He resigns from office. We will go to Guatemala City for the latest and speak to nobel peace laureate Rigoberto Menchu and journalist allan nairn. Then to chicago. A group of Chicago Public school parents, grandmothers, and education activists are entering the 19th day of a Hunger Strike. We will go to chicago to find out why. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In guatemala, expresident Otto Perez Molina has been jailed on charges of corruption only hours after he bowed to massive popular protest and resigned. In court thursday, prosecutors played wiretapped conversations they say show perez molina was part of customsfraud ring that pilfered tens of millions of dollars from the state treasury. Vice president Alejandro Maldonado has been sworn in as interim president until january, when Perez Molinas term was set to end. Maldonado had been Vice President since only may, after he assumed the post when the former Vice President Roxana Baldetti resigned over allegations of corruption. Like perez molina, she too is now in jail awaiting trial. Meanwhile, president ial elections are scheduled for sunday. The guatemalan judge announced the charges against perez molina on thursday. This Court Considers it wise to order provisional prison for mr. Otto perez molina, effective of his judicial order and not prevented, but provisional custody at of trial. Amy we will go to Guatemala City to speak with Rigoberta Menchu and allan nairn after headlines. In kentucky, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has also been jailed after a federal judge ruled her in contempt of court for refusing to issue marriage licenses to samesex couples. Davis had stopped issuing all marriage licenses rather than comply with the Supreme Court ruling in june that legalized samesex marriage nationwide. In an interview with the conservative Radio Program crosstalk america, kim davis lawyer matt staver of liberty counsel compared the judges ruling to the actions of officials in nazi germany. Saudi arabian king salman has arrived in washington, d. C. , today to meet with president obama today to discuss the Iran Nuclear Deal and other issues. This is the king salmans first visit to the United States since he assumed the throne in january following the death of his father king abdullah. The group codepink has planned a protest in front of the white house to coincide with the meeting to denounce the ongoing saudiled bombing of yemen, which has sparked a humanitarian crisis. King salmans visit comes as the pentagon and saudi arabia are finalizing a 1 billion arms agreement to provide weapons for sai arabias campaign in yemen, as well as its fight against the selfproclaimed islamic state. To see our interview with the head of Human Rights Watch ken roth on the saudi led bombing of yemen, go to democracynow. Org. In news from europe leaders are , planning another round of emergency talks about how to respond to the hundreds of thousands of people seeking Refugee Status after fleeing violence in syria, iraq, afghanistan, somalia, eritrea, nigeria and other regions as , people across e world took to social media to demand nations do more to welcome refugees. This morning, british Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to accept thousands more syrians after more than 250,000 people signed a petition created by the news outlet the independent demanding that england accept , its fair share of refugees seeking safety in europe. This comes on the heels of news that more than 10,000 icelanders have volunteered to house Syrian Refugees in their own homes. The United States is also coming under fire for resettling only 1500 syrians since the violence began. In response, some european governments rebuked the calls. Hungarian Prime Minister viktor orban pushed back against the calls saying i think we have a right to decide that we do not want a large number of muslim people in our country. This comes as hungary has herded people into camps after they believed their trains were headed west toward germany. The polish and slovak governments also said they would only accept christians. Meanwhile, reuters is reporting that hungary and bulgaria have reportedly made inquiries about buying israelidesigned fences to reinforce their borders. The chairman of the United Nations commission of inquiry spoke out about the refugee crisis in syria on thursday. Civilians are suffering the unimaginable. Without stronger efforts to bring back a compromise, Current Trends suggest the syrian conflict in the killing and carry for thell foreseeable future. Amy that was chair of the United Nations commission of inquiry. The Prime Minister has spoken out about the migration crisis after reports that the threeyearold syrian boy and his family were seeking to reach canada when they drown in the Mediterranean Sea earlier this week. Photos of the boys lifeless body lying on a turkish or have gone viral. Canada says it had not received the families of some desk asylum application the canadian Prime Minister, who has come under fire for not taking in more syrians, said thursday that canada will do what it can. We cannot ourselves crazy can drive we ourselves crazy with grief, if we look at the millions of people, literally, who are in danger, the tens of thousands who are dying. Honestly, we