06/26/18 06/26/18 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is demomocracy now! pres. trurump: you have to stand proudly y for the natitional anm risha a w playing. maybe you not be in the country. amy: taking a knee during the national anthem, we will speak with one of the most vocal player activists in the league, pro bowler michael bennet, out with a new book "things that make white people uncomfortable." >> every thing else doesn't

really matter. nothing really matters how many touchdowns i score if another black kid is shot and killed. it is a matter how many sacks i get if the education s system is unfair f for black youthth are people of color. it doesn't mamatter how many tis i hit tom brady workrking at a ququarter right if there is a wl being built. amy: as thousands of migrant children remain separated from their parents, we will look at why mental health specialist are slamming the government systematic traumatization of children. >> since my son is little and he is very shy, i said i wanted to speak to him that he is angry at me. he does not want to speak to me. he things i abandoned him. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

defense secretary james mattis has announced the u.u.s. is preparing to imprison immigrants, including children, on two military bases in texas. >> it is confirmed now that those would be the two that but i and fort bliss, ot confirm the specifics on how they will be used. we will provide whatever support the department of homeland security needs in order to house have under their custody. so we will work that out week by week. the numbers are dynamic. we will have to stay flexible in our logistic support for department of homeland security. amy: this comes as the customs and border protection commissioner hasas announceded immigration auththorities willll temporarilily stop prosecutingng immigrant adults w with children fofor crossing thehe border. comommissioner also said his

agency in the justice dedertment should reach a policy "where adults who bringng the kidids across the bordeder -- whoho vie ouour laws and risk their livest the border -- can p prosecutedd without an extxtended separatitn from thehe children."" more than 2000 children remain separated from their parents, jailed and detention centers across the country. on monday, the incident commander of the tent city in tornillo, texas, where migrant children are currently being imprisoned, said he is against the separation of children from their parents. he told a group of reporters -- "it was an incredibly dumb, stupid decision by our leadership. all it did was harm children, no question about it." on monday come immigrant parents who have been separated from their parents spoke out in el paso, texas. this is iris, a mother from honduras whose six-year-old son was forcibly taken from her by immigration auththities.

>> i think that is what i most desire, to have my son in my armsms. that is the dream that c comes o me. i fall asleep in the first thing i dream is the dream of him. >> do you plan on going to arizona where your son is? >> i can'go to arizona. i think we're not allowed to do that. if it weren't for these good people who have supported this year, we would not have known what to do to find our children. children knew your would be taken away when you got here, would you have come? no. at no time. i think none of us parents who are here would h have done that. no one wants to endanger their children who are the most sacred thing god has given us. amy: we will have more on the long-term impact of the separation of migrant children from their parents later in the broadcast. in more news on migration and deportation, the associated press reports algeria has expelled more than 13,000

migrants into the sahara desert over the last 14 months. survivors interviewed by the ap say they were rounded up, crammed into trucks, driven into desert, and then dropped off and forced at gunpoint to walk into neighboring niger. they say an unknown number of their fellow migrants died during the journey. in the latest series of scandals for environmental protection agency administrator scott pruitt, newly released internal emails show his office discussed hiring the family friend of an fossil fuel lobbyist whose wife was renting pruitt a washington, d.c., condo at only $50 a night, far below w market price. the emails were released as part of a freedom of information act request filed by the sierra club. in one of the emails, the lobbyist, j. steven hart, wrote to pruitt's chief of staff that his wife vicki "has talked to scott about this kid who is important to us. he told vicki to talk to you about how to handle this." pruitt's chief of staff replied "on it." in other emails, hart also

lobbied pruitt's office on behalf of coca cola and hsbc. pruitt has falsely claimed j. steven hart did not lobby the epa last year. meanwhile, buzzfeed also reports other internal emails show that a month after becoming epa administrator, scott pruitt told top executives with the american petroleum institute that he was lookining to fill regional director positioions within the agency. the emails are the l latest evidencece pruitt sought to recruiuit members of the fossill fuel indndustry to work at the epa. in the latest attack on the science of climate change, the trump administration appears to be shifting the national oceanic and d atmospheric administration awayay from studyingng climate change. noaa has been one of the key federal science agencies working on climate change. but a recent presentation revealed the agency has now dropped the word "climate" from its mission entirely. in more climate change news federal judge has thrown out a , a lawsuit in which the cities

