence the world celebrated the birthday of a legendary revolutionary or a mess those. Whose observations on what drives rebellion still ring true to today that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love it is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality. But the words and legacy of ship isnt the only past revolutionary whose spirit you can feel in the fabric of the protests we are witnessing today and whose birthday we celebrate this week across the country and the world from new zealand to philadelphia to pox or coors 1998 anthem changes has become one of the many featured songs that have made up the soundtrack to these protests in fact changes actually jumped to the top of i tunes top 100 in early june reaching as high as the 25th spot. Born quite literally out of the black Panther Party in the 1970 s. And later becoming one of the legendary hip hop voices representing the struggle of black america in the 1980 s. And ninetys sure once quoted as saying im not saying im going to rule the world or im going to change the world but i guarantee you that i will spark the brain that will change the world and thats our job is to spark somebody else watching us. As we celebrate the birthday of these 2 great revolutionary voices whose time was cut short by assassination i think we can safely say the manifestation of their spirits live on in the fight for equality that we are witnessing today and that my friends is where we will start watching the hawks. Was going on a city street. That is so youd like to see the prices release just stay and see drone strikes great city displays systemic deception is the late show which would be so when the guild as. Well going to watching the hawks i am i robot into it and joining us today to talk about the latest news on the protests in the fall out of a murder or a sharp brooks. Is that in the matter black eyes are on that and the legacies of tupac shakur and trigger wire is author and salon dot com editor at large d. Walk ins along with him is writer journalist and watching the uk so show me producer Evan Springer thank you both for joining us today. Thank you all right here we are at the height of change and protests in the United States probably the kind not seen in this country since the 1960 s. And early seventys and yet during all of this we have yet another killing of a black man by a Police Officer under ludicrous circumstances at best devon youve lived in atlanta what are your thoughts on this latest shooting. Well you know lana is really my home thats where i was raised and i cant stress enough that this is not a new problem that whats happening to brooks is actually in a long line of Police Killings in atlanta weve had the the Police Killing of anthony hill Alexia Christian Catherine Johnston oscar cain who was actually a Community Organizer was killed by police just last year so its very hard us on from atlanta to see this moment and to see so many people just now realizing that this mythical black mecca that were told atlanta is is actually not the case i think for those of us who live there weve known for a while that thats not the case but i think the rest of the country is realizing that the image that people like the mayor keesha lance bottoms try to put out to the world that lances the safe utopia for black people and we have rappers like killer mike in seattle who go on t. V. Calling atlanta what and i think were seeing that sort of narrative crumble in front of our eyes and as someone who is a child in atlanta i never thought that we would have a day where the mythical black mecca of atlanta is finally coming to an end this idea of it being a Perfect Place and even looking at this specific case with a rashard brooks there is video of it of course thats very heartbreaking to watch but it makes this call to defund the police even more urgent because imagine if the person who came to ray shards car was not an armed officer but was a Mental Health professional or even was someone whose job is to get people home when theyre out and theyre intoxicated right theres a multitude of other options other than police that could have went to shard in that wendys parking lot and we wouldnt be where we are today with this situation so i think that his case is so heartbreaking but it also makes people understand the urgency of this call its a defun the police and think on a larger scale about what police do do you want your thoughts on the recent shooting death of overinsured. Wow i. Totally prefer agree with everything devin just said and i think that if it just shows the world our own. I dont want to call people stupid but how Stupid Police offices can actually be i mean lets just lets just say that were trying to give Police Officers some type of benefit which they dont deserve in a situation or in most situations but lets just lets just say here is they were trying to do that ok you stop a guy who sleep in his car right when you go up to one you pull him out the car you guys have a conversation he gives you a taser and he one of the ok cool that doesnt equal murder like for those phases you have to be 25 so 1st of all somebody a drunk person can probably get you what its a user from 25 feet away so the fact that you thought deadly force was the only option shows a tremendous disconnect between Police Officers and communities and people who know they know that if that was a white person he would be allowed right now they would have booked them he would have got processed you know a little bail whatever came home and he would have a day in court like he deserves because those are the rules but supposed to abide by in this country and its just said its just disgusting its like these cars they even have like that and then that they were watching the news today not a climate that were in right now so its just you know its some fortunate. And i agree with you 100 percent being a member of a white sorority i have seen people who have been passed out wasted and have done some crazy things involving Police Officers one of my friends actually slapped a woman and not only did she not get booked she didnt get charged with anything they just made sure that she got home ok so im right there with you on that one. I have a question this week were celebrating the birthdays of both Shea Guerrero and talks of course where hearing tupac music during