Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20170725

A san Antonio Walmart parking lot. The youngest victims were just 15 years old. We will get the latest. Then 50 years ago, rebellions broke out in the cities of newark and detroit. 43 people died in detroit, 26 and newark. Thousands were arrested. In 1967 alone, there were 160 rebellions that made when you have resistance at that level, you cannot call it a riot. It is people rebelling against oppression and against exploitation. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. On capitol hill, Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell has scheduled a vote on the republican Healthcare Plan today after multiple previous efforts to put the republican legislation to a vote failed amid dissent within the republicans own party. Arizona republican senator john mccain is set to return to washington, d. C. , for the vote, only a week after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. The senate will technically be voting to proceed with a version of the republican healthcare bill passed narrowly by the house, and then the senate floor will be open to debate and amendmts on the legislation. s nocleaif republins even have enough votes to proceed to a debate. If they do, they can vote on the house ll, which would cause 23 Million People to lose their Health Insurance over the next decade, to plan to repeal the Affordable Care act without replacement legislation, which could lead to 32 Million People losing insurance over the next decade. Trumps soninlaw and Senior Adviser Jared Kushner is returning to capitol hill today for a second day of testimony in front of the Senate Intelligence committee amid the Ongoing Investigation into trumps ties Trump Campaign ties to russia. On monday, kushner testified for twohours during a closeddoor session. He then spe to reporters outside the white house. Let me be very clear. I did not collude with russia, nor do i know if anyone else in the campaign who did so. I had no improper contacts. I have not relied on russian funds for my businesses. And i have been fully transparent in providing all requested information. Donald trump had a better message and ran a smarter campaign, and that is why w heon. Amy after kushner left the Senate Intelligence committee hearing, he was confronted by a protester, ryan clayton of the Group Americans take action. I am here today because that man right there conspired with the russians to steal an american election. That should be acceptable. Why are we letting foreign governments and foreign agents of people conspire with them stand in the white house next to the president . It is despicable. We must do something about this. Impeach this president. Amy trumps eldest son, donald trump, jr. , and trumps former Campaign Manager Paul Manafort are slated to testify before the Senate Judiciary committee tomorrow. It will be a closeddoor session in which they were reportedly not be under oath. President trump is attacking attorney general Jeff Sessions over the Ongoing Investigations into trumps ties to russia. On monday night, trump tweeted so why arent the committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered a. G. , looking into crooked hillarys crimes russia relations . Then during a twitter rant this morning, trump lashed out at both sessions and mccabe, tweeting attorney general Jeff Sessions has taken a very weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes intel leakers he also tweeted problem is that the acting head of the fbi the person in charge of the hillary investigation, andrew mccabe, got 700,000 from h for wife this comes after trump said last week he never would have nominated Jeff Sessions to be attorney general if he had known sessions was going to recuse himself from a Justice Department investigation into Trump Campaign ties to russia. The Washington Post is reporting trump and advisers are considering replacing sessions. Ted cruz center dot giuliani are being considered ted cruz and Rudolph Giuliani are said to be considered for replacements. In iowa, two catholic workers said monday they had carried out multiple acts of sabotage aimed at stopping the construction of the 3. 8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, which stretches from north dakota, through south dakota, iowa and into illinois. Jessica reznicek and ruby montoya said that on election day last year, the two set fire to five pieces of heavy machinery being used to construct the pipeline. The two then taught themselves how to destroy empty pipeline valves and moved up and down the pipelines length, destroying the valves and delaying construction for weeks. The two said they are claiming responsibility for the sabotage in order to inspire more to take action. This is catholic worker jessica reznicek. We are speaking publicly to empower others to act boldly to dismantle the infrastructure which denies us our rights to water, land, and liberty. We have seen repeated failure of the government and it is our , risking our own liberty for the sovereignty of us all falls out sovereignty of us all. We never threaten human rights nor personal property. We did fight a private corporation that has run rampantly across our country seizing land and polluting our nations water supply. Amy and that was catholic worker ruby montoya. The two were speaking in front of the Iowa Utilities Board Office after they deliver their statement the two used a hammer , and a crowbar to damage the letters of the iowa utilities board sign in protest of the boards decision friday to reject a lawsuit by environmental groups seeking to have the pipelines state permit revoked, which would have forced the pipeline to shut