of oakland and san francisco were suing fossil fuel companies for the costs of dealing with climate change. the cities had sued to force companies, including bp, chevron, conocophillips, exxon mobil and royal dutch shell - to pay for the cost of projects like protecting coastlines from flooding due to sea-level rise. but the judge ruled -- "the problem deserves a solution on a more vast scale than can be supplied by a district judge or jury in a public nuisance case." presidenent trump's attack maxie waters on twitter calling her an extraordinarily low iq person and ending his tweet with a threat "be careful what you wish for, max." congressk comes after woman waters encouraged people to continue protesting members of the trump administration in public. a number of top trump officials have face public protest in her sundays,s, including kristjen nielsen, sarah huckabee sanders,

and vice president mike pence. in pennsylvania, hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of antwon rose, a 17-year-old unarmed african-american high school senior who was shot and killed last week by an east pittsburgh police officer. video of the shooting shows police officer michael rosfeld shot antwon in the back while the teenager was trying to flee a traffic stop. officer rosfeld had been sworn in to the city's police department just hours before the shooting. the woman who filmed antwon's killing said it looked like officer rosfeld "was taking target practice on this young man's back." antwon's killing sparked days of protest last week in east pittsburgh, with hundreds of protesters taking to the streets and shutting down a major highway. we will have more on police brutality after headlines with nfl three-time pro bowler and longtime activist michael bennett who has been part of a

movement led by former 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick protesting police shootings of unarmed black men. in mexico, at least two more political candidates have been assassinated in the lead up to sunday's presidential election. over the last week, mayoral candidates omar gomez lucatero and fernando angeles juarez were both assassinated in the state of michoacan. telesur reports at least 121 politicians have been murdered since september, making this election cycle the bloodiest in recent mexican history. in brazil, radio journalist jairo sousa has been killed in the northern state of para. he was shot dead as he was arriving at the studio of radio perola to host his daily program, in which he reported on government corruption and drug trafficking. in argentina, labor unions launched a general strike monday that paralyzed the capital buenos aires, shutting down schools, banks, hospitals, airports, highways, and public transportation to protest

argentine president mauricio macri's austerity measures. this is strike leader alejandro bodart. >> this has to be the beginning of a flight plan. it cannot end here. we mus defeat macri and drive out the imf, which is the only way us to be able to turn around situation that a suffocating us. and the u.s. food and drug administration has approved a cannabis-based drug for the first time. the drug, epidiolex, has been approved to treat two types of epileptic syndromes. the marijuana drug's approval comes as an increasing number of states have approved medicininal and recreational marijuana use. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. in pennsylvania monday, hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of antwon rose, a 17-year-old african-american high school senior shot and killed last week

by an east pittsburgh police officer. video of the shooting shows antwon was shot in the back while trying to flee police after a traffic stop. police have admitted he was unarmed. rose was set to graduate from high school this year. the killing has sparked several days of protest in pittsburgh. amy: at the funeral, held at antwon's high school, two his friends struggled to read a poem antwon had written about police brutality in 2016 titled "i am not what you think!" that same poem was read by a protester at an earlier demonstration. >> i see mothers bury their sons i i want my mom to never feel tt pain i amam confused and afraid i pretend all is fine i feel like i'm suffocating amy: antwon's parents, michelle kenney and antwon rose sr., spoke sunday with "good morning america." kenney spoke about the significance o of the poem.

>> it is not just a poem. that is the life of many many young african-amerirican males. downs just my son wrote it and he lost his life. my son was truly a beautiful soul. .veryone has stood up and i'm hoping it changes the world. juan: the officer involved in the shooting has been identified as michael rosfeld. he had been sworn into the city's police department just hours before the shooting. post-gazette"the he left his last job at the university of pittsburgh police after authorities discovered discrepancies between his sworn statement and evidence in an arrest. the woman who filmed the killing said it appeared that rosfeld "was taking target practice on this young man's back." according to the washington post's database of police shootings, antwon is one of more than 500 people who have been killed this year by police

offificers. lester police officers shot dead 987 people. amy: joining us now is activist and nfl player michael bennett, who has been part of a movement led by former 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick protesting police shootings of unarmed black men. the on-field protests began in august 2016 when kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality. the protests spread throughout the nfl. earlier this year, the "new yorker" magazine ran a cover illustration showing martin luther king jr., taking a knee in between michael bennett and colin kaepernick. while kaepernick has essentially been blacklisted from the nfl, michael bennett is still playing and speaking out. he was recently traded to the super bowl champions philadelphia eagles -- the same team president trump recentltly