do a we can to help. Inigo in india, as many as 150 million unionized workers went on strike on wednesday in protest over Prime Minister modis labor reforms. Modi has proposed the largest overhaul of indias labor laws in decades. The reforms would make it harder for workers to unionize and go on strike. In the United States, the majority of the staff at al Jazeera Americas digital newsroom have voted to unionize. The workers will join the news guild of new york, which is part of the National Union Communications Workers of america. Al Jazeera America marks the fifth digital newsroom to unionize in recent months. The guardian u. S. Editorial staffs vote to unionize in gawker, salon and vice have july. Recently voted to unionize under Writers Guild of america. New york city has announced it will pay nearly a half a Million Dollars to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed by 27yearold robert hinton, who was hogtied and beaten by Corrections Officers at Rikers Island in hinton was imprisoned in the 2012. Solitary confinement unit for men with Mental Illness when a beating from correction officers left him with a broken nose, a fractured vertebrae and a , bleeding mouth. His case has already led to the firing of a captain and five officers involved in the beating. In china, president xi jinping has announced plans to shrink the military by cutting 300,000 personnel. The move thursday came amid a massive military parade marking 70 years since the end of world war ii. The Chinese Military currently has more than 2 million members. Meanwhile, pentagon Officials Say that five Chinese Naval ships are currently operating in the bering sea off the coast of alaska. Officials are calling it the first time the u. S. Military has seen Chinese Military ships in the area. In news from the campaign trail, republican president ial contender donald trump has signed a pledge saying he will back the eventual Republican Party nominee, ruling out the possibility of a thirdparty run if he does not name gain the nomination. His announcement came after a meeting with the chairman of the Republican National committee, which has been requesting all republican candidates sign the agreement. Trump has resisted the pledge during the first republican president ial debate when he raised his hand when fox news moderators asked whether the candidates would consider mounting a thirdparty run. In his announcement thursday, trump said what did i get from signing the pledge . Absolutely nothing. Just the assurance that ill be treated fairly. In news from south carolina, prosecutors will sick the Death Penalty in the case against accused charleston shooter dylann roof for the massacre of nine africanamericans inside the historic Emanuel Ame Church in june. The 21yearold faces nine counts of murder, three cows of attempted murder, and the use of a firearm during a violent felony in state court. Dylann roof has also been indicted on total hate crimes charges. South carolina Solicitor Scarlett Wilson announced the decision to seek the Death Penalty thursday. While none of us has the heart for vengeance, we all have the resolve to seek and to find justice in this case. This was the ultimate crime and justice from our state calls for the ultimate punishment. Amy and black lives matter active is our protesting that jailing of jasmine richards. The 28yearold has been one of the key organizers demanding justice for kendrick and dade, a 19yearold africanamerican who was shot and killed by Pasadena Police in 2012 after officers mistakenly believed he was armed. Jasmine richards has been arrested twice in the past six months, most recently after a rally last week. She is grilli being held on charges of terrorist threats, salt, and trespassing. A correction to one of the headlines, saudi king summit is the halfbrother of the late saudi king abdullah, not his son. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. In guatemala, former president Otto Perez Molina has been jailed on charges of corruption only hours after he resigned bowing to massive popular protest. In court thursday, prosecutors played wiretapped conversations they say show perez molina was part of customsfraud ring that pilfered tens of millions of dollars from the state treasury. Guatemalan judge Miguel Angel Galvez ordered perez molina to jail. This Court Considers it wise to order provisional prison for mr. Otto perez molina. This is effective of this judicial order and is not prevented detention but provisional custody had of trial. Amy the resignation and jailing of former president Otto Perez Molina sparked celebrations in the streets of Guatemala City. We have been here since very early celebrating after so many marches, in the rain, in the sun, so many shouts that we have made here in the plaza to see the objectives that weve been reaching for is done, to know theres justice for the people, that the corrupt will be tried, that theyre in the hands of justice for the coming years. We are very happy. It is hard to describe. The end of all this is that it benefits the people. Juan Vice President Alejandro Maldonado has been sworn in as interim president until january, when Perez Molinas term was set to end. Maldonado had been Vice President since only may, after he assumed the post when the former