Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20160704

Then poet, musician and activist Saul Williams on art politics and racism in america. You cant learn my steps until you unlearn your thoughts. Spirit soul cant be store bought. Forget thought. It leads to naught. Simply stated, it leads to you trying to figure me out. Your intellect is disfiguring your soul. Your beings not whole. Check your flagpole stars and stripes. Your astrologys imprisoned by your concept of white, or self. Whats your plan for Spiritual Health . Calling reality unreal. Your line of thought is tangled. The starspangled got your soul mangled. Your beings angled, forbidding you to be real and feel. You cant find truth with an ax or a drill, in a white house on a hill, or in factories or plants made of steel. Stealing us was the smartest thing you ever did too bad you donnt teach the truth to your kids and we will hear actor and activist Jesse Williams stirring speech at the bet awards. Weve been floating this country on credit for centuries, and were done tching andnd waiting whwhile this invnvention called whihiteness uses and abuses us, burying black pepeople out of sightht and out of mind, while extrtracting our culturure, our dollalars, our entertainment like oil, black k gold. All l that and more coming up welcome to democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and d peace report. Im amy gogoodman. Today in this holiday special, we begin with the words of frederick douglass. Born into o slavery around 1818, douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. On july 5, 1852, in rochester, new york, he gave one of his most famous speeches, the meaning of july fourth for the negro. He was addressing the rochester ladies antislavery society. This is James Earl Jones reading the historic address during a p performance of h howard zinns v voices of a peoples history of the United States. James earl jones was introduced by howard zinn. Howard zinn frederick douglass, once a slave, became a brilliant and powerful leader of the antislavery movement. In 1852, he was asked to speak in celebration of the fourth of july. Frederick douglass [read by James Earl Jones] fellowcitizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am i called upon to speak here today . What have i, or those i represent, to do with your national independndence . Are the great principles of politicalal freedomom and of natural justice, embodied in that declaration n of independence, extended to us . And am i, therefore, call upon to b bring our humble offering t to the nationalallta, and to confess the benefefits and express devout g gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us . I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This fourth of july is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, i must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today . What, to the american slave, is your fourth of july . I answer a day that reveals to him, morerehan all otother days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts ofof liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy a thin veil to cover up crimes that would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour. At a a time like t this, scororching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O had i the ability, and d could reachh the e nations earar, i would, today, pour forth a stream, a fiery stream of biting rididicule, blasting reproach, withthering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not lilight that is neneeded, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propririety of t the natin mumust be startled; the e hypocrisy of the natatin muste exexposed; and the crimes against god and man must be proclaimed and d denounced. Amy goodman James Earl Jones reading Frederick Douglasss famous 1852 Independence Day address inin rochesterer, new york. That was part of a performance of howard zinns voices of a peoples history of the United States. Inin this holiday spspecial we turn now to one of the countrys bestknown spoken word arartists, saSaul Williams. Twenty yearsrs ago, he won the title of grand slam chamampion at the nuyorican poeoets cafe. Ovover the past two decades, Saul Williams has forged a career mixing poetry, music and acting. In 201014 he performed in the firirst broadway hiphop musicical, holler if ya hear me,e, a musical inspired by tupac shakur. He has just released his fifth album, martyrloserking. I recently interviewed Saul Williams and began by asking him about the title of his latest alalbum, martyrloserking. Saul williams well, i think, you know, its an obvious play on words. Martyrloserking, Martin Luther king would be one of many martyr loser kingsa martyr as in those who have either been killed because of theyou know, the work that theyve done for the upliftment of humanity or what have you, or those who haven t been killed who give their lives just through service to humanity. Ok . So, a martyr is connected to the idea of sacrifice and those who give their lives or sacrifice the possibilities ofof wealth or what have you for the sake of humanity. The loser, basically what im referencing is the disenfranchised, those who identify as b belonging to a disenfranchised group and, you know, not necessarily find pride in that, but can say, yeah, i b belong to that group or, you know, im not handsome. I dont have the fancy car. I dont have any of this stuff. You know, according to social standards, im a loser. But im happy with my life. It is the screen name of a hacker. Its a concept piece. In fact, the title came from me i was living in paris at the time, and i heard a french person mispronounce the name of Martin Luther king as