disinvited to the white house. this all comes after the nfl owners recently ruled teams will be fined if players kneel during the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality, though they can stay in the locker room. michael bennett joins us here in our studio. he has a new book called "things that make white people uncomfortable." welcome back to democracy now! >> appreciate you having me. amy: it is great having you with as. can you talk about the moment you decided to take the need? bring us back to that day. what was happening at the you were with the seattle seahawks. >> having them but the and compassion for what was going on in america, how you have a human connection to what is happening to people, how you put yourself in the shoes, how you feel for michael brown's parents or sandra bland's family come are so many people who have been,

you know, lives have been lost. that is what it was really about. native american rights issues, about so many issues, women's rights -- it was about so many things that were happening in america and how do we create a platform to be able to have a voice for so many people who do not have a voice. it is so much bigger than just police brutality. there are so many issues that people are not aware of. a lot of people watch football and think you're in that world, none of that exist. we wanted to make sure that even though we are playing and leading, we are able to do these things on sundays, we're these athletes who get injured, we are still people. we're still connected to the things and issues happening around us. it can be our famamily, our sisters, our mothers. at thehe same,, we want to bring the stories to life. juan: what were some of the discussions between fellow players? as the protest expanded and for the league and the president trump got involved in trying to stamp them out. >> i think it was more about

race. in football, 18 is built around people from different backgrounds. team is built around people from different backgrounds, different religions. we all agree on how we're going to win the game and do what we do on sunday, but we always don't agree about police brutality. all of us are not in the same situation when it comes to this. for some strange reason when it comes to sports, we can come together for those things. but the real issues at hand, we cannot come together. we try to make people understand. and for people who are not in the situations, it is hard for them to listen because they are already making assumptions about how people should feel. weis not really about do pick a side, is it the victim or pulleys, it is really the people, the human aspect of it. that is what we were trying to connect with people. i think a lot of people were disconnected between what was happening because everybody wants to pick a side. your democrarat or republican. no one is thinking about the

human aspect of it all. and girly of this month, president trump abruptly called off the planned visit of your new team, the philadelphia eagles, tweeting -- "staying in the locker room for the playing of the national anthem is as disrespectful to our country as kneeleling. sorry."" not a siningleagles plalayer kneeled d during the national anthem in 2017 season. eagles safety malcolm jenkins did protest by raising a fist during the national anthem in what has become one of the most enduring images of the protests. conference,ent news jenkins silently held up a series of signs to reporters in a team locker room in response to their questions about the cancellation of the team's white house visit. among the signs jenkins displayed, "you're not listening." "more than 60% of people in prison are people of color." "colin kaepernick gave $1 million n to charity" and "in 2018, 439 people shot and killed by police."

this is jenkins speaking about his activism. >> the biggest thing for me is that i've done a lot of work on criminal justice reform. the prototest in itself is not e end-all be-all. it is not something i'm looking at to o actually make a big change. that is kind of why i went back-and-forth if i wanted to do it this year. the one thing i did not want to do istop publiclcly expressing suddenly thend conversation dies out and you lose that momentum. i think it is important to continue to do the work behind the scenes, butt also continue o use the platform that i have to speak up and open eyes about this. amy: that is malcolm jenkins, your new teammate. i am wondering your thoughts. would you go to the white house if you are -- well, if you take

the team with jenkins to another super bowl? >> it is all about dialogue. we conversation is how do have dialogue about things that are really happening? if trump is willing to listen and find out why we're taking the knee, that is something i would be down to do. you don't want to be able to always, you know, make issue and not be able to have that conversation. i want to be able to be like, hey, this is what is happening. if you're willing to listen andd make a change, let's go about it. but the opportunity to change the way that america is an change my community, i'm always going to take those opportunities to express my needs and the passion of other people. so if the opportunity is a real one, i don't mind taking the opportunity to do that. i know a lot of people i like, "i can't believe you said that." it is not about the perception of what people feel, it is about are we really going to make a change? you willing to change the

educational system? are you willing to do mo on police reform? how can you help us do that? if you can't help us, then i guess we will move on. juan: i'm wondering about your sense of the reaction of the nfl , the owners. the bosses of the nfl. how they have responded to the players expressing -- some expressing their concern about the social issues. also, why do you think the nba has been so different? apparently, the athletes in the nba get to speak out and say whatever they want and there's the reaction from the nba brass. it in the nfl, there is this real rigid nature to their response. >> i think the employers, you know, they have to listen -- whenever the workers are saying what they mean and stating for