Vice President Roxana Baldetti resigned over allegations of corruption. Like perez molina, she too is now in jail awaiting trial. Guatemalas new president Alejandro Maldonado spoke on thursday. I believe i can take on this commitment to call on political sectors of the state from the congress so that we bring in the reforms that the country needs and that in the first and second rounds of voting we can have a focus on these issues for these legislative reforms to come to a conclusion. Amy for more we go now to Guatemala City where we are joined by the guatemalan indigenous activist Rigoberta Menchu who won the Nobel Peace Prize in she has published many 1992. Books, including i, Rigoberta Menchu an indian woman in guatemala. Shes been translated into over a dozen languages, awarded more than 30 honorary degrees, and runs the the Rigoberta Menchu tum foundation. We welcome you back to democracy now can you respond to this latest developments in your country . The president Otto Perez Molina resigning and jailed. Thats right. It is an extremely unique event in the history of guatemala. Here,re than 50 years there is an extraordinary fear of the military. The specialized members of the military forces, those who were trained in order to control people in order to crush Civil Society, in order to try to coverup all kinds of opinion against them. And we must not forget today that Otto Perez Molina, like many veteran members of the military, in the style of rios montt and other members of the military who are in the shadows , all ofd who are alive them were trained at the school of the americas of the United States. And they are not willing to remove their boots. They will die with their military boots on. Wearing them. That is why we are extremely happy that Otto Perez Molina has thegned because we reached point of believing that perhaps he wasnt going to step down and the opinion of everyone would not matter to him. But theres also a very important record we must bear in mind. Governmentent is a that has just been around for a few years, nonetheless, he reestablished certain aspects of the regime of the 1980s, the late 1980s. And one of these aspects is criminalizing small farmer leaders, criminalizing civil. Ociety, imposing censorship now, if we look through the guatemalan media, how many of has mayanles peoples have spoken in these last three years . We have not been part of the voice of the people of guatemala that has been heard, and there is a lot of complicity so it is not just that a general has fallen, but a general who is a dictator has fallen. And not only has a repressive general fallen, but also a general who was implicated in a bloody past in guatemala. Tito, as he is known by the Human Rights Community here in guatemala, Otto Perez Molina, he carried out the genocide in the past. Whoas a young commander directed the army in the ixil areas and areas where there was the heaviest arms struggle and where a sad mark was left, as reflected in the x omissions that have been done, the mass graves, the cases of forced disappearance. This is what we have done over these years, reveal all of this. So there is a past that he cares around with him, but theres also the presence, which is to say the last three years in which he also sent many peasant leaders to prison, defending the interests of many military officers who were all involved in the mining businesses and the businesses involving exploiting Natural Resources in guatemala, and then the last part, which is really cruel, shameful, which is perez as president headed up the criminal band. That criminal band is a new matter in his record, or you know throughout my life, throughout these last 35 years said that, i always there were corporatist montis, dark powers in crested in the state. Ignoredeemed everyone our concerns. They were always there. They always created empty areas in the border in order for trafficking all kinds of business, not just rock trafficking. You know, in guatemala, theres also been human trafficking, disappearance of children, disappearance of other persons, and we have never been paid attention when we announced all of it. So i can say no more than how joyful we are, because the youth of guatemala i cannot speak of a single youth or just one and a there are youths different peoples, the different oftors of the youth guatemala have made possible is greatguatemalan to feel triumpht because we have shown that it is possible to defeat fear. Many adults, many people who are my age, we have suffered from a syndrome which is called fear. We dont want to talk. We dont want to expose ourselves much, because then we are isolated by silence or the end up inventing lawsuits to bring against us. That this isto say also the fall of a symbol of what in guatemala would call anticommunist him. Every time i raise my voice, they say, oh, youre a communist, you dont have to speak. Address a national problem, im accused of being a though theas Guerrilla Movement continues to exist in this country, when we know more than 23 years ago, the guatemalan guerrillas were suspended. But here there are people that still think there are guerrillas. So they have justified their businesses i getting people by getting people by training people, and getting people to be fearful. I celebrate the