martyr loser king, and i reflected on it and thought, thats kind of brilliant, because e there wawas so much going on in the world. I started working on this, id say, around the time of the arab spring, and thinking about all of the people that were starting to protest and stand up, followed by the occupy movement. And just theres been so many protest movements, and, you know, that quest for democracy is worldwide. My story is based in burundi, where there is an n ongoing quqt for democracy riright now. Theres another character in my piece whos from uganda, whos a refugee from the antigay laws thereher name, the characters name, is neptune frostanother quest for democracy there. Im american. We know whats going on here. My family lineage is from haiti. We know whats going on there. There is a global quest for democracy. And i essentially wanted to create a modern parable where i kind of took all these social issues, where theres so much to think about and talk about, and kind of dumped them inin my drum machine and created this thinly veiled fiction where i could, you know, play with these ideas in the context of these characters and this story surrounding, essentially, a hacker by the name of martyr loser king. Amy goodman so, burundi. Saul williams yes. Amy goodman id like you to perform it. Saul williams sure. Amy goodman its on martyrloserking. And talk about why burundi. Saul williams ok. Well, ill tell you a little bit about it first, because, in fact, i started working on this song way before what has recently happened in burundi since their president , nkurunziza, has changed the e constitution and is now serving what some e would call an illegal third t term and d is, of course, you know, suppressing the voice of journalists and of protesters. S. Theres been o over 200,000 rerefugees that have e left the couountry in t the past six months. There have been hundreds of murders from people speaking up against the government. None of this had gone down when i started writing about it. I started writing about it primarily because my wife is from rwanda, and so, over the years, ive learned m more and more about the great lakes region, of course. Theres lots oflots of interesting things that happen there. One,e, like 80 percecent of the cobalt and coltltan that our technoloy is depended on comomes from that t region. Ok . And as you can imagine, the story around those mines and the exploitation that occurs around those mines are the sort of things you probably don t want to think about when youre taking a selfie. You know, you really don tyou know, its the sort of things that we dont want to consider in larger industrializized nations when we think ofof the sort of exploitation thats necessary to ensurere our comfort, right . The story is n not necessarily about t that, but it starts there. And so, from there, i chose burundi primarily because bujumbura, the capital, was sort of a destination for many People Living in that region, the same way we may dream of going to paris. People would talk about the music, the food, the night life and what have you. And so i started creating this like parallel universrse and this fictitious landscape where our main character, martyr loser king, is from. And so, ill recite the song for you, and then we can talk some more about it. But it goes like this. Runnin down a dark street app that got a flashlight nike swoosh on bare feet, Whitney Houstons crack pipe the greatest love of all, watch me risise to watch me fall contemplating, rent is late in houses that i cant afford show my papes at heavens gates, they ask me for my visa lived a life without no hate so tell me what you need to question your authority, genocide and poverty treaties don t negate the fact youre dealing stololen property hacker, im a hacker, im a hacker in your hard drive hundred thousand dollar tesla ripping through your hard drive oh, jesus, pull the cord, seat belt, what you standing for buckle up, lets knuckle up and tell mohammed bring his sword swoosh, im a candle, im a candle chop my neck a million times, i still burn bright and stand, yo vigil in the middlele of your occupied locations one that burns for haters, one that burns for haitians im a candle, im a candle chop my neck a million times, i still burn bright and stand, yo standing in the middle of your synagogue and chapel licking that forbidden fruit through bitten glowing apples factories in china, coltan from the congo smuggled to burundi hidden in a bongo we beat a mighty drum, changes go before they come guns and ammunition pay tuition for the desperate young hacker, im a hacker, im a hacker in your hard drive hey, there aint no o security, im hacking through your hard drive information highway, tunnel vision highway exit 17, yo, bring them mothermother my way virus, im a virus, im a virus in your system [blank] your history teacher, ive never been a victim im just a wititness, hitler can come e get this rabbs in ramallah throwing burkas on these [blank]es im a candle and so, esessentially, this song takes a rumi poem. It was inspired by a poem from rumi, where he says, im a candle. Chop my neck a million times, i still burn bright and stand. And i thought of that, because like when you think of even like the black lives Matter Movement riright now and so manany, you know, social movements happening today, that are happening without singular leadershipand i think its actually brilliant, because we learned from cointelpro in so many past movements how it was so easy to knock out a leader and quell the movement. And so, now, through social media, through twitter and all of these things, were able to mobilize without actually having a singular leader. And so, i found that poem inspiring