down. The two women were arrested monday for damaging the sign, and are being held on 1000 bond. Oil is now flowing through the Dakota Access pipeline after the project was greenlighted by the president trump, despite months of massive nationwide resistance led by the Standing Rock sioux of north dakota. Meanwhile, in california, two protesters were arrested monday as a dozen people blockaded the gates of the Kinder Morgan oil terminal in richmond monday morning to protest the companys plans to expand the trans mountain tar sands pipeline in canada. Activists locked themselves to oil barrels and a 12footlong mock oil pipeline that read no consent. No pipeline. Kinder morgans proposed trans mountain pipeline expansion has also faced widespread resistance from First Nations in canada. In san antonio, texas, truck driver James Matthew bradley, junior, was charged with transporting undocumented immigrants for the purpose of private financial gain after dozens of undocumented immigrants were discovered packed into the back of a sweltering tractor trailer he had been driving. When the group of migrants were discovered in a walmart parking lot in san antonio, eight men were already dead. Two more men died later and 29 remain hospitalized. Authorities say they are investigating it as a Human Trafficking case. Survivors say as many as 200 people were sandwiched into the back of the truck at times during the deadly journey, and that the trucks cooling system was broken. As the temperature soared in the back of the truck, survivors say they banged on the walls to try to get the drivers attention, but the truck did not stop. Migrants began to pass out, and then die from asphyxiation and heat exposure. The youngest victims were just 15 years old. The truck driver claims he was unaware that people were packed into the back of his tractortrailer until he parked outside the walmart to use the bathroom and heard loud banging noises. If convicted, bradley could face the Death Penalty or life in prison. Well go to san antonio for more on the story after headlines with eddie canales, director of the south Texas Human Rights Center, and pulitzer prizewinning journalist Sonia Nazario. In pakistan, at least 26 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a Vegetable Market monday. The attack claimed by the taliban was targeting Police Officers and killed at least nine officers. Israel is removing metal detectors from a mocks in jerusalem after massive protest by palestinians who say the security measures were part of an effort by israelis to seize the control of the holy site. The move comes after the Un Security Council held an emergency meeting over the mounting protests and violence. At least seven people four palestinians and three israelis have been killed since friday. This is u. N. Middle east envoy mickolay mladenov. And i call on the parties to refrain from provocative actions, show restraint and work toward finding a solution. It is extremely important a solution to the Current Crisis be found by friday this week. I think the dangers on the ground will escalate if we go through another cycle of friday prayer without a resolution to this Current Crisis. Amy israel says it will replace the metal detectors with another form of security measures. According to the website electronic intifada, some rightwing israeli extremists have been calling for the expulsion of muslims from the alaqsa mosque entirely. They said we must liberate the temple mount from the murderous islam and return it to the people of israel. Meanwhile, a rabbi and four other members of an interfaith delegation to israel and palestine were blocked from boarding the plane to israel, in people who support the boycott, divestment sanctions, or bds, movement, an International Campaign to pressure israel to comply with International Law and respect palestinian rights. Rabbi alissa wise, Deputy Director of jewish voice for peace, said we were told at checkin that the airline has a letter from the Israeli Government saying we are not allowed to fly to israel. Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte vowed to continue his bloody drug war during his state of the nation address monday. The fight will be unremitting, but it will be unrelenting. Despite international and local pressures, the fight will not stop until those [applause] understand that they have to cease. They have to stop because the alternative are either jail or hell. Amy filipino Security Forces and vigilantes have killed more than 7000 suspected drug users and dealers since duterte launched his socalled war on drugs one year ago. During his state of the nation, duterte also attacked multiple filipino media outlets, including the popular filipinoowned website rappler, which duterte falsely accused of being americanowned. On sunday, the Philippines Congress also granted dutertes request to extend martial law in the Southern Region of mindanao until the end of the year. President trumpby the duterte to the white house. Back in the United States in michigan, federal judge Mark Goldsmith has halted the deportation of more than 1400 iraqis, ruling the immigrants could face torture or death if returned to iraq. The ruling gives the immigrants more time to try to convince courts to overturn their deportation orders. The immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency, known as ice, has rounded up hundreds of iraqi immigrants in michigan in recent months after u. S. In a wreck reached an agreement that would allow the u. S. To deport iraqis even if they dont have valid travel documents. In mississippi, a former navy sailor has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for murdering 25yearold African American