what they believe in, they have to start listening. a lot of the employers, they have never ever been in the position of a black male or hispanic male, so they don't understand it. they don't have the compassion. at first they were not willing to listen, and then it became an american conversation. they have to come and ask questions. slowly but surely, we started to turn those wheels and they started to say, ok, what can we do? there's a misconception that the nba is more aggressive than the nfl. the nba has more guaranteed contracts, so they can take the .isk they take it isn't going to stop their contract. the nfl takes bigger risks because they don't haha guaranteed contracts. they have more to lose when it comes to injury and concussions, so they take bigger risks when it comes to that. forced to listen to it. the nba have talked about this, but there's never been a national conversation. it was not a national

conversation until the nfl players stood up for what they believed in. we stood up for what we believed in. there was a big drought between the athletics of the past and of now. between the 1990's and the 2000's, there were not many athletes speaking on social issues. i was the generation who missed that. i was the generation who did good toee john carlos. athletes in my generation, none of them stand up for what they believe in. or --the nike shoe deals it became the most important thing in we forgot about our moral compass. my generation, we have come back to that moral comp is stage and now we have young kids aware of the situation. but the in compassion of the players of the nfl weather was calling cabinet, malcol jenkins, or a lot of players stood up for what they believe in. amy: we're going to go to break and come back to our discussion

with nfl star michael bennett. seahawkwks ande gone to the adelph eagles. , but protesta knee in all different ways. yes, he becomes a philadelphia eagle. and at the same time, is that makehis book "things that white people uncomfortable." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "world revolution" by ziggy marley featuring samuill kalonji. we went a little long because michael bennett our guest, well, he is very into that song. that was his choice. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. michael, 20 years ago this month june 7, 1998, james byrd was

brutally murdered by white supremacists in jajasper, texas. three white men change the african-american man to the back of their truck by his ankles, dragged him for more than three miles along the road. i the time the men and hihis boy from the back of the truck, his head and right arm had been severed. you write about james byrd in your book "things that make white people uncomfortable." you talk about the seminal moment in your life 20 years ago when you heard what happened, born in louisiana, you grew up in texas. >> for me, it was the imminent till moment, the moment as a young kid i came to realize that was goingbeing black to be an issue. for me, it was very traumatic safet to think that the my in this skin? can i do normal things?, able to grab a cappuccino and be seen as a customer and not as, you know,

as a robber? when they see me, do they see me as a man first and not as a criminal? from a, that chapter in my book was very important because i wanted to bring to light for other people who don't have to deal with those things. for a minute, he doesn't understand -- for a man, he doesn't understand what it is like for a woman to be walking at night. it comes to this position, oh, she should not be walking at night. you cannot victimize the victim. as an african-american person or brown person, they're being victimized simply because of their skin. for us, it is always hard to try to get people to understand and listen. and that chapter, i wanted to share, this is how i felt. as a seven-year-old, nine-year-old, you should not feel like that. the things you should be thinking about, how can i put and make together something yet don't not, and my going to be safe?

am i going to be killed or judged because of the way i look? as a young kid, it is hard for you to really grow up in america and see the world as a child. come all of these different things it is hard to see that when you see something so young and your parents have to break it down for you. i do have to take that wall down. the first time as a kid when you hear that santa claus is it real, dislike, the world is shook. you find out a weapon is going to be used against youou, you gt shooken. you get hardened as a person because you know every time you step into a room, people are going to judge you. that is the rdest thing for a young male. juan: in the book you talk about your life growing up in texas. some of the things that influenced you, your father worked for enron at the time it collapsed and it had an impact on you.

and also i'm wondering if you could talk about your experience in college, both you and your brother were at texas a&m. you referred to the ncaa and college sports as a gangster operation. >> it is. the first time ever got the corporate roads, my dad had put so much intoto this company -- the first time i realized, you cannot put so much into a company because companies do not have souls. empathy andave compassion, just a bottom line. it was the first, realized as a child -- my father did everything. all of a sudden it was taken from us. it was our world. all of a sudden, it was gone. different.s no it has no empathy or compassion. it does not have a soul. it is a corporate being. it does not care about the children it affects. it just needs to get to the fiesta bowl could all of these different bowls to get the revenue. --ng in the ncaa double-a

being in the ncaa, we would see our jerseys in the stores, stadiums filled with 80,000 people with $200 tickets of pop. we were like, can we get our cut? that is when we realized we had no voice. all we had was the idea we're gettining this piece of paper bt we were getting no compensation. so many athletes i've plalayed with, those who did not get to make it to the nfl, they dealt with a lot of identity problems because their identity was revolving around this sport. they were, you need to keep your eyes on the prize. being in the ncaa, he saw that a lot. dealing with something that when you come from, you know, a certain background or a certain part of tataxes or certain partf the community, you come into this white community as an athlete, it is hard to survive