and went on to create this song surrounding this character, which is, like i said, thinly veiled fiction really there to provide an alternative source of energy for those who are mobilizing to create democracy now globally. Amy goodman well, Saul Williams, you left the United States. You went to live in paris for four years. Saul williams mmhmm. Amy goodman of course, James Baldwin comes to mind. Saul williams yes. Amy goodman most recently, tanehisisi coates moved to par. Talk about w why you left the unUnited States. And also, it gives you a different view of africa, particularly the Saul Williams yes. Amy goodman former french colonies, like burundi Saul Williams of course. Amy goodman and rwanda. Saul williams of course. And i spent a lot of time on the continent of africa while living there, because its much easier to go, right . Well, you know, ofof course there are people like, like you said, like James Baldwin, nina simone, josephine baker, thatthe history list is long of those people who chose to go there. I cant say that i chose to go there for the same reasons. I was living in los angeles andand essentially just realized that if ii was dreaming of doing stuff like that, living abroad. I had done it as a teenager, living in brazil, and it really changed my perspective, not only of myself and of the world, but how i looked at the states, because its a different thing to look at the states from the outside. And so, i decided to move to paris primarily because, one, i had a 13yearold daughter who i wanted her to have the sort of insight that comes from looking at her country from the outside and to experience another way of seeing the world. And because my first film, slam, you know, won the camera dor at cannes, and my first album was released in france a year and a half before it w was released in the states, ive had a Good Relationship primarily in france and across europe, and decided to try it out, to try it out, and just to see what it would feel like. And arriving there, it was interesting, on manyyou know, like in many smallscale, but which are indeed largescale, ways. For example, i remember my daughter getting a little bronchial cough. And im there. I dont have healthcare there. And so, you know, there, anyone coughs, theyre like, oh, you should go see a doctorfirst time they cougu. Here, you know, were likeyou know, we wait til were really sick to go see the doctor. Go to see the doctor. Amy goodman pneumonia is the standard here. Saul williams right, you know . Pneumonia is the e standard, exactly. But everybodys saying, no, take her to the doctor. So im like, ok, oh, my god, i know how much i have in my account. I dont know if this is going to be cool. I took her to the doctor. The doctor, sure enough, yeah, theres a little bronchial cough there. He wants to prescribe five Different Things i need to go to the pharmacy across the street to pick up. And then, you know, hes like, and im going to have to charge you for this visit. How much is it . Oh, 25 euro. You know, 30 bucks. Ok. Thank you. I then go to the pharmacy across the street, and i get five differentyou know, theres a syrup and pills, antibiotic, all this stuff. It all adds up to like 6. 50. And its at that moment, essentially, that i realize that people who have like a singlepayer healthcare system, theyit actually affects culture, life, in ways that here, for example, we actually cant imagine. You know, were afraid of growing older and getting sick, for example, because we know wei know people who try to keep their job because they need a way to pay for the operation that they know they need and all this stuff. And there, its a different thing. Same t thing wiwith education, you know . The idea of like you can be whatever you wananto be, its not going to cost you so much just because youre passionate about medicine and you u want to be a doctor, or youre passionate about law and you want to become a lawyer. Its not going to cost you that much if, you know, you live in a sort of socialist country like that. And so, being exposed to thisyou know, that reality and how it affected how people think, and what have you, was enormous for me, was enormous for me. Yeah. Amy goodman and how did it affect the way that you saw the africacan countries that you got to visisit, bebeing in paris . Saul williams well, yeah, i ended up spending a lot of time particularly in senegal. I shot a film when i was over there, in french, in wolof called tey, or aujourdhui, and ended up spending about three months in senegal and then traveling to other countries and other regions, as well. It wasnt my first time, but it was the most time i had spent. And, you know, eveven in paris, the African Community there, in barbes and at have yoyou, is strong. You know, the thing that charged me is just the layers and levels of dialogue that i was able to have, about politics, about global infrastructure, and seeing how informed the average person is. Amy goodman and how was it for your 13yearoldld daughter to go to school . Saul williams she went to Public School there. And, you know, first shes in like french as a second d language course, you know, when she starts off. And the first day, she comes back from school, and shes like, oh, guess what. They have us translating nina simone songs in school to learn the language. Another day she comes home, and she says, today i was in classtheres, you knowlike theres tons of people going to france, so there was an afghani boy in her clalass, who in the middle of class, he gets in trouble because his phone rings. He runs out and comes back crying. And the teacher explainsafter he explains to the teacher, who was algerian, what w went down, the teacher explains