On the couch of the tonight show, to his decades long commitment to the Civil Rights Movement. In 1960 three, he was jailed a d bebeaten by birminingham policer parading without a permit. At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, i was frightened. They got i went anyway. At that time, i do not understand that fear and god do not occupy the same space. Nonfear that the the king and that Nonviolent Movement have, i was able to lose mine. Amy dick gregory also ran for president against richard nixon. He engaged in countless hunger strikes over the past five decades. Today, on democracy now , dick gregory over the decades in his own words. All that and more, coming up. Wewelcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Massive protests against White Supremacy spread across the United States over the weekend, as tens of thousands of people took to the streets from coast to coast to condemn violent White Nationalist groups and to call for the removal of Confederate Monuments and other statues memorializing slavery and racism. In downtown boston, 40,000 people poured into the streets around the Boston Common to protest a planned socalled free speech rally by White Nationalists. The flood of counter protesters so overwhelmed the White Nationalist rally, that aerial photos show only a handful of the extremists even showed up, and that they spent the day huddled in a gazebo on the Boston Common. This is one of the 40,000 antiracist counterprotesters. There are so many groups that are marginalized in our community. People of color, women, peoplele many gender expressions. I think we need to stand together and say that is not ok. As a country, we have a right to free speech. That is why we exist as a country. I dont think that should go away. But theres a difference to me with hateful speech and free speech. A lot of what the separatists are saying is hateful. I dont think there is a place for that in our country. I think we are based on love as a country. Amy President Trump first condemned the 40,000 people marching against White Supremacy in boston, tweeting looks like many antipolice agitators in boston. Police are looking tough and smart thank you. Trump then twice attempted to tweet something positive about the protests, but both times had to delete his tweets after heel as an obey recover, as an tweeting our country has been divided for decades. Sometimes you need protest in order to heel, we will heel, be stronger than ever before. Trump finally spelled the whole tweet correctly on the third try. Many commented that trumps error was a curious slip, given that former secretary of state hillary clininton had famouslyly used the word heel spelled heel in her now infamous 1996 comments in which she called black youth superpredators and said we have to bring them to heel. Tens of thousands more protesters took to the streets of other u. S. Cities over the weekend, a week after one person was killed and dozens more wounded by White Supremacists and neonazis at a protest in charlottesville, virginia, over the plan to remove of a statue of confederate general robert e. Lee. On saturday, thousands rallied at city hall in dallas, texas, to call for the removal of the citys three Confederate Monuments. Overnight on friday, someone spray painted the word nazis onto the dallas statue of confederate general robert e. Lee. Thousands more marched saturday in new orleans to demand the removal of Confederate Monuments, while hundreds gathered to protest White Supremacy in houston, memphis, atlanta, laguna beach, california, and durham, North Carolina. This is North Carolina naacp president william barber. You cant just denounce what happened in charlottesville. You have got to denounce what happened before charlottesville that made the people emboldened enough to go to charlottesville. Amy in virginia, residents are demanding the name of confederate general Stonewall Jackson be removed from a high school in Prince William county. This is ryan sawyers of the Prince WilliamCounty School board. To me, it is for a simple. At guy that gave his life quite literally to the enslavement of arrays to prevent up from all sorts of things, including in education. Should not have a school named after him. Amy you can go to democracynow. Org to hear the voices of the great, greatgrandsons of Stonewall Jackson who have called for the removal of the Confederate Monument honoring the greatgreatgrandfather in richmond. In new york city, members of the group black Youth Project 100 rallied on friday to demand d te removal of a statue of james marion sims, a white doctor who is known as the father of gynecology after he experimented on enslaved black women without using anesthesia in order to develop his surgical techniques. Activists are calling for the statue to be removed and replaced by one of three women anarcha, betsey and lucy who were forced to suffer sims medical experiments. Thousands also protested against White Supremacists and neonazis at multiple international rallies over the weekend. In berlin, germany, more than 1000 antifascists faced off against a much smaller crowd of neonazis. This is counterprotester anja herbig. I am here today to honor my grandfather who died in a confrontation camp. He was german and taken for not throwing a blind jewish woman out of a bubunker during in a re and lost his