transgender woman dee whigham in a hotel room in 2016 after learning she was transgender. The autopsy shows Dwanya Hickerson slashed whighams throat and stabbed her more than 100 times. Hickerson originally faced the possibility of life in prison or the even the Death Penalty, but he received a plea deal, which whighams mother says is a slap in the face. Before her murder, dee whigham had just begun her medical career working as a nurse. And in baltimore, a group of High School Students are tackling the Drug Overdose epidemic by building a cell phone app that alerts people when a toxic batch of heroin is being distributed in their area. The students, who are mostly African American, helped design and build bad batch alert, which sends Text Messages to alert baltimore residents when people in their area are overdosing at a higher rate, likely from a tainted batch of the drug. The app also allows users to for to text for help, allowing drug users an alternative to calling 911 in the event of an overdose. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and im Juan Gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin todays show in san antonio, texas, where at least 10 undocumented immigrants died from heat exposure and asphyxiation after they and dozens of others were crammed into the back of a sweltering tractortrailer as part of their journey to enter the United States from mexico. When the group of migrants were discovered in a walmart parking lot in san antonio, eight men were already dead. Two more men died later and 29 remain hospitalized. Authorities say they are investigating it as a Human Trafficking case. This is San Antonio Police chief william mcmanus. We are looking at Human Trafficking crime here this evening. Department of Homeland Security is involved. They are working with us. Homicide will work with them to thismine the origin of horrific tragedy. Amy survivors say as many as people were sandwiched into the 200 back of the truck at times during the deadly journey. The youngest victims were just 15 years old. On monday, truck driver james federal law against knowinglyd transporting people who are in the country without documentation. He claimed he was unaware that his tractortrailer contained human cargo until he parked it outside a Walmart Store to use the bathroom and heard loud banging noises. Bradley told investigators he then opened the back doors of the trailer and was surprised when dozens of spanish people ran out. He said he later noticed the dead bodies, saying there were bodies just lying on the floor like meat. If convicted, bradley could face the Death Penalty or life in prison. We are joined now by two guests. Us bycanales is joining video stream. And in los angeles, were joined by Sonia Nazario, a pulitzerprize winning journalist and author of enriques journey the story of a boys dangerous odyssey to reunite with his mother. She is a board member of kids in need of defense. We welcome you both to democracy now eddie, lets begin with you. Tell us what you understood took place beginning well, we can start before this, but in laredo. That is a scenario probably played out on a very regular basis for the person the driver to say he was not aware is preposterous. People are forced to try to theumvent the checkpoints, border and the checkpoints, on a regular basis to try to make it into the United States and reach a destination. So that scenario, i mean, for 200 people to be in a tractortrailer like that and him being unaware is highly unlikely. A lot of reports say he was picking up people and there was a lot of different stops. So this is something that, you know, is very it contributes to the crisis we have in the border in terms of Migrant Deaths. We have a humanitarian crisis that has been going on for about 15, 20 years now of people dying on the border trying to get through. It is the result of the return policy that this country has regarding trying to stop people from coming in at the borders and with the checkpoints. Juan speaking of that crisis, on friday, you found the body of a male migrant when you are when who was dead you are checking a water station at a ranch in rural Brooks County. And you talk about the unbelievable toll of migrants found dead just in that part of texas . The south Texas Human Rights Center was founded in Brooks County. Initially, the effort was that people were being buried without dna not being taken and so we undertook that advocacy and changed that practice. 2016, there2004 and has been over 665 Migrant Deaths and bodies in skeletal remains that have been recovered only and Brooks County. Corridor of migraon from Central America and from mexico. People are trying to circumvent that checkpoint it is about 15 miles. On thursday, we tried to mitigate prevent people from dying. We have water stations, over about 115 in Brooks County and surrounding counties and kind of the beginning routes that people may take during the route and some of the ranches that people allow the humanitarian efforts. We wereecking water and at one of the stations. Normally i telltale sign is buzzards and then i smelled the decay of the animal or body. I looked for a little bit and could not find anything. There is highpressure there. I moved on to finish my route. Back, we look again. Sure enough, we found a body of an individual that was spread eagle underneath and a clearing underneath a tree. It was number 32 in Brooks County this year. ,he beginning of the year mostly skeletal remains. Over the summer, we have recovered live bodies there. We recovered remains of full bodies. So that is what is going on. Last year it was 61. 