when it comes to that. all of a sudden you go from a place where you see a lot of people that look like you and understand your cultural background, your parents, how you talk, and then you get to a ofce where you're just 1% the whole place. everything you do, people are telling you that it's wrong, you should n not talk like that, you can't wear your close like that. skinny jeans are in now, but at the time they were not and i did not wear skinny jeans at the time. it is a corporate entity when it comes to sports. amy: feminism is extremely important to you. can you talk about your mother lus, whoyou and martel just love the patriots, also famous football player? talk about her and when she had you and your own family, your wife and girls. >> my story is kind of complicated because my mom had me at 16 years old. i think about that all of the time as a parent. my mom had four kids before she was 21. that is a big deal.

that is hard to deal with. my parents ended up getting divorced so i was raised by my stepmother, who was a graduate has a masters degree in education and business. i grew up, my mother went to the university. amy: historically black college. >> my mom has been a teacher for over 20 years, fighting against all kinds of things in our community. she is been a pillar in our community as far as education. i grew up a lot giving back, helping kids. growing up with my brother, it was the same way. we were always doing stuff like this. things have not changed. my brother is such a creative genius when it comes to finding ways to impact the world. when it comes to creativity, i think he is -- there's never been an athlete who thinks the way he does and he finds ways to get back in his own way. a very unique conversation. amy: your thoughts when president trump talked about

football players as sons of -- w ell, the b word. rhymes with hitches. stitches -- sorry, i feel like dr. seuss right now. at the time i felt a sense of cacalm. like, should i go on the attack of this or should i do the opposite, continuously do work and don't get in a war of wor ds? whoom is a woman of color has been dedicateded to her community. that is what i wanted to express. it was not trying to go back and talk about his mother. i respect women. i respect women and what they have been through. that is how i became a feminist is because of my mother, the way she does things. when he said that, i wanted to express my mom is a confident woman who is committed to the community. juan: i am wondering your

thoughts on what has happened in and the price he is had to pay as a result of his outspokenness. you think the owners have realized that they can't continue to do that or like stepping back for a while? >> would happen to him is a tragedy. it is hard when you love something so much and you put everything into it and it has been taken away from you for all of the wrong reasons when you are doing all of the right things. we talk about leadership, a lot be, we -- coaches would don't want a guy like that. at the same time, there a lot of guys who have dealt with domestic abuse, caught with marijuana, gun charges, but we're allowed these types of people to be upheld as great citizens. but one of person stands up for something they believe in in a positive manner, you watch him do that and it is been devastating for a lot of players. it took the air out of a lot of

people's chest is because we loved how he was doing it in a peaceful manner. now the nfl is kind of realizing the fans and people -- because they took him out of the league does not change's impact. i think his impact has been even greater because people realized the tragedy, that he still putting on a lot of work. i make a lot of employers are realizing that's are trying to find ways that impact because the players are not letting his name diane vane. they are continuously ringing up his name and doing the work. amy: could you see yourself taking the knee? martin luther king between you and colin. could you see doing that with the philadelphia eagles? >> at this point, it is not so much about gestures, but starting to understand the true problems that are happening around the world and finding ways to build bridges start to do more community work in bringing and challenging the nfl within the community. a single -- i think sometimes

people getet lost in the gestut. people forgeout the work. it is about connecting the fans of people arouound the see what we're doing. ,f they do not take a knee they're not doing the work. that is a misconception. there are lots of athletes doing the work. i focus on the work and the impact, not to get caught up in is the going to take a knee, do the latest dance, but his hand behind his head? it is more about the impact. we have impacted the world by taking the knee, but the next up -- that is what i i think isis,t is the next step? people trying to tell us what to do, it has to make us more creative and find ways to protest and be more peaceful. juan: i want to ask you also about -- you talk about this in the book as well, the injury , thetions wthen nfl continuing epidemic of brain

damage, cte. the famous line in the film "concussion" when alec baldwin says, look, you don't understand how powerfrful the nfl is. they own a day of the week. they took it from the church, sunday. how you see thatontinuining, the fight of the players to have their health needs dealt with? >> i think are two parts to that question. it is the fans not dehumanizing the players and seeing them as things. do the fans connect to people -- the players being human? if the fans start to feel the human aspect of each player, then i thihink the nfl has no choice because the fans will be bringing up these questions. juststike anythingng else, the players s are fightitingor sosomething in the fans are fighting for something different, so it has to come on the same page to make sure the players are seen as human. a lot of players are not just fighting for themselves in the nfl, they are fighting for the kids. there is epidemic of concucussin