to the class, hes crying because his family was just killed by your country. Thats what she says to my daughter. And so, she comes home and tells me this story. I say, well, what didid you do she was like, i sat with him at lunch and d told him, imm sor. Im not ththat kind ofmemerican it makes me want to cry. But it was so bizarre for her to be exposed to, you know, the sort of reality that our Foreign Policy imposes on others thatyou know, that were shielded from here. Amy goodman Saul Williams, you have a song on your latest album, homes drones poems d drums. Saul williams yeah. Amy goodman talk ababout that. Saul williams that song, of course, is related to the story of martyr loser king, who becomeshes kind of like a virtual banksy. He does these amazing hacks from this village that we call martyr loser kingdom in burundi. And, of cocourse, because of like western arrogance, they see the signal coming from there for years, and they dont believe that its actually coming from there. They figure it must be somebody in london or berlin or somebody throwing the signal. Theres no way that, you know, these crazy hacks have happened in burundi. When they finally figure out where its coming from, hes droned. He gets labeled as a terrorist. I mean, thatats what happens in the story. He gets labeled as a terrorist and is droned, is killed by, you know, u. S. Intelligence. And as i said, this is a thinly veiled fiction for me to be able to talk about some of the realities that the world faces right now as we shift into a more technological reality and higher intelligence and all of these things, you know, that come about, security, as a result of that. So, that song, in particular, is essentially about conditions that people face when they are labeled or branded or just neglected by the powers. In that song, i reference a village that i visited in palestine, bilin, where, once again, i sasaw the sort of raids that were happening. Its like, you know, 30 minutes outsiside of tel avi, but the difference between lifestyle in bilin versus tel aviv is like worlds apart. I reference detroit t in that sg and the housing issues there. Yeah, its a melange of ideas, that song. Amy goodman talk about think like they book say. Saul williams ok. Think like they book say is a really fun song that chronicles the meeting of these two protagonists in the story martyrloserking, martyr loser king and neptune frost. Neptune frost is a refugee from uganda. Its someone who was raised as a boy, born with both sexes, internally identifies as female, and, when she leaves uganda, finds the courage. Like, she runs away in order to find the courage to be herself. And shshe lands in martyr r loser kikingdom, where shes accepted and ends up p playing an enormous role in the story. And so, yeah, think like they book say is about the meeting between those two characters. It alslso gives a bit away about who martyr loser king is, as well. Think like they book k say, here we go. Met this girl on friday Night Rocky Horror picture night cuban stogie karaoke purple satin bra tights thats what i was wearing she was wearing red and purple light white smoke had bright hopes keith harings straight ghost flowed past in topaz we brushed hands. I took note James Baldwin once wrote love is not remote girl, boy, we seek joy we hurt none, we heart hope girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl girl, boy, we seek joy we hurt none, we heart hope hope hollow as fear they say ca cest pas ecrit they say tudo mundo nesse mundo pense comme il veux they say think black them think gay think like they book say think like, they think like they think like they book say they cannot imagine if they do not see it in a book even when they see it its their book that tell them how to look think white them think straight think like they book say think like, they think like they think like they book say met a girl on friday and i did not see her in no book aint no vogue or cosmo that can tell me how she supposed to look she was once a he, was once a argument against the book mommy and her daddy loved her she became the form the took think like they book say they think like they book say they think like, they think like, they think like they book say think like they bookok say think like they book say think like, they think like, they think like they book say truth is not a theory that can be imprisoned in any book word are sometimes. Prison sometimes prisms from the way you look think like they book say think like they book say think like, they think like they think like they book say girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, g girl girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy, girl voila. Thank you. Amy goodman think like they book say. Saul williams is about to go on a a world tour with martyrloserkingng. In fact, you usesed to call it martyr loser kingdom, the previous tour, is that right . Saul williams yes, yes. Martyr loser kingdom is this fictitious village in central africa. Its a village thats beside an ewaste camp, which is where all of our Old Technology goes to die. You know, like we oftentimes buy new computers,s, not because theyre dead, but because the nenew one has come out. And so, in fact, the ships that take out the coltan and cocobalt come in with these piles of motherboards and monitors and keyboards. They bring them to places where scavengeger culture is strong, so t that they can, you know, take out the copopper and anything thats recyclable or reusable. And sobut there are people in need of shelter. And so what happens is martytyr loser kingdom is a village made of old computer parts. And thats where the entire story of martyrloserking takes place, in a village