06/01/20 06/01/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york citity, the epicenteter of the pandemimic ie united s states, this is democry now! >> george floyd! george floyd! george floyd1 >> what we want? >> justice! in thehe largestst nationwidide aminin theargegest nationwnwide uprisising since the 1960's, protesters shut down cities across the united states following the police killing of

george floyd, an african-american man in minneapolis. at least 40 cities have imposed curfews. the national guard has been deployed across the country. thousands of people have been arrested as police violently cracked down on the protests calling for racial justice. police cars have been set on fire in cities from new york to los angeles. >> i woke up wanting to see the world burned down. and harassing black men die. he cash he put his knee on a human beings for nine minutes as he died like a zebra in the clutch of a lines draw -- job and we watch like murder porn over and over again. does whwhitest burning to the ground. they don't know what to do. amy:y: the protests come as the nation faceses its biggest publc health crisis in decades and the

highest vevel ofnempmploent since the great depression. we'll speak with professors cornel west and keeanga-yamahtta taylor, as well as attorney bakari sellers, author of the new memoir "my vanishing country." all that a and more, coming up. welcome to demococracy now!, demomocracynow.org, the e quarae report. i'm amy goodman. protests eruptpted across the united states as pepeople continued to take to the streets over the weekend following the killing of 46 year-old george floyd by white police officer derek chauvin in minneapolis. curfews have been enacted in at least 40 cities, including los angeles, philadelphia, chicago and seattle. the national guard was called in to several states as protests mounted.d. protesesters in miminneapolis ae cacalling for the arrest of all four o officers involved in floyd's death. derek chauvin was charged friday

with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. the three other officers who were fired along with chauvin have noteen chchged, even as new video appes s to sw twtwo them a ao kneeling on george oyoyd's body he lala on the pavementnd chauvin had his knee on his neck. on saturday, minnesota governor tim walz said hehe had fully mobilized the national guard for the first time in his state's history, adding another 1000 soldiers to the 700 he had already ordered into the streets of minneapolis and st. paul. throughout the weekend, crowds of protesters were met with wave after wave of teargas, rubber coated bullets, instead gun -- stem grenades. this is minneapolis community speakingrk armstrong satuay.. >> they continue talallow e abuseso happen to the community. and sohihis is an uprising. we're notonondoni thehe violence that is happening, t looting, the writing. we understd d it, oughgh.

we want the city to no burn step but it seems like that whatt t has takake order for them to finally start listining to u us. saying towe h he been introducpopolicyhangnges sisittg acroro from that mayor, from the police, and the goveor.. the city council members. wewe havbeenen tkikingo them. we he e beenittitingith ththem, urging them, c challenging them, pushing them and they ain't listen. we are tired. amy: minnesota governor tim walz saturday he had asked mark esper and the chair of the joint chiefs of staff to help gather signal intelligence on protesters. on friday, publicly available flight data showed customs and border protection had diverted one of its predator drones to circle 20,000 feet above minneapolis as protesters gathered in the streets below. the drone is normally used to patrol the u.s.-canadian border far to the north of the twin cities.

a viraral video poststed onlnlie saturday night shows a phalanx of officers in riot gear following an armored personnel carrier down a residential street in minneapolis's whittier neighborhood after an 8pm curfew -- 8:00 p.m. curfew went into effect. officers repeatedly shouted residents remain inside their homes before firing crowd control rounds on a group of residents peacefully filming from their front porch. in another harrowing moment, a truck driver barreled a tanker truck into a crowd of peaceful protesters who were occupying a minneapolis interstate on sunday -- saturday afternoon. a crowd of thousands of people parted, with many diving to avoid the wheels of the massive truck. the driver slowed the vehicle as protesters surrounded him, then pulled him from the cab and roughed him up. police moved in and arrested the driver, 35-year-old bogdan

vechirko, who was booked on assault charges. police officicers in louisville, kentucky, said law enfororcement fatally shot a p protester early ththis mornining whilele the poe force and ththe national grdrd were attemptpting to break up aa crowd. protesters i in louisville have been to mainintain j justice for breonna taylor, the 26-year-old asaspiring nurse who wasas shoto dedeath by police inside her own apartment in marchch. here i in new york city, multipe protests unfolded over the weekend as thousands of people popoured into o the previously deserted neighborhoods due to the coronavirus lockdown. in times square sunday, hundreds took a knee in silence to remember george floyd. protesters shut down traffic on the manhattan bridge sunday. meanwhile, in brooklyn, a shocking video shows two police suv's ramming into a crowd of protesters. mamayor bille e blasio defende the actions of the officers,