the marches and were seeing his songs chart again pretty heavily how do you think pop legacy influence todays activism. You know i think that. Is positive music will always always be relevant because he has so many messages that get. Defunding the police and the problems that they cause amount of unity and how racism is used as a tool to pot the school i went to. The people who were supposed to be educating me on this to talk. About the problems that exist within america in dealing with politics and dealing with Police Officers. Changes when doing the introduction and theres a lot in changes im not going to use in the profanity but im just going to get my previous t. V. Friendly version but its cops dont care about it negro pull the trigger kill a black person hes a hero so the same thing has been going on the same thing has been going on since i was much out. Much so you know pocket before i was a relevant and those that energy and being able to leverage a job in a dress in attack this system is the reason why so many young artist still cool. And old when they go out to create music so the magical person to be in the you know the magical language doesnt you know shame of our faces become an iconic image of revolution and change but but it has work and legacy is more than just a picture on a t. Shirt or a parade has had his legacy influence this kind of rebellion against oppression and racism as well with the same as pox or in a different way than we are saying today. Oh absolutely i think that someone like jagger there and 2 factions are cut from a different a different cloth than the rest of us write like they have inspired millions of people around the world whether i am in have an i. Q. Of the or in palestine or in jamaica theres murals of these 2 individuals all over the place theres people who resonate with their message i mean especially right now in this coven pandemic people forget he was a physician and the reason why cuba has such a successful medical industry right now is because. He worked to establish a medical medical sort of industry that included people who lived in rule areas a lack of neighborhoods and the poorest neighborhoods across the island so his message was one of bringing everybody into health care everybody into a society that was more just he actually said you should shrimp bull with indignation at the sight of injustice meaning racism sexism homophobia exploitation should literally make you so mad youre trembling and this is actually the kind of thinking that he had as he was helping to establish the cuba that there is today where theres free healthcare for everyone right and i think we can say the same about 2 thoughts or course he was raised by a genie sure couper who was one of the baddest in a good way one of the best black panthers that ever came from the black Panther Party is his godmother was a side issue poor who is in cuba right now so these 2 characters have have animated the life of movements across the world for generations and they will continue to do so. I want to quickly ask one question when were going to go to break but who to use a juicy figures like that coming out figures like sherry figures like to park coming out of the Current Movement the word that no ones talking about yet but we will be talking about 20 years from now. I i think you know our i think that there are figures that are emerging right now and the people have good reason to be suspicious of some of the figures whose messages dont align with what the masses in the streets are actually saying but i think one thing that this movement has been good about doing is not making celebrities out of people are feeling that everyone has to be the next to the very core because if thats what youre going for thats not what youre going to be so i think we will look back on history and maybe 5 or 10 years and be able to point to key individuals who did help get the police defunded who dig create change in different cities but i think right now in the moment it might be too hard to necessarily say to let you finish up or quit. A lot of people are not happy with some of the bigger movements that get a lot of p. D. F. Attention so they just like people become a disenchant like you know someone like the bigger organizations who put forth some of the bigger figures who are trying to narrate the movement but theres a lot of people enough that im speaking from my small town theres a lot of underground people who are doing things that have the community the price of to make racism to make sure our students have something to look forward to when i think i think i dont know if those people ever going to get the praise they deserve a history about the phrase because i dont thats right. Couldnt that couldnt agree more i want to thank you both for coming out and educating our audience today about whats currently happening and also about these 2 amazing figures in history shake a barn to box score thank you so much dee and devils were always a pleasure. Thank you thank you. All right as we go to break rember that you can also start watching the hawks on demand through the brand new portable t. V. App which is now available on all platforms any platform you can think of you will climb t v all right everybody coming up with calls to defund the Police Painted on protest signs across the country and now some cities possibly following through we examine the push to defund with max remote author of take back the landscape to watch the whole. Show seemed wrong. Why dont we all just dont call. Me. Yet to shape out just the answer. And it gets me because the trail. When something you find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. Well heres the funny thing about debt in this economy in america is that when a person falls on debt credit calls or credit you know they are all money it costs and 0 or negative in the case of many people they get paid to borrow money because the solid jamie dimon and j. P. Morgan person who are disadvantaged are typically a minority person or a particularly a black person is drawing credit or charge 2025304050 percent 60 percent of payday loan thats 2000 percent. For good. But on the. Missile that is just. Used to. Chill the fuck should. We be soldiers the boots shes wearing. The. Opposing opinion with. Summarizing the police force. Deep on the pollie politicians and individuals