life for that. Im here today in remembrance of my grandfather. Amy in vancouver, canada, thousands more gathered outside city hall on saturday to counter a group of antiimmigrant protesters. Hundreds more gathered in quebec city to protest against a rally by farrightwing extremists. President trumps chief strategist Steven Bannon has left the white house and rejoined the farrightwing website Breitbart News as the executive chairman. Breitbart has been described as an online haven for White Nationalists, which frequently publishes farrightwing and White Nationalist propaganda. Bannon has been one of trumps closest and most trusted advisers. After departing the white house, he said in many ways i think i can be more effective fighting from the outside for the agenda President Trump ran on. And anyone who stands in our way, we will go to war with. In an interview with the weeklky standard, bannon also said he feels jacked up now that hes returned to breitbart, saying ive got my hands back on my weapons. Someone said, its bannon the barbarian. i am definitely going to crush the opposition. He also said the Trump Presidency that we fougug for, and won, is overer. Bannons departure came after a series of meetings last week with billionaire funder robert mercer, who funds breitbart and funded trumps campaign. Bannon met with mercer on wednesday in long island and trump met with mercer on fririd. He was dining with him in bedminster. Bannon departed the white house friday. Lateter that dayay, billionaire investor carl icahn also left his role as regulatory adviser to President Trump just before the new yorker published an article headlined carl icahns failed raid on washington. Iconsticle detailed conflict of interest including heavy loving for real change of blending ethanol into gasoline, a role which expect affects the texasbased Petroleum Refining company. Bannon and icahns departures are only the latest in a series of ousters and resignations of top trump officials, including twtwo Communications Directors mike dubke and Anthony Scaramucci press secretary sean spicer, National Security adviser michael flynn, deputy National Security adviser k t mcfarland, chief of staff reice priebus, deputy chief of staff katie walsh,h, and five otheherh level ofofficials. Trump also fired fbi director james comey and acting attorney general sally yates. Trump is now also facing pressure to oust his Senior Policy AdviserStephen Miller and National Security aide Sebastian Gorka over their ties to White Nationalists and extremist views. The entire president s committee on the arts and humanities resigned on friday, becoming the first entire president ial committee to resign in protest. In their resignation letter, the artists spoke out against trumps failure to quickly condemn the deadly white supremacist violence in charlottesville, writing the administrations refusal to quickly and unequivocally condemn the cancer of hatred only further emboldens those who wish americaca ill. They also called on trump to step down. The first letter of each paragraph of the letter spells out the word resist. The United States and south korea have launched massive military driris in the kororean peninsula amid rising tensions between the u. S. And north korea. More than 17,000 u. S. Troooops d 50,000 south korean troops will participate e in the military drills. Soldiers from m australia, britain, and canada will also take part. The military drills come after President Trump threateneded to attack north korea with fire and fury, and members of the t trump adadministration c continue to e the case for a preemptive military strike against north korea. President trump is slated to annonounce an update on the e u. Military strategy in afghanistan and south asia during a televised address at 9 00 p. M. Eastern standard time tonight. The announcement comes after trump gathered with his top military advisers at camp david in maryland on friday. The Trump Administration has been sharply divided on the u. S. Strategy in afghanistan. Trumps top generals have been pressing trump to deploy thousands more u. S. Troops, while former white house chief strategist Steven Bannon and other members of the administration had been pushing to privatize the u. S. War. This plan now seems less likely after bannonons departure from the white house. Former blackwater founder erik prince, who has been proposing the privatization plan, wass barred from fridays trip to camp d david. In iraq, the u. S. Backed Iraqi Military has launched a new campaign to seize control of the city of tal afar from isis. Tal afar, which sits about 50 miles west of mosul, is one of the last major cities in iraq under isis control. The u. U. S. Milititary is supporg the battle with a bombing campaign. The new offensive comes after as many as 40,000 civilians were killed during the ninemonth battle to seize control of mosul. Can u. S. 10 u. S. Navy sailos are missing and five w were injured after the ususs john mccain guided missile destroyer collided with an oil tanker near singapore this morning. Its the second time this summer that a navy ship has collided with another vessel at sea. In june, seven u. S. Sailors died after the uss fitzgerald collided with a container ship south of japan. When President Trump was returning to the white house, he was asked about the collision. Too