placing blame on therotetests. nypd saitheyey have madede nrly 800 arreststs since ththe prests arteted. one of those arrested was chiara de blasio, mayor bill de blasio's 25-year-old daughter. she was arrested at a protest in downtown manhattan. she has since been released. in new york and minneapolis, protesters cheered for unionized bus drivers who refused to transport arrested protesters to jails. in columbus, ohio, three government officials were pepper sprayed by police saturday morning. city council president shannon hardin, franklin county commissioner kevin boyce, and congressmember joyce beatty -- all of them black had stepped in , to de-escalate a scuffle. in seattle, washington, disturbing images of a child who was apparently maced by a police officer has provoked outrage. social media photos and video show the nine-year old girl in

obvious distress crying as , adults around her pour milk on her face to help alleviate the pain. in washington, d.c., secret service confronted protesters outside the white house. officials say president trump took refuge in the white house bunker for an hour friday night as hundreds protested. this is a protester speaking saturday in front of the c capil building. >> what job you have come at where you live come how many degrees you have come if your skin is black, you're automatically -- using color as a weapon. we have to change the nararratie today ! amy: in sacramento, californiai, a 19-year-old is in the hospital with a broken jaw after he was shot in the face with a rubber bullet while standing in place, peacefully protesting. dayshawn mcholder had just graduated from high school days

before he attended the protete. elsewhere in california, governor got some new son -- county in atlanta, georgia, two police officers have been fired for using excessive force after they tased two young black students in their car for allegedly violating the city's curfew saturday night. >> come to me right now. this woman just got tased. come to me right now. amy: one officer smashed the window of the car they were in. atlanta mayor keisha lance bottoms condemned the attack. she also warned atlanta residents this weekend of the

additional health risksks of protesting during the coronavirus pandemic. >> if you are out protesting last night, probably need to go get a covid test this week. because there is still a pandemic in america that is killing black and brown people at higher numbers. amy: protests also took place around the world, including britain, germany, and new zealand. in spain, solidarity protests were limited to 10 people due to coronavirus restrictions. numerous reporters have been targeted as they covered proteststs around d the coununt. freelance photographer linda tirado was told by doctors she wod d be pmanenent blind in her le e eye aer b being shot ty miminnealis s police. also imiminnealis,s, aofficece threw vice ns s repoer m micel ananthony ams faceirirst ioo the paventnt of gas s stion saturdayight as s shout,

"pre! ! pres" anand splayeye his media id above h h head. moments lar,r, anoer o offer casuallylasted adams dirtlyy in the face thth pepr spspraas he l p pronen ththe vementnt in louisville, kentucky, a local reporter and photographer were hit by pepper balls while broadcasting live. the officer appeared to be aiming directly at kaitlin rust and photojournalist james dobson. >> are you ok? >> i just got shot. rubber bullets. it is those pepper bullets. >> who are they aiming that at? >> now they're shooting at the photographer. >> directly at us. >> they're shooting at our crew. a gruesome photo of the wound he received after a police officer shot him in the throat with a rubber-coated bullet.

the committee to protect journalists has issued a safety advisory for reporters covering the protests, which includes avoiding working alone and wearing protective gear, including body armor. the group also warns of the increased risk of contracting the coronavirus given the difficulty of maintaining social distancing. auauthorities in m minnesota arw investstigating the role of whie supremacist may be playing in the protests. the twin cities tv station k kae reports at least one person arrested i in minneapolis had shown clear support t for white supremacy y on their facebook page. meanwhile, president trump and attorney general william barr have threatened to take action against anti-fascist activists. on sunday, trump tweeted he would label antifa as a terrorist organization even though he does not have the legal authority to do so. meanwhile, trump is facing widespread criticism for inflaming tensions in the country. on friday trump tweeted, "when the looting starts, the shooting