made of old computer parts. Amy goodman art and resistance. Saul williams art and resistance. As you can see, like with think like they book say and all this, all this stuff ive talked about, were basically fusing this quest for democracy with, you know, issues that affecect the trtrans and gay communities, issues that affect the impoverished worldwide, issues that come up through new technology and old forms of exploitation. Amy goodman you also address these issues in your book of poetry, in us a. . Saul wililliams yes. Amy goodman explain it, and also the us and the parentheses around the a. Saul williams of course. Well, you know, this book was my first commissioned book of poetry. As i was wororkiking on martyrloserking as a graphic novel, my publishers, that published all my previous books of poetry, simon schuster, in fact, they dont do graphic novels. They were like, bbut, you know, we do want to commission you to do something. And you just moved back to the states after living abroad for four years. Could you talk to o us about what it t feels like to be back in the states . And so, i had one year to jot down all the thoughts that came to mind about what it felt like to be back. Of course, right around the time that i started working on this book, there was the murder of Michael Brown and then Eric Garnerand we know that list of names that goes on and on. Of course, these arent new instances, per se, because i grew up attending protests against Police Brutality and what have you, where ththings were going down the same way then as they are now. But simply because of the technology that we have and our ability to record and spread the word and chronicle these things and document these things in new ways, that allows us to like shift the popular dialogue around it. And so, i had amy goodman where did you grow up . Saul williams i grew up in newburgh, new york. And newburgh is about an hour from new york city. And i dont know, but if you look up newburgh, newburgh, for the past 40 years, has hahad the highest murder rate, crime rate, drugug trafficking rate in new york state, with just 30,000 people. I grewew up there. My father pastored a chururch there. And i was exposed to so much, from Great Teachers and rough streets, there. My moms a schoolteacher. And so, i got the best of many worlds and the notsobest of many worlds. Amy goodman how did poetry become your medium . Saul williams through hiphop and theate y you know . W . Like i grew up wanting to be a rapper. Once i discovered, you know, hiphop and all this stuff, and simultaneously falling in love with shakespeare, which i was studying in schohoo, and started doing school plays at a young agefirst one i did was Julius Caesar, i played mark antony. And once i kind of figured out all the layers of meaning and how playful you could be with language, i started applying that to my raps, you know, and just fusing those worlds. And so, mymy life, essentially, has been fusing that love of theater and music, you know, and performance. Amy goodman you want to share a poem for us, with us, frorom us a. . Saul williams sure. Sure, sure, sure, sure. In fact, ill recite one. Maybe ill do just part of it, but its one thats in here that theres a few ideas that are shared between this book and martyrloserking, ththe project. And so theres one thats called coltan as cotton. And it goes like this hack into dietary sustenance tradition vs. Health. Hack into comfort compliance. Hack into the rebellious gene. Hack into doctrine. Capitalism in relation to free labor and slavery. Hack into the history of the bank. Is beating the odds a mere act of joining the winning team . Hack into desperation and loneliness. The history of community and the marketplace. Hack into land rights and ownership. Hack into business law proprietorship. Hack into ambition and greed. Hack intnto forms of g government systemems of control their relation to suffering and sufferance. Hack into faith and morality. The treatment of one faith towards another. Hack into masculinity femininity sexuality what is taught what is felt what is learned what is shared . Hack into god stories of creation serpents and eggs. Hack into nature biodynamics biodiversity cycles and seasons. Hack into time calendars descartes its relationship to doubt is it wired to fear the notion of control the space time continuum the force of gravity whether the opposite of gravity is freedom . Thats an excerpt of the poem coltan as cotton that isthat kind of has a foot in both worlds, this book and martyrloserking. Amy goodman hacking is a very important metaphor for you . Saul williams yes. Amy goodman talk about why. Saul williams well, of course, first, because it speaks directly to the sort of freedoms that still exist right now while the internet, you know, is still essentially free, in some ways. You know, theres a huge fight to keep it free and open and to spread d it to more peope who can use it, because there are, of course, tons of people who havewho have been aided tremendously byby this resource. I mean, the continent of africa, for example, is the continent with the largest number of people connected to the web and the continent wherethe only continent where the largestwhere the majority of the population is under the age of 25. Thats part of the reason why i based d this story there, because the idea of the future is so strongly connected to those two statistics, you know . And so, thinking of those resources, hackingof course, with much gravity, i can also say that the first way that m many of us started using the term hacacking has s more to do with a machete, right, than with the computer. And so, basing a story in the great lakes region, where we