61 recovery of skeletal remains and bodies. This year we are at 32. It is a crisis. It is something that we continue to deal with. The rescue efforts it is all private land, so we are working with Border Patrol in terms of trying, for one, to make sure the 911 system is working and Border Patrol response to migrants in distress. And of course, if families reach out to the south Texas Human Rights Center and ngo and their more comfortable in terms of discussing what they know that theirhe trail loved one has taken and where they were left behind. Last week i received seven calls of missing persons, missing migrants. So thiseddie, you discovered body on friday. On saturday, this news comes out. Now 10 people dead in that walmart truck and 29 people in the hospital, being called one of the nations deadliest Human Trafficking episodes that has taken place in san antonio. Republican Lieutenant Governor of texas than patrick blamed the Migrant Deaths in san antonio on sanctuary cities. On sunday, patrick took to social media to support s. B. 4, a new antisanctuary city law that allows police to check the immigration status of anyone they detain. Patrick wrote on his Facebook Page todays tragedy is why i made passing senate bill 4 to ban sanctuary cities which is now law a top priority. Sanctuary cities entice people to believe they can come to america and texas and live outside the law. Sanctuary cities also enable human smugglers and cartels. Today, these people paid a terrible price and demonstrate why we need a secure border and Legal Immigration reform so we can control who enters our country. And the senator from texas, your senator, john cornyn, said Border Security will help prevent this texas tragedy. Compassion is called for. Your response to these officials of your state . One thing is correct, we do need Immigration Reform to deal with a system that everybody says is broken. Securitynk the border ,uestion has been tried enforcement approach only for the last 15 to 20 years has not worked. Migration is down on the border, but the Migrant Deaths continue. Demonstrated by the fact you have, you know, 9 million, 10 Million People in this country working in terms of the labor needs of immigrant labor in this country. The policy of enforcement only approach is one that is causing the deaths. We need to figure out a way to regularize the labor in a safe and orderly and regular manner that deals with the issues at hand. Labor is demonstrated that it is needed. Voted testified against of that hearing. Every major police chief in the city in the state of texas was against that saying it was against community security. It keeps immigrants and the immigrant community from reporting crime. So in sanctuary cities it is not to say sanctuary cities is the normal thing too. Its nofor cal police to enforce immigration law. That is not their duty. Their duty is to enforce their local laws and keep the community safe. It is proven time and time again that those communities are safer and the effort to create to compel local Police Departments and the state to enforce immigration laws is something that we are still fighting, and we will continue to fight in terms of revealing that law. Juan i would like to bring Sonia Nazario io the convsation, putzer prizewinning journalist and author of enriques journey the story of a boys dangerous odyssey to reunite with his mother. Your initial reaction to this tragedy . You pointed out in many articles the huge ow coming into the u. S. Now is largely from Central America through mexico. Can you talk about the impact of these crackdowns and the results of more migrants dying along the border . Well, obviously, i think what this truck driver did was disgusting and he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. But i think this is a very predictable outcome of this crackdown on the border. You are seeing more and more mostly folks know, coming here, as you said now, coming here unlawfully are Central Americans, not mexican. Theyre mostly fling some of the most violent countries on earth. Most vulnerable of those coming from Central America, immigrant children, five, 10, 12yearold kids who are trying to get into the United States and flee that violence. They have been recruited by gains or narco cartels and they feel their lives are endangered, so they are trying to reach the United States and oftentimes reach a parent, reached safety in the u. S. In the last couple of years, these kids were turning themselves into the Border Patrol agents and they were trying to find the Border Patrol agents with a reached the border. What were seeing as a result of this crackdown is if nine and 10 turn themselves in in january, today, perhaps only half of them are turning themselves in. They are trying to circumvent these checkpoints. They are trying to walk into the border. That is where we see these deaths, when these children are try to circumvent these checkpoints. They get lost, disoriented, walking and 120 degree heat without enough water. You cannot carry enough water to survive in these kinds of desertlike conditions on the border. This is a very predictable outcome. In 2015, as a response to so many children arriving at the border in 2014, there was a surge of these unaccompanied immigrant tolerant, the u. S. Funded a crackdown. They paid tens of millions of dollars to mexico to find this brutal crackdown aimed at preventing these children from arriving at our border. What we saw is children who are traveling on buses with smugglers were then being put in these tractortrailers and mexico. I heard a story yesterday. A 15yearold girl, two days locked into one of these trailers with 200 people in 110, 120 degree heat. She had a 13yearold boy who died next to her. She was in that trailer for two days