starts" -- quoting a phrase used by many segregationists in the 1960's. he also threatened protesters outside the whitite house with "vicious dogs" and "ominous weapons." at rallies across the country, some protesters also held signs calling for justice for tony mcdade -- a black transgender man shot and killed by florida police last week. police say they shot the 38-year-old after they suspected he was involved in a stabbing, and alleged he had a gun. hours before his killing, tony mcdade posted a video on social media saying he'd been attacked by a group of men and was targeted because he was a black trans man. mcdade's was at least the third federal polic -- fatal polilice shooting in tallahassee in two months.. the number of people i infectedy coronavirus across the globe has reached 6 million. nearly 375,000 people have died

but many believe that is an undercount. while the world is facing one of its biggest public health crises in years, president trump has announced the united states is terminating its relatitionship with the world health organization. historically, the united states has been the largest contributor to the who. this comes as coronavirus cases continue to surge in latin america, now considered the epicenter of the pandemic. the region accounts for around 40% of new daily coronavirus deaths. brazil, which has the highest number of infections in latin america and the second highest in the world after the united states, has become the fourth-highest nation in covid-19 deaths. peru and mexico recorded record numbers of cases in recent days, even as mexico moves to reopen its economy. chile now has over 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases. meanwhile, central american

nations s are bracing for more devastation brought by tropical storm amanda. at least people have been killed 14 in el salvador as floods and torrential downpours batter r te region. here i in the united states, a w study shshows the u.s.s. coronos death toll likely surpassed 100,000 weeks ago as states continue to underestimate the number of people killed by the vivirus. this comes as some communities in califninia and heher stat are scaling back reopening plans after seeing a spike in covid cases. the supreme court voted 5 to 4 on friday to uphold california's restrictions on church services during the pandemic. meanwhile, the white house and the centers for disease control and prevention removed coronavirus warnings about church choirs, even though they are believed to be so-called super spreaders of the infection. in other relateded news, presist trump has canceleded a planneded face-to-face sumummit of g7 leaders s in june afteter german

chanancellor angela a merkel saa summit in washington, d.c., would pose a health risk. in afghanistan, a journalist and a driver from a tv station were killed by a bomb blast in the capital kabul saturday. at least four others were injured. officials say the private bus was directly targeted. the islamic state claimed responsibility for the attack. afghanistan is one of the world's deadliest countries for journalists. israeli police shot anand killed an unarmed palestinian m man in occupieded east jerusalemm sasaturday. iyad el-hallak was a 32-year-old special needs student who attended and worked at a school near where he was killed. police say they thought he was carrying a weapon. demonstrators took to the streets in tel aviv and jerusalem with some protesters holding signs demanding justice for iyad and for george floyd. a day earlrlier, on friday, israeli soldiers killed a palestinian man in the west bank who they clalaim tried to ram io them with his car.

and more women have accused four convicted serial rapist and former hollywood mogul harvey weinstein of sexual assault and rape in a new lawsuit filed in new york. one of the unnamed accusers was 17 at the time of an alleged attack. weinstein is currently serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted of rape in february. he still faces criminal charges in los angeles. and those are some of the headlines. thisis is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the e quarante reportrt. whenen we come back, we look a t the nationwide uprising following the police killing of george floyd, an african-american man in indianapapolis. -- in n minneapolis. we will speak with cornel west,, keeanga-yamahtta taylor, as well as b bakari sellers. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman in new york city, joined by my co-host rmeen s shaikh from her home also here in the city. hi, nermeen. nermeen: gooood morning.g. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: in the largest nationwide uprising since the 1960's, protesters shut down cities across the united states over the weekend following the police killing of george floyd, the 46-year-old african-american man in minneapolis. >> george floyd! george floyd! george floyd! >> what we want? >> justice! >> when we want it? >> now! >> if we don't get it? >> shut it down!