on the right think its preposterous could lead to anarchy and its an all out assault on law and order. But some on the left find it equally problematic Congressional Black Caucus leader and House Majority whip James Clyburn said nobody is going to defund the police we cant restructure Police Forces restructure restructure reimagined policing. Funny thing is that the fact we would be fun the Police Actually meets thousands of protesters across the country have come together to demand changes in policing following the death of george boyd Rianna Taylor rashard brooks and general ration of blacks whove lost their lives to overzealous policing the idea of defunding the police isnt new at all nor did it actually originate from black lives matter the calls have rung out for decades especially in the nations most over police and underserved communities deep on the police doesnt mean eliminating all Police Funding it means police will not be overfunded it means redistributing city budgets defund the police means narrowing Police Services because Police Officers arent Mental Health counselors theyre not medical professionals they arent Education Specialist most police in calls in america are for nonviolent offenses officers are being deployed daily to address homelessness Mental Health episodes School Disruptions and parking tickets all things that police are not necessarily the best equipped to trying to do well maybe the parking Ticket Police departments budgets have exploded largely due to the war on drugs and the war on terror today Police Budgets swallow 50 allocations preventing funding of services that actually do reduce crime like Economic Development programs Education Services Mental Health and housing reports currently Police Departments of major cities in america are funded in the billions billions with the b. New york city near 6 1000000000. 00 l. A. In chicago near 1800000000. 00. Sure think of how much that if the benefit of just a fraction of those mines 20 percent were allocated to services that actually have hiring Prevention Strategies that work. Isnt it time we invest in the strategies and dont leave the bodies of black dying in the streets joining us now is mexico author of take back the land welcome back. Thank you what policing budgets in the billions and communities feel failing and pulling hard under the weight of intimate poverty and if they make racism why do you think deep in the police if such a polarizing term were seeing a lot of hate thrown from both sides of the aisle on this one and what do you think can be done to change that narrative. Well 1st im not sure just from both sides of the aisle is certainly is from some democrats and some who oppose the concept would be called on the right im not sure most democrats would be called the left strictly speaking but with that said i think that that any time people who are oppressed want to do one of 2 things either group move or one of the tools that the oppressors have available to them to. Maintain oppression or if they want to reimagine the society in a new way they want to think about society it wage then those who are either the direct oppressors who benefit from the system of oppression off feel some kind of way about people who normally are not in power thinking for themselves and reacting for themselves with that said my organization Pan African Community action were really impressed and hopeful about this moment and what that calls for defunding need in terms of people of reimagining the society were not calling for defund were calling for Community Control over police not for defund the police we think thats an important distinction at this time it is an important distinction i want to ask you know what is one of the big issues i would see is the Mental Health issues you know because like mental help it still doesnt have to. Homelessness programs suffer from a mens budget you know policing budgets of the blues like theyre the ones are suffering or poor all this money and the police americas priorities to me seem to be very misplaced what makes policing more of a priority than homelessness and Mental Health even when we know that the vast majority of those arrested actually fall into those categories of being homeless or suffering from Mental Health issues. Well its not really the function of police to take care of those issues its the function of police to serve the interests of those who are in charge and so protect the wealth of those who are in charge and you cant really serve their interests or protect their wealth by taking care of people who have Mental Health issues or people who are poor or lifting up the lives of those. That those wealthy people require to deliver to them cheap labor so those things have to be in place and the only way they can really be in place is to have a an active an even over active police force thats to see in the United States. And in your view what does Community Policing look like and how can it be implemented effectively we think that there are various different comments from various different places the balcony policing and what it actually looks like on the ground what do you think is actually affective in Community Policing and where some of the areas where currently having trouble. So just so its clear were not advocating Community Policing were advocating come unity control over police for us the important distinction and the important. The center of this moment is not relatively speaking how much the police get if they get to 50 percent of the budget of 40 percent of the budget and 30 percent of the budget the real question for for us is who is in charge with the Police Responding to whats happening now when youre seeing why people. Call the police when they see any kind of what they think of as a transgression from a black person and effectively using the police as their own personal force the police are coming and they are enforcing that these people who were seeing on social media in these viral videos they didnt just come up with these ideas on themselves this isnt the 1st time they thought of it theyve been raised theyve had years and years of this experience at the police is their way of controlling poor black people and poor brown people thats their experience in life its not this do learning it as are seeing this on on you tube so the real question for us is