without body. They are given buckets to go to the bathroom in. These buckets tip over and youre up to your ankles in excrement. These are horrific things that are happening. We are seeing more people being transported now in trailers. In laredo in the last month, they found four trailers full of immigrants. In an effort to try to circumvent the smugglers, the cartels are resorting to more and more desperate measures. This does not work. 97 of people who try repeatedly to get into the u. , survey show are able to get into the u. S. So not only is it inhumane, it does not work. I believe that we are seeing in congress a growing Movement Among some representatives, some senators to recognize that the only thing that really will work is to address the root causes of what is pushing people out of these three very violent countries. One cap if i can interrupt, you have written about programs that have worked in reducing the flow of migrants when the emphasis was shifted to improving the conditions in some of these countries like honduras, specially, you wrote about that. Can you talk about that as well . Instead of these crackdowns that resulted in increases of deaths along the border we see about 300 people die trying to walk into the u. S. Every year. Two years ago, the u. S. Started funding violence prevention programs, pilots, and some of the most violent neighborhoods in honduras. I went to the most violent in honduras for four years running, it had the highest homicide rate in the world. In this neighborhood, two or three years ago, bodies littered the streets in the morning. The gangs operated so brazenly one day they were playing soccer with a decapitated head of someone they had just executed. The u. S. Went in and they organize leaders in this neighborhood, tried to reweave the social fabric. They had Outreach Centers were kids could go and get training, help getting jobs. We took a program that worked in los angeles, where i live, the grant program. You identified to get to have some of the nine risk factors of going into gangs. If they have half of those risk factors, put them into your family counseling. Toy are 77 less likely engage in crime and use drugs or alcohol. The final thing we did was we funded a nonprofit that went into these neighborhoods in honduras, 96 of all homicides result in no conviction. You can murder someone in broad daylight and you can get away with it because witnesses wont step forward because they know tomorrow they will be dead. We funded a nonprofit that when into this neighborhood, investigated all homicides, and they convinced witnesses to overfy with a black burqa them like they do with mafia trials in italy. Now theyre getting convictions on more than half of the homicides. This resulted in more than two years of a 62 drop in homicides in this neighborhood. What you see in honduras with these few pilots, two years ago, 18,000 honduran children were arriving unaccompanied at our border and being apprehended. That number in two years was nearly cut in half. El salvador, guatemala, that are not implement of these programs to this degree, our sing the number of children arriving at our border increasing. In honduras, this cost 100 million the year to do. I know Many Americans would say, well, i dont want to spend one red cent in foreign lands. That you are spending billions of dollars processing these immigrants, dealing with them, paying for greater Border Patrol, putting these kids in school while their cases proceed. A cost billions to deal with these folks once they are here. It is much cheaper, humane, and works unlike the wall. Amy Sonia Nazario the new yorker posted quotes by and i named ice agent who spoke out trump illustrious plan. Saying reuters is reporting that ice is planning to light a series of nationwide raids this week targeting undocumented teenagers for deportation. Your response as we wrap up . I think he busily, we categorized we prioritized going after criminals. Now were going after that five year old or that 10yearold who arrives to this country alone seeking safety from us. They are refugees. I believe we should treat refugees and a compassionate way. If we cannot have compassion towards a child running from danger, then i think we have lost our moral compass. These children are afraid to tell Border Patrol agents or people who are trying to help them after they have been apprehended. They are afraid to tell them the name of their parents because dhs just released information to officials in d. C. That they have picked up 270 sponsors of these children, sponsors are usually parents these children are released to while their immigration cases are proceeding. These children are terrified to tell anyone if they even have a relative in this country because they feared been that the relative will be picked up and be deported. Instead of targeting people who are criminals, rapists, murderers, were going after children. We are separating them violently from the parents they could be released to while their immigration cases are proceeding. I think that is i mixed up priority in terms of our government. I think Many Americans are compassionate, especially towards refugees, people who are fleeing for their lives. Amy thank you for being with us, Sonia Nazario, till a surprise pulitzerprize winning journalist and author of and eddie journey canales, the director of the south Texas Human Rights Center. When we come back, it has been 50 years since the newark and baltimore uprisings. Stay with us. [music break] amy Nuestro Juramento our vow version by la santa cecilia. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with Juan Gonzalez. Juan we turn now to look back at the newark and detroit rebellions of 1967. It began in newark on july 12, 1967, when two white Police Officers arrested and beat an africanamerican cabdriver. Protesters initially started gathering outside the Fourth Police precinct. Then the unrest spread. Over the next six days, 26 people died, 700 were injured. Entire city blocks were burned down. Then on july 23, Police Officers raided an afterhours club in an africanamerican neighborhood of detroit. That soon sparked another mass rebellion. Over the next five days people , 43 were killed in the streets of detroit. Thousands more were injured. Over 7000 were arrested. More than 2000 buildings were destroyed. Governor george romney, the father of mitt romney, ordered the Michigan Army National Guard into detroit, and president lyndon b. Johnson sent in both the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions. Amy at the height of the detroit rebellion on july 28, 1967, president johnson appointed a National Advisory commission on civil disorders to investigate the root causes of the unrest. The final report, known as the Kerner Commission, famously concluded that the United States was moving toward two societies, one black, one white separate and unequal. The rebellions reshaped both newark and detroit and marked the beginning of an era of africanamerica political empowerment. Three years later in 1970, newark elected its first black mayor, kenneth gibson. Then in 1974, Coleman Young became the first black mayor of detroit. Today the mayor of newark is ras baraka, the son of the famed poet and writer amiri baraka who was arrested during the 1967 newark rebellion. This is the late amiri baraka and the documentary revolution 67, speaking about what happened to him during the unrest 50 years ago. Suddenly, at home, little voice came around and said theyre breaking out windows on springfield avenue. I got in my brandnew volkswagen bus and went out. We took a got to the hospital who had been shot. Mostly, running around looking to see with the police were doing. At 2 00 in the morning, the bus got stopped. A bunch of policeman pull is out of the car. They beat us up. Ironically, the guy who started it was a guy went to high school with. I said, hey, we went to high school. With the front end of his gun in front of my head. I got beat and beat and beat. I thought i was going to get killed, actually. But the people in the windows started throwing stuff. Policewas about headquarters. They kicked me in the genitals. They brought me and threw me on the floor and said, they got they got you. It was like a movie. Amy that is the late amiri baraka. 21967k more about these rebellions, were joined by larry hamm from new york, Longtime Community organization organizer, chair of the Peoples Organization for progress. And joining us from detroit, Scott Kurashige, professor of history at the university of washington. His latest book is the fiftyyear rebellion how the u. S. Political crisis began in detroit. We welcome you both to democracy now larry, youre 13. Describe we just heard amiri baraka. You were a protege of his. We had you both on the stuff you. Ince died describe your experience in the significance of what took place over those four days 50 years ago. Of july 12,ght 1967, 50 years ago, i was at my friend house across the street from where i lived and some of our other friends ran upstairs and said springfield avenue is on fire. We ran down the stairs to go to springfield avenue, but my mother, fortunately, was on the porch at my house across the street. She didnt let me go down. She probably saved my life by doing so. I watched over the next several andts as the people rose up within about three days, the National Guard rolled into newark. The rebellion could not be put down by the police force. Governor hughes ordered in 700 troopers. That i lived near the corner of 12th street and 16th avenue. I actually watched the guard role of in our community. I did not know at that time with the National Guard was. It looked like the army to me. As far as i was concerned, it was the army. Military trucks filled with soldiers, jeeps, small tanks for one person, and a state of emergency was declared, martial law was declared. We were under military occupation. A checkpoint was set up at that intersection. The guard even went doortodoor searching for contraband. For several days, we could not even leave our house to go get food until they lifted the martial law. But it was something it was an event that will never be forgotten. I will never forget it. As much as people talk about property destruction, which did occur, what also happened was a transformation of peoples political consciousness. I believe had it not been for the rebellion of 1967, mayor gibson would not have been elected in 1970. It might have taken four years or eight more years. Literally, a week after the rebellion, the black power conference of 1967 was held in newark, new jersey. A year later, the black power convention. A year after that, the black and puerto rican convention, out of which came the communitys choice team. In 1970, we elected kenneth gibson. Several councilmen. We did not get control of the city council. It took another four years for a majority of blacks to get elected to the newark city council. Juan i want to ask about the results of the rebellion. Throughout the 1950s in many of these cities, especially northern cities, as more and more africanamericans and latinos came into the cities, there was enormous terror against the black and Latino Community on behalf of whites did not want people moving into their neighborhoods. In essence, these rebellions almost became a reaction to that tear the did not get quite as much reporting, did it . The