amy: george floyd died one week ago on memorial day when minneapolis police officer derek chauvin arrested him and pressed his knee into floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes as floyd repeatedly gasped "i can't breathe," and then stopped moving. on friday, chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. the three other officers involved have been fired. they have not been arrested. minnesota governor tim walz announced attorney general keith ellison will take the lead in the investigation and any prosecutions related to george floyd's killing. at the minneapolis intersection where floyd was killed, people created a memorial and declared it a sacred space. meanwhile, protests continued throughout the weekend from coast to coast. the police erupted in violence in response to the widespread protests, arresting more than 4000 people and attacking

demonstrators with teargas and rubber bullets in cities across the country. police cars and buildings went up in flames as thousands braved the coronavirus and increasing police violence to demonstrate. in new york city alone, authorities said 47 police vehicles have been damaged, at least 40 cities have imposed curfews, the national guard has been deployed to several states. police department's are facing increasing criticism freezing excessive force on protesters and in at least 50 separate incidents, attacking journalist. the protest, as the nation's dealing with its largest public health crisis in generations and the highest and planet rate since the great depression. during protests friday, president trump was moved to the white house's underground bunker. on saturday, he took to twitter to threaten protesters with "vicious dogs" and "ominous weapons."

he also tweeted he would designate antifa as a terrorist organization, even though legal experts say he lacks authority to designate a domestic group as a terrorist organizations and warn such a move would violate the first amendment. outrtrage over floyd's deatath s after protests led t to the arrt of two w white men l last monthr the february s shooting death of black jogger ahmaud arbery in georgia and after the louisville police shooting death of breonna taylor in her home in march, which the fbi is now investigating. the demonstrations have been mostly outside with many people wearing masks, so it is unclear if they will trigger spread of the coronavirus. but many protesters who were arrested were taken to jails that are covid hot-spots. for m more, we're hosting a roundtable discussion. we have dr. cornel west of the practice of public philosophy at harvard university, author of

many books, including "race matters" and "black prophetic fire." and we are joined by keeanga-yamahtta taylor, assistant professor of afrirican-american s studieses t princeton n universityty. her recent piece for "the new york times" is headlined "of course there are protests. the state is failing black people." she's also author of "race for profit: how banks and the real estate industry undermined black homeownership" and "from #blacklivesmatter to black liberation." and with us from charlotte, north carolina, bakari sellers, an attorney and author of his new memoir "my vanishing country." he became the youngest african-american elected official in the country y when e was elecected to thehe south carolina state legislature in 2006. we welcome you all to democracy now! we're going to begin with professor keeanga-yamahtta taylor. if you can respond to the mass uprising that has s happened araround the country and the police response to it, as well

as the original horror onon memorial d day, the killingg of george floyd? amy, for letting me come on this morning toto ta. i think part of w what we are ofingng is s ars and yeaears pent-up rage. refenced ththee 1960's, have referenceced ferguo in 2 201 but i think i it is importrtant to say that these ae not just repeat of f past event. these are the coconsequences of the failures s of this governmnt an t politicical establilishment comeme the e economic establisht of thihis country to resesolve e crcrises,, s so theyey built and accumulate over time. we are watching the boilinover

t that. despetete,angry, ge-f-filleyou woulhaveve t be to c come out and protestn the conditions of an hihistorical pandemic that has alreready kild over 1 103,000 americans, that s a d dproportionatelely horrendos impact on a black communities. ii believe 23,000 or4,000 blblak people have died. to putut it more bluluntly, onen every 202000 african-a-americacn the united statetes has dieied s ththe result of covid. imaginine how difficult thihings have to be for people to come out in those conditions. aroundink the buildup police brutality, the continuation of police brutality, police abuse and violence and murder has compelled people to haveve to endure those conditions.

because it is obvious that there is either nothing that our government can do o about this r that thehe governmt t is complit and chooses not do anything about ththis. i think we h have to add t to tt the crisis s that is unfoldingng beyond policice brutality in the couny as well. we allll know the videotapes o police beating, abususe, mururdr have n never stopped. the movement thahat grew out of ththe fergususon uprising that became black l lives m matter, e conditions that led to t that actutual nevever ended.. i think what h has reignited tht is, obviously, the public lynching of george f floyd one week ago in minneapolis, but also the conditions -- the wider context within which that is illing over. d d becae ofof tt wider

conditn of ma unemployment, th death that haseen caused by the pandemic, that th i is nott just -- i don't believe these are stst prostss against poce brutaty. hundreds, iflot of not thousands, of young white uprisings,hese making these multiracial rebellions, really. i think that is important. some people have sort of described the participation of white people as outside agitators. i know there are reports of white supremacist infiltrating some of the demonstrations. and i think those are things ththat we have to pay attentiono , keep track of come and try to understand. but we cannot dismiss in a widespread way the participation of young white people because we