not how much funding does the police get although that is a real question the real question for us is who is the Police Actually working for and we want the police to be working for low income black communities that we can determine how they respond to situations in our community and really protect us rather than focusing on protecting the interests of the wealthy let me ask you with a show here is our the issue is not marginal amounts of funding you know i think you bring up some great points that i can agree to more i couldnt agree more with me as he does would it help if you saw more police or you know Law Enforcement i guess or whatever more call it come from the communities that they are supposed to be protecting and serving. I think it if that would work then we would see in other words if there were more black police and that will solve some of these problems if that were an actual thing that what we would see is whatever they were black police in majority white neighborhood. Its there will be instances of Police Brutality of black police against white police but the the key factor is not the race of the police the key factor is who everyone knows without even having to overly say it with the police work for if you were to get a black Police Officer who in his bones hated white people he still would not brutalize the white women and white men because he knew he couldnt get away with it and at the same way if you have a black Police Officer who doesnt hate black people but is working in a Police Department that is responsible for containing low income black communities then the black officer either has to actively participate in the brutalization of black people who supposedly doesnt 8 or he has to look the other way as the brutalization takes place right in front of his eyes were seeing that happen all of the time so in that respect the real issue here is of the real question is whos in charge whos in power and were sorting that during this moment in history this is our opportunity to shift power and the have a Security Force a safety force that actually works for the communities that theyre in and in that in that way doesnt really matter what color the police are if they know that by putting their hands on black people theyre going to face the consequences then they would not put their hands up like exactly exactly delphine does the piece you just spoke about also include things like that that if it were me boys or thing more and more 30 that are are going to have those now and a ticker point is really high do you think that that would actually be effective. So reviewing someone else who is in power is one thing so if someone has the power and that im granted the ability to look over their shoulder or to review what theyre doing thats one thing but thats not what were asking for here were saying that we shouldnt just be granted the op to the over someones shoulder and review what theyre doing we should be telling them what to do and when theyre not doing what were saying they should do then we should have the ability to remove them so were not talking about review at this point if we were to secure Community Control over police then review boards will be superfluous so just be extra well be just a review on top of power so theres no review board inside of the Police Department the police chief doesnt get a review board because the Police Chiefs in charge of the Police Department is in charge of itself so what were really really looking for is power and theres a growing movement to secure Community Control of police in addition to our local organization and African Community action we also have the National Association against racism political repression was just started in the 1900 read launched as a National Network and the primary campaign of that network is to have Community Control over the police all across the United States now i can say i got to say thank you so much for coming on and educating our viewers on what that looks like that Community Control please once again max rameau author of type back the land thank you so much for joining us today sir truly a pleasure having you on. Thank you. Man theres a lot of interesting ideas floating out there how absolutely i mean i wasnt necessarily a familiar with the community out process that he was speaking of either the part about Community Policing but what hes describing is something entirely different and its interesting taking the power back to him bringing him back into the community is aware this was thats thats powerful interesting interesting dynamics want to see that plays out absolutely all right everybody that is our show for you today remember in this world we are not told that we are loved enough. So i tell you all i love i robot and im a keep watch all those hawks out there and have a great day and night it. Was needed National Blood to start i know when youve been imaging less and thats l. A. City it was a propagandist you cross and its you kind of seen her from the regular morgue youre more your partner are going to be moving from our. Oh oh oh oh ah bush or psyche of all but us lucifer mistletoe is just that im like i dont have time to stay with nobody it is not my achievement mr david its our 5 beautiful lands were conceived by lineage and carried out by the people themselves if alan would produce or even floor it with the idea of making a film like this theyd probably be branded as crazy. How was the sentiment during the war the soviets were brave heroes resisting the nazis thats going to change of course after the war but once the cold war the games. Little people think that hollywood is a free place but hollywood is strictly defined by only one side of the business and the other side is ideology. How would i define hollywood is a call to dream manufacture which i thinks true but i think equally its a problem and the fact. Not. Clash with police in the. Over the continuation of the quarantine in the tower but all. Right the virus in the community meanwhile the coronavirus pushes many small italian businesses to the brink of bankruptcy with an increasing number not reopen their doors even though they are. Putting out this job for 3 months weve been continuing with the money we cannot continue all the things we did risk. Said on questions about the future of u. S. President ial hopeful joe biden after. President