forgives. their whole bunch of people coaching football that don't know howow to tackckle. they have young kids hurting their neck. we have the college kids that don't have a voice. players have no choice but to speak up on concussion issues because everybody else, they don't have a voice. they are still trying to make it with her sport, so they are scared to speak. if we don't speak, they are not going to speak. we have to continuously fight. cte is a real thing. fans don't connect to that. they don't connect to players having injuries. they see it as fantasy football. they don't see us with families on'see is with family members who love us. they just see us as, what is the latest dance and brand we support? extreme. issue so during thehe 2017 season, more than 280 players in the nfl sustained concussions, an average of 12 per week, more than one a day.

the intercept- begley tracked thesinjujuri and c cated a visual record of every ncusussi in ththnfl this yr a new documentary calle "concussion procol." time magazine report theinink betwtweefootballnd tbi contins s to sengtgthe now o o of the largest studi t to da finds 110 out of 111 deceased nfl player had chronic somatic is of alloththy, cte. that is whaihink we lk abt marijua and maruana issuesround thworld, tt is at i feel like the shoulde so type of wn the nfsearch to work th thosehings because it has healing properties in it when you talk about the medicine people are using. look at these different types of kills people are taking. they need to find another way to deal with those injuries and find ways to give people commune oh, i don't know had a say this

without getting in trouble, but giving people the real herbs that help people grow in their mind, helping them feel better. when you talk about concussions, you talk about those types of things, you need to start looking at different ways to deal with those injuries, not just, hey, put him back out there. how do you measure a person's brain? how do you do that kind of stuff? the nfl and people in general and plers have an obligation to themsves -- sometimes players don't lienen to their boeses. li, wintere going sta listg to ourodies ansay, is is engh? an: andt is not just the brn. give us sense thpain lev athlet are dealing with on a regulabasis to oken bonn anregular sis. >>here's a big oblem wi opioidwhen it mes to the nfl or any cap of sport because people are dealing with real pain daily whether it is there backcourt ankle or neck.

every sunday you into a car k. y're cing in and hitti eachthther rlllly hets off people are dealing with crazy injuriri and sometimes -i i see guguyso out tre and i'm ke, du, yoururmamazing your pain leveisis a nee b but pele find a way to get through it. that just shshows e humaman part theirir bodies rning to ght am how do u protec yourself? >> i don't know if you can. amy: every time you go on the field -- >> you feel fear. they're lying to the masses if they say they don't have fear. tor is the first step realizing their some type of danger. a lot of people won't say they have fear, but there are a lot of players that have fear, whether it is now or the future. what does my future hold? those things, dealing with yourself and insecurities about my own body. i think a lot of people don't want to admit that. but for young kids, it is important athletes be vulnerable

when it comes to the dark side of sports, depression, or different types of things because we glorify the greatest parts, but we must amplify the worst parts. it is important as a young athlete to continuously push for young players to see those types of things. amy: your brother martellus bennett wrote the ford to your book. close he is a creative star. amy: he wrote -- you are doing that all of the time by spotlighting issues. one of them is the issue of police brutality. you were just in the last few weeks back in seattle,

remembering a woman who was killed by police. showing a lyles, an african american pregnant woman who was shot and killed by police in seattle after she called 911 to report a burglary at her apartment. twe police officers shot lyles in front for young children inside her own home. police claim she was holding a knife while they opened fire. her fafamily m members say s sha history y of menental health i . you spoke recently at her vigil. back at h homeles, and heard thehe story.. i could not believe it becacausi like to ththink about was my sister who is a mother, my wife, all of my family members, everybody my family that was a mother who give be taken away from the kids for something that -- i cannot fathom that that 2017 or 2016,n but it seems to be happening quite often. through this pain, all we can do is go out and try to make a change in our community.

amy: there you are, michael bennett, remembering charleena lyles. and here you are sitting in democracy now! studios and our headlines reporting we -- the funeral for antwon rose, 17-year-old kid about to graduate who were shot by a cop who was sworn in a few hours before he shot antwon in the back. >> when yoyou talk about these issues, it is an epidemic. it is not just a black thing. in general, lives are being taken. we think about charleena lyles, everybody was taking a side, but at the end of the day, people forget about the families left behind. when you think aut the mother being pulled away from her child, that is something -- when you have a child, it is you, the essence of you. your child needs everything to you. you are willing to step in front of a bullet, to do anything to keep your child safe. his mother to see