have to see what has happened over the last decade has gutted their lives, too. there's been some discussion about this with perhaps their parents generation, with the byyription of deaths despair. we know the life expectancy of ordinary white men andnd womenes gonene into reversrse. something, by y the way, thatats not typicalllly happen in the developed world.d. itit is driven by opioid addiction, alcoholism, and suicide. so this generation,n, whose livs really -- you know, if you graduated from college, your life has been bracketed by war atat the t time of the 21st cen, ouour recession, and n now by a deadly pandemic.c. i thinink we're seeing thee convergence of a class rebellion with r racism and racial terrorm at the center of it. inmany ways, we are

uncharted d territory in t the unitited dates.. nermeen: d dr. cornel l could yu respond to w what profefessor keeanga-mamahtta tayaylor saiai? the murder oft george floyd was a lynching. you have also said thahat his murdrr and the demononstrations that he followed show that america is a faililed social exexperiment. so could you respond t to that?? alalso, the way the state and police forces have responded to the protests following g george floyd's killing with the national guard called out in so many cities and states across the country? >> there is no doubt that this reckoning's moment of , but we want to make the connection between the local and the global. the seedshen you sow

,f greed, to mystically inequality. globally, imperial tentacles, 800 military units abroad, violence and effort, and africa, supporting various resumes, dictatorial ones in asia and so forth, there is a connection itween the seeds that you sow violence externally and internally. same is true in terms of the seed of hatred, of white supremacy. hating black people. anti-blackness hatred having its own dynamic within the context of a predatory capitalist civilization, obsessed with money, money, money. domination of workers. marginalization of those who don't fit to gay brothers, sisters, lesbians, trains, and so forth. thahathe convergence

sister taylor's talking about of the ways in which the american , itse imploding foundations being shaken with uprising from below, the cataly was certainly brother george floyd's public lynching, but e e failes o of e predatory capalist economy too provide the satisfaction ofhehe sic c nes of fofood and hlth care and quality education, jobs with a decent wage, thehe same time the collapse of your political class, the collapse of your professional class. their legitimacy has radically been called into question and that is multiracial. inis a neofascist dimension trump, the neoliral dimeion in biden and obama and the clintonsnd so forthth, and includes much of the media. it includes many of the professors and universities of the young people are saying, you all have been hypocritical. you have not been concerned

misery.r suffering, our and we no longer believe in your legitimacy. and it spills over to a violent explosion. it is here. i will go on, but i think it is here were ella baker and fannie martin andnd brother malcolm, their legacies i think become more central because they provide the kind of truth telling, they provide the connection between justice and compassion in their example, in the organizing, and that is what is needed right now. rebellion is not the same thing as revolution. what we need is a nonviolent revolutionary project of full-scale democratic sharing power, wealth, resources, respect, organizing, and fundamental transformation of this american empire. amy: and your thoughts, professor west, on the governor

minnesota saying they're looking into white supremacist connections to the looting and the burning of the city? and then president trurump tweeting he's going to try to the terror list -- which he cannot do -- and william barr emphasizing this saying he's going after the far-left to investigate? >> that is ridiculous. you remember, sister amy, and i love and resespect you so, that antifa saved my life in charlottesville. there no doubt about it. they provided the security. so the very notion that they become candidates for a terrorist organization but the people were trying to kill us, the nazis, the klan, they're not candidates were tears organization status. you're going to get a trump-led neofascist backlash and clampdown on what is going on. we ought to be very clear about

that. the neofascism has that kind of obsession with militaristic imposition in the facef f any kikindff disorder. so we veve goto be fortified for that stuff but most importany,y, i tnk w we've got toto me surerehat we preserve ourwn moral, spiritual, quality my fundamentntal focus n truth and justice and keep track of legaled looti, wall street greed. legazed d muer, popoce. glazed murder abroad in yem, pakistanand aica, wit effo,, so forth. that is where our focus has t be because with allll of this rebellious eney,y, it gotot t bebehanneledroup organizations rooted in a quest for trh h and jujustice. amy: i want to bring bakari sellers into the conversation. in 200006, you become the young step can americans that what elected official in the country when he was elected to the south carolina state legislature.