civic celebration. I would hope that such arrangements of state terrorism never return, that such arrangements of censorship would not return, and we no longer be hushed up and threatened so that they can prevail. That cannot happen again. This is a true watershed for guatemala. It does honor to our struggle. And honored to everything that we have done to denounce genocide. We have gone to the courts. We have gone to the National Court of spain. I have filed a lawsuit for state terrorism and genocide, crimes against humanity, forced disappearance, torture, and we also have filed lawsuits here in guatemala, more than a dozen, for genocide that are before the courts. And we hope this ushers in a new eara. I am just happy to be alive to see this moment. Juan Rigoberta Menchu, i want to ask you, you mentioned the president of perez molina had only been in office short time, but there were so many members of not only his Vice President , but other members of his cabinet who have been jailed for corruption. Could you talk about the role of the Popular Movement of the protests that have occurred over the last few months and finally forcing the president out of office . Yes, clearly, several struggles were combined. One of these, in which there was genuine citizen dissipation, proved day after day participation, proved day after day. In the last three months, there are people that have come out to demonstrate sunday after sunday, saturday after saturday. Protests were carried out with peace, tranquilly, maturity. It is not a violent guatemala that has removed Otto Perez Molina, but a peaceful guatemala. It was combined with several legal actions and investigative actions. I would pay to butte to the work of the Prosecutorial Authority because this is the first time the prosecutorial authorities have had the valor to go forward to such an end. I would also like to pay tribute to the International Commission against impunity, which has quietly done its work. And particularly, yvonne velasquez, the commissioner. He is brave will stop you has come here he is decided to touch the fibers of criminal power. Movement. He political we began to work nine years ago. And our candidate for reelection right now. It ever since he came into congress, he began to take initiatives against impunity. At least 100 officials of perez molina, including mayors and legislators, are facing charges. We are seeking that they be handed over to justice because the justice authorities, because we have evidence of corruption in the localities. Before the congress, before the courts under investigation. And all of this points in the same direction, and that direction is that we guatemalans are sick and tired of having the make a mockery mockery and thether impoverishing people. Web a lot of work going forward. Amy Rigoberta Menchu, your father burned to death in the Spanish Embassy in guatemala with more than, well, with about 36 other indigenous peasants. Can you explain how what is happening today relates to what almost 40well, what, years ago, 35 years ago . Yes, the burning of the Spanish Embassy was marked by the idea, kill all of them, dont leave anyone alive. And that was the order they came from general garcia and that is thoseder that converted two dissipate in the massacre, the [indiscernible] years we have been involved in a trial to try to get a judgment. Is nows a judgment which in affirmed judgment, but there is influencing, influence from the office of the Vice President and the president so as to make sure the state, not the applicator in that judgment. And that is why we have challenged that judgment. But for 16 years, we brought together the witnesses, the testimony. There are some witnesses who have died. And there are other witnesses who did not want to appear in the record because it mentions names of persons and those names include, obviously, the name of mr. Otto perez molina. I think that is why he was very afraid of going to jail. And i dont think you should be sleeping at home under house arrest, because at any given point in time, a member of the military well, it is a danger. We need to take preventative measures to make sure he continues to answer for that. But of course, it has everything to do with what is happening today. Civil society, the Human Rights Community, we have worked policysly to take on a that is seeking to erase the past, to erase evidence, to erase testimony, to hush up witnesses. That is still there. So it is one thing to just look at the past it is find a look at the past, but we also want to look at these three years during which Otto Perez Molina has been in the presidency. There are any number of parameters that we can look at and compare. That is why he is dangerous. And i would conclude by saying, weve already seen the members of the military in power pose a danger, and Civil Society cannot continue to put such persons and politics because that is what they do. They want to control, give orders, and impose hierarchical structures. And within the structures, they create parallel groups that take advantage of public office. ,nd i cannot be will stop amy r thank you very much for being with us and that cannot be. Amy Rigoberta Menchu, thank you for much for being with us. Rigoberta menchu is a guatemalan indigenous activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992. She has published many books, including i, Rigoberta Menchu an indian woman in guatemala. She has been awarded more than honorary degrees, and runs the 30 the Rigoberta Menchu tum foundation. Speaking to us from her home in Guatemala City. When we come back, we will be joined by journalist allan nairn in Guatemala City, in these major historic announcements with the president Otto Perez Molina now in prison after resigning. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. As we continue to look at the situation in guatemala. On thursday, president Otto Perez Molina was jailed on charges of corruption only hours after he resigned, bowing to massive popular protest. Juan we go to Guatemala City where were joined by allan nairn, a polkaward winning journalist who has covered guatemala since the 1980s. Welcome back to democracy now thanks. Juan i want to ask nunnally r reaction to the stunning not only your reaction to the Stunning Development in guatemala, but if you could talk about the guy who is replaced perez molina to burley, maldonado. And while this is an enormous change, doesnt necessarily mean the balance of forces or the political situation in guatemala has changed that drastically. Point. S a very important the balance of forces in one sense is the same. You have the same powers in place, the oligarchs, the army, the foreign investors, the u. S. Government. But the difference is that in these past months and weeks, those most powerful, dominant people who have been able for decades to kill at will, to take the minerals, to make people work from dawn to sundown for a wage that is not enough to feed their children, to keep their childrens brains from being stunted, who have been able to do all that, these past few months and weeks, those people have been on the run. They have been the ones who have been scared. Rigobea menchu was just talking about the fear the people have been living with for decades. Well, the rulers have been living with a certain degree of fear these past few weeks. It was extraordinary on tuesday at the congress, on tuesday morning, nobody who follows politics expected the congress to yank immunity from the prosecution of perez molina. It looked to be rigged. By the afternoon, they had done so, and done so unanimously. It became clear they did it because they were afraid of what the mass reaction would the if they didnt do it. However, this is a temporary situation. This is one of those recurring, rare moments of history, revolutionary type of moment when the normal rules of politics are suspended, when the normal constraints dont apply. On the streets, people say the people are on their feet and everything is shaking. But this is not going to last. And guatemalan now face of tremendous series of difficulties. You just mentioned maldonado aguirre, the new president. On sunday, there is going to be a president ial election were all of the leading candidates are funded by gangsters, narcos, and oligarchs in the most murderous of the old military. That structure is still in place. If this movement continues, especially if it deepens and brings an even more of the indigenous pauls relation population, and may be possible to shape and alter, and some hope, abolish that structure, but it is going to be very difficult. Precisexactly sees the path forward, but there may be a way to do it will stop guatemala has a history of producing very brave, brilliant, and creative people. That is one reason why the army had to be so active during the time of crisis in the 1980s and killing so many. There were so many great minds. O murder, and they did so specifically, the new president , rosenado, he wro within the mln. The group that worked with the cia in 1954 invasion of guatemala that overthrew the democratic government. It was action in operation quite parallel to that in iran in 1953, and like that of iran, democratic government was also overthrown, the horrible consequences are still reverberating today. Maldon auto, he basically maldon auto, he is basically sent his career assessment, intellectual face of the men of the death squads. That is what he has done. His is recent a congressman was while on the high court, he denied an effort by the spanish courts to extradite the guatemalan generals to spain to stand trial for their role in atrocities like the Spanish Embassy slaughter that killed Rigoberta Menchus father, and most important, he led allan, his voice is breaking up. If you could continue saying, we lost you at he led. Allan is speaking to us from Guatemala City. Thealdonado aguirre led campaign of the high court to annul the rios montt genocide and now he is the president of guatemala. Amy will have a few minutes, but i was wondering if you could describe for us to dramatic moments yesterday, what it was like an Guatemala City, when the president resigned, when he was brought before the court and the charges were read against him, and if you could tell us, since really have a few minutes, what has been the role of the united at the end of Perez Molinas reign. The news came out that perez molina a quick knowing who is facing arrest at dawn. And starting a 1 00 a. M. , people went out to the streets and you could hear the horns of sounding throughout the city. Yesterday, as