bad,responded too bad. In the philippines, protests are growing against president Rodrigo Dutertes socalled war on drugs, which has killed more than 12,500 people over the last year. There are three separate demonstrations scheduled for today to protest the death of 17yearold High School Student kian delos santos, who was one of 80 People Killed in drug raids last week alone. Meanwhile, on sunday, mourners wore tshirts reading kill drugs, not people as they carried the coffin of Leover Miranda to a cemetery in manila. This is his mother, elvira miranda. A. My son was screaming uncle mother then i heard gunshot after gunshot. I said, my son my son didnt they know my son had Mental Health issues . Amy in the democratic republic of congo, more than 200 people have been killed by a mamassive mudslide triggered by heavy rainfall. Momost of ththe victims arare fa smsmall fishing village in the congos northeast. In pakistan, the parliament is poised to pass a landmark law outlawing discrimination and violence against transgender people and ensuring full rights for people of all gender identities. The legislation has the support of all Major Political parties in pakistan. In hong kong, more than 20,000 people took to the streets on sunday to protest the jailing of three student leaders of the prodemocracy occupy movement, who organized large protests in 2014 calling on china to allow free elections in hong kong. This is activist joseph cheng. It is obvious that dissatisfaction and anger in society have been growing. And i am sure the Hong Kong Government will eventually pay its price. People are now casting doubt on the very last killer of the political system pilar of the political system. Amy pioneering comedian and civil rights activist dick gregory has died at the age of 84. In the early 1960s gregory became one of the most popular comedians in the country and paving the way for generations of africanamerican comedians. After headlines,s, we will play clips of dick gregory speaking in his own words about comedy, activism, race in america, and his long struggle for social justice. And today, a total eclipse will be visible from coast to coast across the continental United States for the first time in 99 years. Total eclipses are rare celestial events in which the moon moves privately between the earth and the sun. For more than an hour today, the eclipse will be visible from portland, oregon come toto the coast of south carolina. Thousands of people are flocking to areas across the u. S. To get the best view of the event. Although people should not look directly at the sun without special glasses. The next Solar Eclipse visible in the continental u. S. Will be in seven years in 2024. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Today, a special broadcast. We remember the pioneering comedian and civil rights activist dick gregory. Y. He died on saturday in washington, d. C. , at the age of 84. In the early 1960s dick gregory became one of the most popular comedians in the country and paved the way for generations of africanamerican comedians from bill cosby and Richard Pryor to chris rock and dave chappelle. On sunday, chris rock wrote on instagram we lost a king. There will never be another. Read his books, look him up. You wont be disappointed. Unfortunately, the america that produced dick gregory still exists. Dick gregory was the first africanamerican comedian to sit on the couch of the tonight show then hosted by jack parr. But as his popularity grew, so did his activism. He was jailed and beaten by Birmingham Police for parading without a permit in 1963. He took a bullet in the knee while trying to calm a crowd during the watts riots in 1965. That same year he spoke at one of the first major teachins on the vietnam war. It was at the university of california, berkeley. As far as war, as far as the way that radical group will say there just holding this meeting because they want to duck the draft. There will always think of little petty things to say. But i tell you one thing, i and not against armies as long as the armies is going to come in after the tornado and help clean up. Im not against the army of the type of army that is going to go around the world and distribute food to everyone. D. C. Hiring negro and standing up and saying he and a meccat loves that he is going to send me over to kill somebody . Nonviolence to me means that im not supposed to hit american white, but nonviolence means death by put me on its payroll, but i will never put death on my payroll. Two years later in 1967, dick gregory ran for mayor of chicago against the infamous richard daley. He was a close friend of Martin Luther king, jr. , and in 1968 he ran for president against richard nixon. N. Inew 18 mtths a i w was a president ial c candidate a as a writitein because i feel the twoparty systemem is obsolete. The twopaparty system is so corruptt that it cannot stop the problems confronting the masses of the people in this country. Amy dick gregory, by his account pupulled, an astonishing 1. 5 million votes,s, but the official tally put him at 47,000 votes. And that was as a writein candidate. During that campaign, dick gregory was arrested by u. S. Treasury agents for printing and distributing fake american currency with his picture on the bills as campaign literature. He also became wellknown for his hunger