he has his memoir out called "my vanishing country." one of the central moments in the book is the orangeburg massacre of 1968, 1 of the most violent least remembered events of the civil rights movement. a crowd of students gathered on the campus of south carolina state university to protest segregation at orangeburg's only bowling alley. dozensns of police arrived on ne scene, and stete troopers s fird live ammununition into the crow. when the shooting stopped, three black students were dead. 28 students were wounded. the nine officers who opened fire were alll acquitted, but there was one person went to jail, bakari sellers's father cleveland sellers, a member of the student nonviolent coordinating committee, known as sncc. coconvicted of a riot charge a d spent t seven months behind bar. he was pardoned decades later. bakari sellers, it is an honor to have you with h us. you say february 8 was the most important day of your life but you were not even born yet.

tatalk aboutut the connections o what was happening then to what is happening tododay in this country. >> first, thank you for having me on s such an esteemed d panel this morning. february 8, 1960 eight, is by far the mostst important day ofy life, not only did law-enforcement shoot into o a crcrowd killing three men, not onlylyid they shshoot my father, not onlnlwas the alalibris and e was incarcerated, but there''s been traumthat is lingered since thenen. my s sister was born while e my fatherer was stitill locked awa, the first to my father was able to see my sisterer was actuallyn the prison yard. when i think about georgrge flod and ahud a arbery and breonna ylor, this goes s back even fufuher. my father gostarted d the movevement and i think dr. wes willllcknowledge the names h he mentioned, ella baker,r, lou hamer,r, there are all pt of whwhat we call the imagege tilde your --,-, ntil generion.

theyey were able t to see e bigotry anand hatate, what is identity young emmit till. you think aboutut jimmy lee jajackson, medgagar evs, notot t the orangeburg massacre, the four little girls in bibiingham. the list goes on d on. father i is 75 years old today. i'm 30 f fighters old of th biggggest problewe have in this coununtry is we hahave manany oe same shared expxperiences. nonoonly talk k about orarangebg anand some of the s successes 'e had, but i talked abouout the ft i' hadad to ry g good iends.s. was clement to pinckney who is killed after bible studyy with eightht others just b becae ofof the color of his skin. that is s the country thatat wee in. what you're seeining today is nt just aboutut george floyd.d. i don't wantnt anyone to think ththat. what we'e're seeing isis about systemic injustice and racism that has plagued this countryry

for 40400 years. home, to drive the point one of the things i highlight in "my vanishing country," i am from a small town n where we ony have three stoplights and a blinking light. i grew up in a food desert which meant you coululd not go to get fresh fru it and v vegetables. we are drinking dirty water where i am from, which means you're taking in toxins that are likely t to cause cancer at a highgher rate.e. inhaling dirtyty air because of granville and mananufacturing plants manany are more likely yo have aststhma. my hospitatal shut down becausee did d not extend medicaid.d. live in a an area where kids don't have heating and air in school. yoyou overlay ththis with the pandndemic. no question, my father says it all a time, when amemerica getsa cold, black folk get the flu.

now america has covid black folks are dying. you think about the bodies, this black killing porn we're assessed with in this country. george floyd was killed like a dog. not even like a dog because if he was a dog, they actually would have arrested all joe officers by now. but there was a knee on his neck for eight to nine minutes. i think there are so many people who are questioning as the parents of black children in this country, how do go about raising them? what do we tell them? these are questions in a crisis of conscience that are now facing the united states of america. i hope people would say they pick up "my vanishing country," black folks get a since of pride help white folks get a sense of understanding. before you can get to atonement, before we can even get to that point, we have to have understanding. we have to have empathy.

from orangeburg to charleston all the way back to emmitt to know george, the common link linchpin is this -- the people of cololor in this country and around the worldld are not gettg the benefit of their humanity. you coululd not tell me e that e officers s saw george floyd as being human. they saw him as something less than. so until we start fundamentally giving black folks the benefit of their humanity, we will still have these systemic problems that have now boiled over into the streets. do not tell my people to go home. do not ask for peace until you are also asking for justice. justice has to become a verb in ththis country, not justst a no. amy: we're going to go to break and come b back to this discscun bakari sellers bakari sellers. legislatorrmer state , now author of his memoir called "my vanishing country," rereleased durining the pandemi.