he sat in court, on the tv screen of one of the stations, they had text at the bottom that said enter this president , will leave as prisoner. You could see him sitting behind a table as the judge was asking him for his personal details. He was undergoing the humiliation that every prisoner has to undergo. Who is your wife . What is your occupation . What is your address . I sigh look on his face ive never seen before. I met him in the highlands in 1982 as he was carrying out the rios montt program of slaughter, spent some time with him then and seen him on tv many times since. Ive never seen that kind of look of fear on the face of perez molina. It is probably the same look he saw the faces of some of his captives who ended up dead. In fact, back then, you can see us talking, standing over the corpses some people you just finished interrogating. Should see americans sitting behind that defense table as well because there were american advisers working with the Guatemalan Army as they did those mass killings. In the u. S. And also israel provided the weaponry. Most recently, the u. S. Has been urging or had been urging perez , but they to resign could not sustain that. They were swept away by the popular wave. Juan the impact of what is going on in guatemala in terms of what has happened across latin america, as a social movement of Popular Movements have forced more account ability by their leaders . Yeah, this is a real example of that. And i think in a certain sense, it is a step even be on that we have seenu say, these mass uprisings in recent years, especially in south america, which has been leading the world of popular moves for democratization. But guatemala has added an extra dimension, and that is that you have movements of the people, move once of the survivors of the poorest, of the most oppressed who have been essentially have come together with professionals, with honorable lawyers, people who manage to find their way into the system as prosecutors or judges, and then do their jobs. Attempt to enforce the murder laws with the backing of the people. And that is what produced the prosecution of rios montt the first time in the world than any country in the world has been able to bring its own president or its own former head of state he was a dictator to trial for crimes against humanity and genocide. And now, bringing down a sitting president , a military man, a man of tremendous power with the backing of the richest in society, bringing him down on criminal charges. He now faces a corruption charge, but waiting in the wings are charges for mass murder. Guatemala is now setting an example for the world with the the Fact Alliance between Popular Movements and honest people who are willing to enforce the murder laws. First with the rios montt and now with the toppling of perez molina. I would like to see the u. S. Follow that. Lets make a conceivable that an american president be brought down or an american president can be brought into a courtroom and asked to list his personal details, have judge asked george w. Bush, what is your address . What is the name of your spouse . When were you born . What is your occupation, mr. Bush . Write down all of the personal details and have him account, for example, for the invasion of iraq and the hundreds of thousands of civilians who were killed as a result. That is exactly what has just and done in guatemala by the people of guatemala. Why cant americans advanced to that level as well . Allan, he is not been charged with genocide. Perez molina is not being charged with murder. He is been charged with corruption. What makes you think that these charges will broaden out from there . Well, one possibility is, guatemala law allows ordinary citizens to come forward and file criminal charges. For example, that is how the rios montt k started. Goberto was part of that. It eventually culminated in his genocide conviction. Charges could be brought by ordinary citizens against perez molina. If it is exhibit by the Justice Department of guatemala, it would be able to go forward. And now since Perez Molinas amenity from prosecution has been eliminated and he is out of the presidency, he would in fact not be able to legally shield himself from such a charge and he also is the longer surrounded by men with guns who would be able to shoot down those who try to bring them to justice. And make a we want to thank you for being with us, allan nairn, george for winning journalist and activist reporting from Guatemala City. He has covered guatemala since the 1980s. You can follow him on twitter allannairn14 for the latest news on the resignation of Otto Perez Molina and guatemala. A special things to our translator charlie roberts. When we come back, we go to chicago. Why are grandmothers on Hunger Strike. Stay with us. [music break] students at the Dyett High School in chicago performing. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan in chicago, a group of Public School parents, grandmothers, and education activists are entering the 19th day of a Hunger Strike to save Dyett High School, the only remaining openenrollment Public High School left in the community of bronzeville. Supporters say the city neglected the school for years before announcing plans to close it. Under chicago mayor and former obama chief of staff rahm emanuel, the city has closed about 50 schools in predominantly africanamerican and latino neighborhoods as part of what critics say is a push to privatize education. The Hunger Strikers have called for chicago to reopen Dyett High School as a Global Leadership and Green Technology school and on wednesday, mayor emanuel was to meet with the dyett supporters after a city budget town hall meeting, but his security detail escorted him out when protesters took to the stage and confronted him. Right now right now right now amy well, in a new Development Thursday afternoon, janice jackson, chief of education for Chicago Public schools announced that Dyett High School will reopen as an openenrollment artsthemed high school. But the announcement was seen by some as an attempt to and the Hunger Strike. The protesters have rejected the proposal saying this doesnt reflect the vision of the community. Well, for more, we are joined by two of the Hunger Strikers. Jitu brown is the National Director of the journey for justice alliance, a member of the coalition to revitalize dyett, and one of the lead organizers of the Hunger Strike. Welcome to democracy now talk about what is at issue, the significance of dyett, bronzeville, and chicago history. Thank you for having me back. The significance of bronzeville is that in the 20 century, it was one of the main destinations for africanamericans as we evacuated the south. Bronzeville is the home of richard wright, former chicago mayor harold washington, not king cole, red fox, louis armstrong. The list goes on and on. Sam cooke, dr. Daniel williams. It is a Proud Community that is suffered for years. Dyett high school is the poster child for Public School sabotage. I have served the School Council since 2003. In 2008, were the largest increase in students going to college and all of Chicago Public schools. For two years with the largest decrease in arrest or suspensions. Internationally recognized Restorative Justice program. Rise up we want espn award as a small school that was doing great things and needed a little help. We beat out 400 others goes around the country. The next year they voted to phase it out. We are very clear that in america today, we dont have failing schools, we have been failed. And we have to be firm on that because in that process, our children are demonized, shuffled around from school to school, and people make money off what should be a human right. This Hunger Strike came about because we were left with no other alternative. Since 2009, the coalition to revitalize dyett has attended to engage Public Schools on a catered 12 vision for education vision in a neighborhood. In absence of one provided by the district. We met with literally thousands of bronzeville residents. Weve held six town hall meetings, gotten over 3000 petition signatures, over 578 people in bronzeville mailed letters to mayor emanuel saying we want dyett global leadehip and Green Technology high school as the hub for what we call a Sustainable Community school village. And that means that we want feeder schools vertically aligned with dyett Global Leadership and Green Technology high school. We want the curriculum to be vertically aligned. We want parents and local School Council members to train together. We want to create a network of schools so that we have not only relevance, but elation ships. This is a visionary plan. The president of the American Education Research Association said it was a wonderful plan. The president of the megan federation of teachers said it was the best academic plan to a and 30 years of teaching. ,ut Chicago Public schools instead of working with the community, created a process after we gave them the proposal in april and violated their own the date ofhanging the hearing. And that is what prompted the Hunger Strike. It was the latest in a round of deception, lies, misdirection, ignoring parents, ignoring community input, of locking us out of meetings. And so were on this Hunger Strike because we have been rendered voiceless. We pay taxes, but our voices dont matter while the voices of black parents dont matter, black students dont matter while the voices of parents in lincoln park are honored. Example would be when parents in rogers park said they did not want intrinsic and noble street charter schools, they did not have to get arrested or protest. They went to two meetings. In two weeks, that deal was off the table. Parents and bronzeville, black parents in bronzeville create a visionary plan for schools and we are railroad it at every turn. And yesterday, it was another example of that. Juan jitu brown, the issue of these massive closings of schools in the black and brown communities chicago, what excuse do they give for a school like you, like yours, to be closed and what were the proposals that they were entertaining to replace it with . So i appreciate that, juan. Of rationale they give is it the school is underperforming or under enrolled. What we dont realize is that cps makes the schools underperform and set up the situation more schools are under enrolled. So in 1995 when the ceo Chicago Public schools, they initiated something called School Probation which said if your students did not have a certain test score, there were punitive interventions the district would make. Schools that go on probation for most cases never come off. It is a graveyard. So what happens when her school goes on probation . The curriculum gets narrowed. 