know the history there, as w well, yeah, there are layers of meaning there. Its delicate, the topic, but i use itit as a metaphor in ways that my ofof us do. Wewe talk about life h hacks n, shortcuts s for, you know, doing things and fifiguring things out. But theres also, you know, the techieie response, which is to say that there are ways of cutting through the nonsense and or, you know, theres the robin goodrobin hood aspect of things. Theres the wikileaks aspect of things, you know, that brings us to julian assange. Amy goodman so talk about julian assange, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden. Saul williams and a aaron swar. Amy goodman and aaron swartz. Saulul williams yeah. Well, those whistleblowersi guess is what well call themis also a big part of marty loser king anand a huge part of t the tis and age ththat were livining , where werre watchihing people be persecuted, go into hiding, simply for revealing truths that in fact the g governments have gone on and apologized for and changed laws as a result of the exposure of those truths. Politicicians speak of an agae of transparency, but cower when things actually become transparenent, you know. And those who find the courage, who are fed up enough to say, actually, i learned whats going on behind the scenes, and i think k everybodody shouldld know, end up being punished. Right . And so, when you look the case with Julian Assangeand this is not meant to be any sort of, you know, apologist for the sort of things that go on with sexual abuse and what have you, but i think its also quite clear that, if you pay close attentntion to the case,e, that whats going on with him and the reason w why hes in hiding has more to do with the fact that he knowsand i think hes rightabout the fact that sweden will more than likely extradite him to the u. S. , who would want to put him in prison for life for r what has been exposed through wikileaks. And that has a direct connection to both Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden. And as we know, what we know postthe patriot act, what we now know about the sort of surveillancee and security measures that our government and many governments have taken illegally, you know, over their citizens, i mean, im thankful for that information. Im thankful for the people who have the courage, you know, because i believe that Edward Snowden probably didnt even expect to be alive. I mean, you know, like whats revealed about his story, i mean, his grandfather was in the fbi, actually. He was in the military. He was an actual patriot, who was exposed to information thatat opened hihieyes to like whats rlly y gog down. Same with h chelsea mannining, you know, someone who really loved their country and their people, and at some point realized that because of that love of country, it was crucial that they share what they had learned with the actual american people. And we were watching these people be imprisoned. Chelsea manning isis in prison today, rightht now. Edward snowden is in hiding right now. Julian assange is in the Ecuadorean Embassy in london right now. And we, as everyday people, still havent necessarily figured out how to challenge our government, to say, what are you doing . These peopople are heroess to us, actually. Amy goodman now, were not talking about the bush years. Were talking about the obama years. Saul williams yes. Amy goodman president obama S Administration Saul Williams yes. Amy goodman has gone after more whistleblowers than Saul Williams yes. Amy goododman all president s combineded. Saul williams yeah. Amy goodman what is your overall assessment of president obama . Saul williams centrist. Centrist who, you know, exercises this modern sense of diplomacy, which allows him, on one hand, to address certain issues, while takingcertain issues such as like, lets say, marriage equality, you knownow what, its s solitary confinement, you knowow, some measures in thehe criminal justice system, slight, slslight measures in the criminl justice systembut at the same time still being seduced by security measusures that, you know, circle around overreach. I think that itsfor me, its that sort of assessment and the reality of whats gone oni mean, think of guantananamo, the fact that that was something he ran againstand looking at where we are now, looking at afghanistan, looking at iraq, looking at isis, not looking at boko haram, right . What i mean by that t is the fat that we pay so much attetention there and pay so little attention there. You know . I think that is what makes me certain that we dont need another centrist or rightwinger in office, you know . For me, thats what makes me say we need to revolutionize our political system, becaususe the middle road is in fact a conservative road. Amy goodman Bernie Sanders is using the word political revolution. Saul w williams y yes. Amamy goodmaman your thoughghts on him . Saul williams hes who im referencing. I think thati think that he is the smartest choice and the most integral candidate that perhaps ive seen in my lifetime. You know . Its not to say that anyone is perfect or what have you, but looking at his record, which isdoes not involve a lot of flipflopping in ideas or adjusting positions in order to appease, you know, citizenry or corporations, but really focused on what he has always felt, and those things being aligned with what i see as being true and just and for the best. I think heshes already shifted the dialogue during the election to an amazing place. And i also think, if were true to ourselves and we Pay Attention to the youth of this country, that we see quite clearly that the youth, they get it. They see what that could mean to them, toi mean, just in terms