dr. cornel west is with us from harvrvard university and keeanga-yayamahtta taylor of prprinceton university, speaking to us from philadelphia, one of the cities w where people rose p over t the last week. this is dedemocracy y now! wewe will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i am amy goodman. we are c ctinuing with our g ,ests, keeanga-yamahtta taylor dr. cornel west, and bakari sellers. his new book is out "my vanishing country." i'm here with nermeen shaikh as we continue to bring you the voices of the rebellion around the country and it a largest nationwide uprising since the 1960's. protesters shut down cities

across the country following the lice murdeder of george floyoyd, the african-american man in minneapolis. this i is activist, formrmer w's march cochair tamika mallory speaking at a rally in minneapolis. >> we are not responsible for the mental illness that has been inflicted upon our people by the american government institutions and those people who are in positions of power. i don't give a damn if theyy burnrned on target. because target should be on the streets with us calling for the justice that our people deserve. time was autozone at the went philando castile was shot in a car, which is what they actually represent? where were they? so if you're not coming to the people's defense, they don't challenge us when young people and other people who are frustrated and instigated by the people you pay -- you are paying instigators to be among our people out there throwing rocks,

breaking windows, and burning down buildings. and so young people are responding to that. they are enraged. and there is an easy way to stop it. arrest the cops. charge the. charge all the cops. not just some of them, not just here in minneapolis. charge than in every city across america where our people are being murdered. charge them everywhere. that is the bottom line. charge the cops. do your jobs. do what you say this country is supposed to be about, the land of the free for all. it has not been free for black people and we are tired. don't talk to us about looting. you are the looters. america has been looting black people. america looted the native americans when they first came here, so looting is what you do. we learned it from you. we learned violence from you. we learned violence from you.

the violence was what we learned from you. so if you want us to do better, then ,damn it, you do better. amy: that was tamika mallory speaking in minnnneapolis over e weekend. professor r keeanga-yamahtta tolor, if you u could r respond ththis eraraordiry s speech andd also the way in which public officials, including liberal officials like new york city mayor bill de blasio o have responded to t the protests, simultaneously saying they feel the pain of the protesters but condemning the v vionce and looting, as ththey say, thatatae happppened during the demonstratioions, anthen t t fafact that t there ar many who have been calling for defunding the police in response to what has happened here -- one of the things that has been so remarkrkable about the images

everywhere are the kind of military gear that so many of these police officers are wearining. when democratic senar -- one democratic senator from hawaii tweeted in response saying he is introducing an amendment to the national defense authorization act to discontinue the program that transfers military weaponry local police. professor if you could respopon? clubs there so many thihings to say about this. becomes so that apparent witith the cops on thee streetet, one, you understanand- for most america, you get a glglpse of whyhy people are so angry. ok at ththe kind o of wanton reckleless abuse and vioiolencet the police ar instigating a and attacking people whwhare trying

to protetest. i feel like e what we have seen over the weekekend is a national police riot. it is no wonder. ththey feel emboldened b by the whwhite nationanalism of the president of thehe united state. and really come the lawlessness of t t republican party atat lae. it feels like we're bearing the consequences of that. but ii think there's a bigger issue about the cops that is also worth talking about, which is why these police are never arrested, prosecuted, punished, arrestingen beyond and prosecuting people but just punishing them as public servants for their kind of racist, abusive, and violent behavior. and i think regardless of what these elected officials have to say, i think we're actually going to see a lot more of this

-- which is why the conflicts will continue. thee reason why i say y that i s because itit has been a strataty of citities across this country that have committeted themselves to not i investing in e civic and public sector for strtructue -- public schools, public hospitals, public libraries -- all of the things that make a city function. those have been systematically defunded, increasingly privatized. and the way that cities manage the inevitable crises that arise from that when combined with unemployment, when combined with poverty, when combined with evictions and all of the insecurities that we see wracking citities acrososs this country, the police arare usedeo manage that crisis. and that is why in city afterr city come as other public institutions take financial hits come as other public