9 00 to 9 50, everything in the 10 00 to 10 50, have creative writing were social studies, now from 9 00 to 11 30, yet reading block will stop test prep. The curriculum gets narrowed. The opportunity for inspiration gets diminished because now students dont have the option in the curriculum to capture the imagination. So the schools dont perform. And what happens . We say were going to close is Underperforming School and then were going to bring in a private operator. Who cares less about our input in the district does. At the same time, while children are going to that at a school like one on the south side where the school is so crowded that students have to get their special ed services under the stairs on the first floor, where students are eating lunch on the floor outside the classrooms, where there is no librarian at the same time, if a school like linkin park, a Neighborhood School that serves white middleclass residents where the students have mandarin, chinese, arabic, and spanish. Every teacher is a teacher aide. A fully stocked library. That is not bad teachers or students, that is separate and unequal education. Tosing schools has been away accelerate the movement of africanamerican and latino families out of communities, but also to line the pockets of people that are politically connected. And that is the same thing that is happening in the case of Dyett High School. Amy allan nairn jitu brown, on day two of the Hunger Strike, paramedics had to be called for you. What happened and how are you feeling today . Was, at theened press conference, i got a little to be honest, i got a little emotional and i expended i think a little too much energy and i had a really hydrated like i needed to. So i sat down and when i jumped up, i was a little lightheaded. Thats all. They checked my blood pressure. They checked my blood glucose is it ever thing was fine. They may be triggered a lot of water, which ive been doing every day. Amy but that was day 10. Youre now moving in on day 20. The 19th day. How long are you planning to Hunger Strike . How many of you are there . People are calling the group the dyett 12. There are 12 Hunger Strikers. After the mayors decision to basically open it up let me say, we are clear the school would not be open without us. So we have accomplished that. Were clear on that. But we do not see this as a victory. This is not a victory for the children in bronzeville. People in bronzeville did not say they wanted an arts school. People in bronzeville said that one of Global Leadership in Technology High school. That it is p sustainable system of education. So we spoke i got a call from 15 ceo of forced claypool minutes before the press conference that we were locked out of by cps, and he told me i asked him, where is the room for negotiation . He said, welcome to were moving forward. My message to him today is, so are we. Were moving forward. This is an human rights issue. Is yourlker said, no it friend who demands or silence organizer right to grow. Something that we take lightly. These are our children. These are our communities. We have to live with cps reforms after the people that implement them get promoted to some other jobs. So we will determine the type of education that our children receive in bronzeville. We are calling on the u. S. Department of education where we have open title six civil rights complaints, where there being investigated right now, to intervene. At the press conference yesterday with the mayor, there were people that they locked out, the people who fought so they negotiated the deal with them and there were these africanamerican individuals posing as leaders who stood there and said that they will work on Dyett High School. One of the people was the ministers was one of the ministers who led paid protesters into the dyett hearings in 2012 to close the schools. He won a front of the liquor store in a Halfway House and got those of us that were most honorable, gave them 25 apiece and told them they held up prefabricated signs saying, you cannot support failure, close Dyett High School. They got on the microphone and amy we have 10 seconds. Ranted incoherent statements. Those were not the people that struggled for the school and those will not be the people that lead dyett to renaissance. Amy jitu brown, thank you for being with us. On the 19th day of a Hunger Strike with other Hunger Strikers around Chicago Public schools. That does it for our show. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] funding for christina cooks is provided by astavita, manufacturers of skin defense complex, designed to help protect skin from free radicals with Astareal Astaxanthin and tocotrienol. Astavita skin defense complex more than skin deep. Additional funding provided by kuhn rikon, manufacturers of the swissmade tools for the kitchen. European cooks have been using kuhn rikoncrafted kitchen tools for over 60 years. Kuhn rikon kitchen tools, dedicated to a tradition of precision and durability. And by ecover, where the environment starts in your home. 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