battles over housing that developed in the 1940s and 1950s. It is the other side of the story that is never told. We focus or i should say the popular narrative deals mostly with the Civil Rights Movement in the south. Movement a whole other in the north. Were talking today about newark and detroit, but it just those two years, 1967 and 1968, there were nearly 400 urban uprisings in the United States. Between 1960 and 1971, nearly 1000 urban uprisings. I think that is left out of the popular narrative because it involved physical force. The establishment does not want to talk about that aspect of it. Yes, there was a shifting demographic going on in these urban areas. Amy and the precipitating reason for t newark riot . Police brutality. Amy talk about what happened with the cab driver. John smith was the cab driver. He was stopped by newark police. He was beaten and then taken to the Police Precinct on 17th avenue. That precinct had a notorious reputation. Hayes in the heart of the project 13ing stories high. People could look down and they saw the police dragging smith into the station. Many people thought he had been killed. Civil Rights Groups which had been active in newark organized as a protest in front of the police station. That led to confrontation with the police. And that was the views that fuse that lit amy and their loved like to look at him, but they saw he was beaten and needed hospital attention. Absolutely. They allowed to amend but the police did not wait. There was disruption. They poured out into the street that led to the uprising. Amy were going to go to break and then come back to this discussion. We are talking about newark. We will also talk about detroit. Wasrk was first, detroit second. It was 50 years ago, the uprisings in both 80s. We will be back in a minute. [music break] amy john lee hooker, the motor city is burning. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with Juan Gonzalez. Juan on july 20 third, 19 67, Police Officers raided an afterhours hours club and africanamerican club of detroit which soon sparked another mass rebellion. Over the next five days, 43 people were killed in the streets of detroit, thousands more were injured. Over 7000 arrested. More than 2000 buildings were destroyed. Governor george romney, the father of mitt romney, ordered the Michigan Army National Guard into detroit, and president johnson sent in both the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions. Joining us now is Scott Kurashige am a professor of history at the university of washington bothell. His latest book is the fiftyyear rebellion how the u. S. Political crisis began in detroit. Professor, you argue that the detroit rebellion was a seminal moment in the 20th century history of the u. S. Can you talk about that and its impact on the Overall National political scene . Sure. Thank you. There is one sense that cities like detroit and newark were in great shape and that the socalled riots destroyed these cities. That is really a false narrative. The reality is, there were race, Class Divisions deeply rooted in the cities and police brutality, as was mentioned, was a deep structural problem. What the rebellions did you know, people who participated in them definitely referred to them as rebellions, as did many people who lived in these cities. The rebellions forced the nation to confront these problems in the most substantial way for the first time. Martin luther king said the right is the language of the unheard. He were the problem was too many large segments of White Society ine more about tranquility the status quo than justice and humanity. He said what we need to address is not the violence, but the intolerant conditions that leave people with no alternative other than to engage in violence to get attention. The polarization that exist today can be traced back to 1967. It has deep roots in american history. The polarization is the result of us having to deal with these problems that in so many ways were silenced. The obviously, detroit was center of the Automobile Industry at the time. There was also, in the plants, the auto plants, i gathering , blackorkers movement workers congress, the impact that this rebellion in the Auto Industry had on american capitalism. If you could talk about that as well. Forefront was at the of the Labor Movement going back to the 1930s. Detroit was at the center of the northern Civil Rights Movement. Martin luther king marched with local civil rights leaders and 200,000 detroiters before the National March on washington. Detroit was at the forefront of the black power movement. Grace lee boggs and her husband james boggs were at the center of that along with drumm come the black panther party. I worked with ron scott, cofounder of that party. Thearned so much about how political empowerment of the black working class was really at the center of transforming this country. It is it was that political empowerment of labor, civil rights, and the black community that marked detroit to be a target for a rightwing, revolution. Amy you mentioned Grace Lee Boggs. In 2007, democracy now s Juan Gonzalez and i spoke to Grace Lee Boggs and the late poet and activist amiri baraka to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1967 rebellions in detroit and newark. Juan what has changed in these 40 years in terms of consciousness and in terms of what the country is learned from that period . In some ways, it is gone full cycle but up to another level. Blatantfrom the kind of brutalization, of White Supremacy and racism. We then organized ourselves and elected two black mayors. We havent none of my children, for instance, have ever grown under white people ruling in newark. They dont