murdered in front of him, it is a traumatic experience. nobody is talking about the children or the families after this. you see these kids and they have to go to all of these different people, the specialists to move forward as humans. i think about charleena lyles, think about the families. when i think about antwon rose, think about the families. why don't people have empathy for life? why don't people care when summit is taken away? we're so desensitized to death of people to see death and move on. forward with it and just kind of -- with her, that was -- amy: is a starbucks in philadelphia where you are headed to be an eagle. folks i supppport local copy. at the same time, the disconnect

between keeping those people human. situation, but we never talk about the families are with the people go through. juan: i want to ask you, sports euros by the youth of america are seen as gods. you have a lot of influence inn terms of young people across america. what you think needs to be done to reform sports in america so that it is not so much into the bottom line or making money -- which, obviously, distorts i you as players are treated because the teams want to make money, how do colleges do with you because they want to make money? >> i keep saying this, but i feel that we have to humanize the people. athletes have been so dehumanized. place, peopleto a feel like automatically they get a picture because they don't see me as a human. i can be with my family, changing my daughter or trying to change a tire in the middle of the road and some is like,

hey, can i get a selfie? they don't see me as a human, they see me as entertainment. as athletes, we need to start humanizing ourselves and building walls. within the athletic world, we need to have reform to create -- that is something i have been working on with a lot of athletes come athletes for impact. how do we create an organization for young athletes to have a voice for themselves? that is what we are joined to do, crcreate our own o organizan and ourr own words andnd own situation. there needs to be major reform, especially in college sports. at the collegiate level, so many kids get injured and charged for their own surgeries. they recently made the scholarships a four-year pact. before it was year to year. was changed allhat ng ago. we didn't do make sure these kids have a voice. we need to make sure these cultures don't get to just pick

schools and make it stay for a long time and use their own reason why kids should d not pl, keep these kids from growing. we need a major reform. amy: wire the overwhelming majority of owners -- i don't know what you call them -- but owners, football owners, white? most of them billionaires. and 70% of the players are black. >> do you really want me to answer that question? know, post-colonialism. i don't own to tell you. there are a lot of things. i think the business is built -- it is a business. i don't know why it is like that. that is just the way things have always been. i don't know how to change that. amy: you heard the latest of donald trump in the headlines threatening maxinene waters sang "watch out, max" the african-american congresswoman from los angeles calling her an extremely low iq person.

talking about football players going after you over and over, football players come athletes, overwhelmingly african-american in the groups he is talking to. what do you say to him? >> i don't know what to say to a person who lacks empathy and compassion for other people. for me, it is about he needs to look in the mirror and deal with his own insecurities when people are talking about these real issues. you have to be able to put yourself in other people shoes. you have to be able to put whoself in the micro worker is china changes life and come to america, yourself in their shoes when they are taking the kids away. of aourself in the shoes young black now being pulled over by police officer and wondering if he's ever going to go home and see his family. i would tell him, you need to start putting yourself in other shoes. yourself intting danger calling out maxine waters. she's a beautiful being. she cares about people of color.

she wants to make a change. that a fighting her, how about just listening? that is the big issue with him, he doesn't ever listen to people who are screaming and saying, hey, listen to me. when you scream louder, he puts on headphones. if you scream louder, he just walks away. does't have the ability to confront these issues and have an intellectual conversation. amy: the final question, the title of your book "things that make people uncomfortable." >> when i thought about the title, i thought about richard pryor and all of these great comedians who were able to take a word or situation and bring some humor to it. i wanted to bring humor to the title but at the same time challenge people. there are whole lot of things happening in america that are deep dark secrets that everybody knows and happens to be around white america who don't be attention to them. they don't live in the community. i wanted to be able to write a book that unveils me as a person

and talks about these different issues that we as community have to be a little come to. we have to be so uncomleab with them that we have to listen and be able to grow. that is with the title is about, growth in our community and people around this country, speaking for other people who don't have a voice. it is time -- i feel white people need to be starting to feel uncomfortable about these situations. they have been so comfortable seeing immigrants taken, people killed by the police, so comfortable with victimizing and raping when it comes to #me too movement. when is it going to become uncomfortable for everybody to see these things? when is it going to be uncomfortable to watch tv and seen issue like that and say, when a we going to change it? -- when is it something that becomes uncomfortable? at this point it is been so comfortable. this book is about, start making a change. running on twitter, go