of, as we referenced before, healthcare and education, what that can do to a culture, a culture that is supposed to, you know, be about freedom. Were told that were free. We learned from the whistleblowers how free we are not. I think bernie sandeders ishes defifinitely my choice, and i actually think hes the most revolutionary and the best c choice for america righght now. Amy goodman saul wiwilliams, im looking at a picture of your mother. Saul williams yeah. You know, i grew up hearing about that picture for years. My mom and dad, both activists throughout my entire lifetime. You know, i grew up in newburgh, new york, as i told you. One of the people that would sing regularly at my Fathers Church was pete seeger. You know . And id always be like, why is my dad inviting, you know, pete to get up on stage again . I didndnt know who he was. He was just a neighbor who was really nice and who played the guitar and sang songs that we sang in school. I didnt realize that they were his songs, you know . But i grew up with people like that. And my mom, whos the same person like when i came home at 8 00 after doing Julius Caesar and saying, i want to be an actor when i grow w up, and my dad saying, ah, ill support t you as an actor if you get a law degree, and my mom saying, ah, then you should do your first School Report on paul robesonthats my mom. That picture of my mom is from 1963, brooklyn, when the construction workers in new york were notthey were segregated. They werein fact, none of the new york Construction Companies were hiring blacks at that time. And so, people had mobilized to force the hand of the local government to hire black construction workers. Yeah. And so thahats what m my mom was protesting in brooklyn. And, of course, shes being arrested there. And so, i had heard about that p picture f for years. And then, about two years ago, a cousin of mine was on ebay and was like, hey, isnt thatat your mom and we were all like, oh, my god thats a picture ofmy mom is still alive. In fact, she just had her 75th birthday, so happy b birthday, m mom. And yeah, thats her. Thats her in a all of her glory with her fist up, singing, in the arms of the police. Amy goodman let me ask you about tupac, tupac shakur. Saul williams yes. Amy goodman holler if ya hear me, the Broadway Musical that you did. Saul williams yeah, yeah. The great thing about that play was that, you know, one, it was startedmost people dont know thisis that play was conceptualized by August Wilson before he passed. And what he did is he started taking all of tupacs music and then creating a story restricting himself to the texts that tupac had written. And so, its a storyry that takes place in middle america, and its basicallyly a story about gun violence in middle america. And, of course, its a very sobering story. It was not about tupacs life. It was a parable about gun violence in middle america, about a guy who comes out of prison, comes back home, tries to stay out of trouble, is pulled back in, before he makes a decision that doesnt only change his life, but changes the Community Around him. Right . And we had a rough time on broadway becaususe, essentitially, the y was extremely political. And most people who came to see it, you know, would be standing and crying at the end. And so, when youre choosing, i guess, between like rocky the musical and cinderella and all these things, its hard to choose to go to the p place where you know its going to make you crcry. But it w was powerful, extremely powerful, directed by kenny leon. And d for me, itit was a perfect fusion of my love of theater and love of hiphop. Amy goodman could you end with amethyst rocks, the popoem saul williamams sure. Amy goodman that broughtfirst brought you fame . Saul williams sure. Lets see if i remember it. Yes. I stand on the corner of the block slinging amethyst rocks. Drinkin 40s of mother earths private nectar stock. Dodgin cops. cause fiveo be the 666 and i need a fix of that purple rain. The type of stuff that drives membranes insane. Oh yeah, im in the fast lane. Snorting candy yams. That free my body and d soul and send me like shazaam never question who i am. God knows. And i know god, personally. In fact, he lets me call him me. I be one with rain and stars and things, with dancing feet and watermelon wings. I bring the sunshine and the moon. And the wind blows my tune. Meanwhile i spoon powdered drumbeats into plastic, bags. Sellin kilos of kente scag takin drags off of collards and cornbrbread freebasin through saxophones and flutes like mad. The high notes make me space float. I be exhalin in rings that circle saturn. Leavin stains in my veins in astrological patterns. Yeah, im sirius b. Dogon peoples plotted it, lovely. But the feds is also plotting me. Theyre trying to imprison my astrology. Put my stars behind bars. My stars in stripes. Using bloodsplattered banners as nationalist kites. But i control the wind. Thats why they call it the hawk. I am horus. Son of isis. Worshipped as jesus. Resurrected like lazarus. But you can call me lazzie. Lazy. Yeah, im lazy cause id rather sit and build than work and plow a field worshiping a daily yield of cash green crops. Your evolution stopped the evolution of your technology. A society of automatic tellers and money machines. What . My culture is lima beans and tambourines. Dreams manifest. Dreams real. Not consistent with rationale. I dance for no reason. For reason you cant dance. Caught in the inactiveness of intellectualized circumstance. You cant learn my steps until you unlearn your thoughts. Spirit soul cant be store bought. Forget thought. It leads to naught. Simply stated, it leads to you trying to figure me out. Your intellect is disfiguring