even know that is, you understand . And so, we can be proud of that. But at the same time, after we had our two domestic kind of relentlessly with corporate power, you understand, now weve come full circle let me ask you a question, amiri. Do you think that we have challenged and criticized and evaluated black power sufficiently . Have we . No, no, but ive been doing it for when are we going to do it . Well, ive been doing it for almost 37 years. I mean, having two black mayors there, sharpe james and ken gibson, i was probably their most relentless critic all the time. But now we have somebody who doesnt compromise with corporate power, but who represents it. So thats the difference. Weve moved well, so do you think its a question of changing an individual . You know, for changing from gibson to booker . No, you have to get an individual whos willing to change the system. You have to get an individual whos willing to actually struggle with the system to change it. As long as you have people who i mean, what do we mean by struggling with the system . To make substantive changes, to make infrastructure changes. No, when will we begin to understand that we have to create new infrastructures, new forms yeah, but you can only do that through people, you see . But youre not going to do it from people at the top. Were going to do it from people at the bottom. Well, you have to mobilize the whole community. But what im saying is that people at the top became accommodated to being in power and not changing. Yes, but maybe what weve done yes, but you see, weve put so much emphasis on taking over the power structure, and we became prisoners of it, because amy that was Grace Lee Boggs. Nd amiri baraka now one of his children is the mayor of newark. Scott kurashige, you listen to that and you mentioned counterrevolution just before we went to this clip. If you could address those issues. It is important to point out the right to vote has only been recognized by the nation as something that applies to africanamericans since 1965. Now detroit, of course, had its first black mayor in the 1970s. This was really the product of the struggles that people had. But what happened after 1967 was the Kerner Commission effectively called for a domestic marshall plan, unprecedented investments in employment and education, housing, and social welfare. What we got instead was not a were in poverty, but a rightwing shift towards a war on crime and a war on working class people. Detroit is, in some was, symbolic of that. So the empowerment of africanamericans in the election of black mayors in cities like detroit was really undermined by these economic shifts and by the shift of political power from the city to the suburbs. Reagan played a central role in that. It leads us not to trumpet years later, but a state takeover, the bankruptcy, and the role of detroit by an emergency manager appointed by the republicans in State Government in michigan to have unchallenged power over the city, not just finances, but all aspects of social policy in the city. Detroit, even though it has not only got its elected government back, it is handcuffed to these rightwing policies for the next 13 years. So with this counterrevolution, the rightwing was able to college in detroit something they could have never achieved through democratic means. Juan Scott Kurashige, we have about a minute left. I want to ask about the narrative now of the renaissance in detroit. Despite the fact between 2011 and 2015, 1 and four home mortgages in detroit were foreclosed, other people are talking about there is a renaissance going on. Could you talk about the class nature of that renaissance . Some people said the bankruptcy was a bailout that led to this come back. What is it was the bankruptcy imposed extreme austerity measures, privatization, and a tight Union Members on a city that is over 90 people of color. The prime example of detroit is the dismantling of the Public School system in a mini was championed by betsy devos who has brought the agenda to subject of massive subsidies for billionaires to redevelop downtown spent the never his are being hit hard. 250 million that was supposed to help homeowners deal with foreclosure and mortgage problems, instead went toward demolishing homes and making it less livable in so many neighborhoods. Amy larry hamm, what you think needs to be done . I think to a greater or lesser degree, what has been described as taking place in detroit is taking place in newark and urban areas all around the country. Yes, there was a right wing counterrevolution. I think we could benchmark it with the election of Richard Nixon in 1968. We have not had a coherent urban policy in the United States for 50 years. In fact, what we have actually had is the disinvestment in our urban areas. Massive cutbacks in urban aid. The rollback ending of many of the programs that came out of the war on poverty in the 1960s. What we need now is a new movement. A new movement to save our urban areas. Of course i agree with the demand for urban marshall plan, but there are number of requisites that must be met before that. Were not going to get anything out of this federal government, not with this right wing death grip they have on the federal government. We have to get trump out of there. We have to get these right wing people out of the national government. And weve got to put people in who will put forward a progressive policy and urban month policy plan. Amy i want to thank larry hamm and Scott Kurashige. For the holiday season. Announcer julie taboulies lebanese kitchen is made possible by. Do your thing, man do your thing syracuse, do your thing do your thing, do your thing syracuse, do your thing