out into the community and make a change. -- stop writing on twitter. go out into the community and make a change. amy: michael bennet, thank you for being with us. his book "things that make white people uncomfortable." the nfl player now with the philadelphia eagles come also activist. we thank you so much. this is democracy now! when we come back, children being separated from their parents. we speak with a psychologist on the irreparable effects of snatching children. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "what's going on" by marvin gaye. right from michael bennet's playlist. withmy goodman juan gonzalez. "the washington post" reports federal authorities have collected mugshots of detain minors, some showing the children in tears. immigrant children jailed in a converted walmart in texas are being forced to recite the pledge of allegiance in english each morning. at some of the facilities, the children are counted in "prison-stylyle" head counts. in some cases, parents have

already been deported, while their children remain in united states custody. amy: well, for m more, we're joined by dr. dana sinopoli, a psychologist who penned an open letter condemning the trump administration's pracactice of separating children from their parents at the border. the letter has bn gned b more than 12,600 mental health professionals. it states children made develop post medical responses following separation from their parents and specifically lists immigration and parental deportation as situations of potentially traumatic separation. to pretend that separated children do not grow up with the shrapnel of this traumatic experience embedded in their minds is to disregard everything we know about child development, the brain, and trauma." welcome to democracy now! can you talk about what inspired you to write this letter and what exactly happens to children? what are the psychological effects of the separation? >> good morning.

i'm going to try to condense this into about five minutes. what compelled me to write this letter was that everything i was reading and everything i was hearing at the end of last month , it was so focused on politics and policy. there seem to be nothing that spoke to what this experience was actually like for these children. in a sense, their own voices, through their eyes, through their minds. i wrote a letter. i asked the audience -- i think i was begin to the administration as well -- to remember what it was like to be a child. that is the thing, we were all children and all dependent on our parents for physical and psychological safety and security. and i think from that -- and also remembering times when we were abruptly separated from our parents. it evoke's and empathy that i think focusing only on politics and policy can often obstruct

this connection with these children. i think that is why the letter kind of connected with so many people is thatat it reminded thm we are talking about children with this policy, human children. juan: and what are some of the psychological effects of not only the detention and separation -- people often forget these families s have coe ,p sometimes spending weeks coming up from central america in a really precarious situation for the children as well as their parents in the journey to the border. >> absolutely. so we have this compounding trauma. of this quotation by a somali poet. it is that nobody leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark. so we have that, that was experienced in their original

country, then there is the journey itself which includes witnessing and drug experiencing a number of potentially traumatic events will stop then there is a moment of separation and then there is the being separated. so we have this compounding ma on p of trauma. i will quickly kind of explain what we know about children separation. it doesn't take a psychologist to know children do best when they are in closer proximity to their parents. what we have known for decades ofthere are three kind phases of separation. the first phase is that of protest. we see these chihildren inconsolably weeping and screaming for their parents. we have that haunting audio and visual from the border. i weep andis hope if scream, mom and dad will come back to me. so we hear this so audibly.

the next phase is that of despair. the reports of these children not playing, not running around, not doing the things that we would expect toddlers and children to do, just kind of withdrawn state, collapsing in on themselves. the third is the phase of detachment. this we understand is almost kind of this aloofness that even if a child appears to be doing well, that doesn't necessarily correlate with what they are actually experiencing inside. even when reunification happens, there's so much going on in this moment that the child is both filled with joy and anger and fear. and the parent is filled with both relief and guilt. in the same moment, there's so much happening for both parent and child. the trajectory of that affects these children. it is not just a moment of separation.

we know this carries on throughout their lives from it of these children. amy: i want to lead -- read from the letter that you wrote -- "to try and argue that this policy of ripping children from their parents at the border is somehow different from the systematic traumatization of children during the times of slavery, forced assimilation, and the holocaust is to disregard history. to somehow cone oursves that this systematic traumatization of children has no bearing on the lives of these children and no impact on the legacy of our country is to be living in an alternate universe. and to not care about the impact these policies have on these children is to succumb to the worst potential of humanity." the intergenerational effect of this? >> yes. i will try and put this fully, but we know that which is so overwhelming to the mind, that for which there are no words, these unspeakable, and formulated traumatic experiences . they get passed down to the next generation. a fine example of that is after

9/11, there was a report in his book "lost in transmission" -- doing and go we will go to that in part two and posted online at democracynow.org. that does it for our show.zñvp]

carla: hello, everybody. it's great to be with you. i am very excited about the program we are about to share. some really strong words from the man time magazine once called america's toughest customer. ralph nader has spent 50 years trying -- keeping a watchful eye on powerful politicians and giant corporations. he fought for everything, from safer cars to clean water. and he's won. that's because ralph nader knows how to fight. he believes in the power of the individual to bring about positive change. and he spells it ouout in the tk you are about to see. and in his latest