your soul. Your beings not whole. Check your flagpole stars and stripes. Your astrologys imprisoned by your concept of white, or self. Whats your plan for Spiritual Health . Calling reality unreal. Your line of thought is tangled. The starspangled got your soul mangled. Your beings angled, forbidding you to be real and feel. You cant find truth with an ax or a drill, in a white house on a hill, or in factories or plants made of steel. Stealing us was the smartest thing you ever did too bad you don t teach the truth to your kids my influence on you is the reflection you see when you look into your minstrel mirror and talk about your culture your existence is that of a schizophrenic vulture who thinks he has enough life in him to prey on the dead, not realizing that the dead aint dead, and that he aint got enough spirituality to know how to pray. Yeah, its no repentance. Youre bound to live in infinite consecutive executive life sentence. So while youre out busy seserving time ill be in sync with the moon while you run from the sun life of the womb reflected by guns worshiper of moons, i am the sun and i am public enemy number 1 111. 111 amy goodman poet, activist and musician Saul Williams. In this holiday special we turn now to the actor and activist Jesse Williams. Best known for playing dr. Jackson avery on the tv series greys anatomy, williams is alalso a longtime activistst for racial justice. He is a board member of the advancement project and was the executive producer of the documentary stay woke the movement for black lives matter. Last m month he won the humanitarian award at the bet awards established by black entertainment t television. We end todays broadcast with Jesse Williams acceptptance speech. Jesse williamsms before we get into it, i just want to say, you know, i broughtt my parenents out tonight. I just want to thank them for r being here, fofor teaching m me to fus on comomprehension over career, that they made s sure i learned whwhat the schools were a afraid to teach us. And also i thank my amazing wife for r changiging my life. Now, this award, this is not t for me. This is for the real organizizer all l over t couountry the activivists, the civil rirights attneysys, the e struggling p parents, the famimilies, the teteacher, the studentststhatre reaealizig that a system buililt to divivide and impoverishsh and destroy us cannot stand if we do. All right . Itss kind of basasic mathemat. The more we learn about who a are and how we got h here, the more we will mobilize. Now, this isis also, in p particular, for the black women, in particular, who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyonoe before t themselves. We can andnd will do better for you. Now, what weve beenen doing is looking at the data. And we know that pole somehoww manage to deescalate, disasarm and not kill whitite people evevery day. So whats s going to hapappen is w we are going toto have equal l rights and justice inin our own countr, or w we will restructurere their nction andururs. Now, i got morore, yall. Yestererday would hahave been y young tamir ririces 14th birthday. So i d dont want to hear anymoe ababout how far r weve come, when p paid public s servants cacan pull a driveby on a 12yeaearold playing alalone in a park in broadad daylight, killing him on telelevisioion and then going home to make a sandwich. Tell rekia b boyd how its so much bebetter to live in 202 than it iso o live in 1 1612 or 1712. Tell t that to eric c garner. Tell that to s sandra bland. D. Tetell that to darrienen hunt. Now w the thing is, thoughgh, all of us in here getting money, ththat alone isnt going to s stop this. All right . Now, dedicating our livesdedicating our lives s to get moneyey, just to giveve it righbaback for sosomeones branand on our , when w we spent centuries praying with b brands on ourur bodies, and now we praray to get paiad fofor brands on n our bodies . There has s been no war that we have not foughtt and dieded on the front linenes. There e s been no jojob we haventt done. Ththeres no tax they havavent levied ainsnst u, and weve paid all of them. But freedodom is somehow always cdititial here. Yyoure free, they keep tetelling us, but she would have beenen alie if she hadnt acted so free. Now, freedom is s always comingng in the hereafter. But you know what, though . The hereafter isis a hustle. We want it n now. Anand lets gettlets get a a couple things straight. Justst a little side note. Ththe burden of the brutizized is notot to comfort t the bysta. Thats not our job. All right . T . Stop with all tha. If you havave a critiqueue r r the restanance for r our resistance, thenou betetter have an established record of critique of ourur oppressio. If you h have no interestif you u have no inteterest in equal ririgh for blalackeople, thenen do not make suggestions to thosese who do. Sit down. Weweve been floating thisis country onon credit for centuries, y , and were dodone watctching and waiaiting while this invnvention call whihitene usess and abuses us, burying blacpeopople out of sight and out of mimind, while extrtracting our culturure, our dollalars, ouour entertainment like oilblk goldghghettoizing and demeaningg our r creations, then stealing emem, gegentrifyg ouour genius and then trying us on like cocostumes before discardrding our bodies like rdsds of range e fruit. Ththe thing is, thoughththe thing is that just bececause were mac doesnt mean were not r real. Mosques typically have these tall spires you see on the side of the dome. They originally functioned as eliminated watchtowers. Their primary function now is a podium to call the faithful to prayer five times a day. The interesting things about the blue mosque in istanbul i