institutions are defunded, it is the polilice that always get t o maintain their budget. and we look arnd now where because o of e covid crisis, evevery city is talalking about massive budget cuts but not to the police. the police almost never have to incur layoffs. they almost never have to incur budget cuts because they are seen as the public policy of last resort. when we talk about defunding the police, it is that the police should not be absorbing one third of the budget, as they do in cities like philadelphia, chicago, los angeles, new york, while we are closing public schools, while publilic hospitas don't have the proper personal protective equipment. police,the way that they gear and the equipment they have compared to hospipital workers dressing themselves in garbage bags, being forced to weekse same n95 mask for

at a time. look at the contrast between that and then you understand what the actual priority of the governing politicians and bodies are, which is w why -- this is e lalast thing i'll say -- the andrewsy of someone like cuomo or bill de blasio or any of these politicians comining on television, , on the press conference, wringing their hands about the police, talking about these issues as it their passive bystanders or just concerned citizens and not elected officicials who have power, who have a authority, who have the abilitity to punish the popolic, who have the ability to make budgetary priorities, who have the ability to shift resources in one direction or another. but they sit back and act as if they are just watching the train wreck in slow m motion and not that there actually in control of the gears.

and this is part of the hypocrisy that is making people so angry is that we have elected officials getting on television talking about how terrible this is. andrew cuomo saying "say her name." andrew cuomo, do your job. i think this is part of what is forcing people to feel they have no other choice, no other response than to rebel because the levers and mechanisms of government that are supposed to attetend to these e issues hav shown themselves to be compleletely broken.n. profefessor cornel wewest, if y c couldommement on what professor keeanga-yamahtta tayloror said and also the fact that somee observers are sayingg that all of thesese emergenciess occucurring simultaneously kind economic emergency wititover 40 millllion americans now unemplod

, the healalth crisis with the pandemic, that these could result in then, the protest across the country, that these could result in some significant structural transformation in the u.s. as occurred fololwing the greaeat depression and the protests of 1968. do you agree with that? if so, what kind of transformation do you think is essential? say ditto tont to what sister taylor said. i want to say in my salute to brother bakari sellers, part of a family of political royalty a brother cleveland and so many others. but i think we also have to be decadentid about the leadership class. one sister taylor talks about cuomo and the others,

absolutely. but you see, we have had a black leadership that has so sanitized and yet arise the black freedom struggle -- deodorize the black freeeedom struggle that unit wih neoliberal politicians who have accommodated themselves to the wall street greed. that is why they bail out wall street rather than everyday people. them accommodated themselves to the killing machine of the pentagon and the state department post that is why they can vote for budgets with three cents of every goes to the military and there's no money left for investment in education, health care, jobs with the living wage. we have not had enough organized voices to bring critique to o br on that kind of decrepit neoliberal black leadership. and obama is at the center of it. the black caucus is at the center of it. like professionals are the center of it. and these cowardly black celebrities. not all of them, but most of them are at the center of it.

so their lives become simply lives of luxury and exemplary success and have little to do with service to poor people. have little to do with sacrificing for working people. so martin king can say, my country the biggest purveyor of viviolence in the world. that takes care of it. in 1968. it takes care of it today. that is what we need. now, be the same i, fannie lou, ella baker. they exemplify something that is deep and rich in the history of the he to people who taught the world so much about love. that is my tradition, the greatness of black people, not the cowardliness like people. we have both in our community but the tradition of telling the truth and being willing to live and die for justice, that is what is necessary in this moment of reckoning. young folk don't hardly see it at all. hardly see it at all because so many of the professionals have simply been bought off. they sold out.

they are indifferent. they're too callous to the plight of their poor and working-class, not just black, everybody. not just here, but around the world. , i went to sellers ask you about the accccusation that when they look at a state, who are the outside agitators who are in. you certainly know from your families illustrious history that when people came from the north to support -- the push for voting in the south during the civil rights movement, that you go from one state to another, for groups of people all over the country, for example, to go to ferguson after michael brown was murdered by a police officer, that that meant solidarity. took away mean -- it their valalidity when people wat to gather to show support. if you could respond to that, this accusation of outside

agitators? attorney, why aren't these police officers -- why haven't they been arrested? george floyd's brother said these cops arrest people every single day. why are these police officers not charged right now? they can even changnge the chars later. >> you brougught up a good poin. nothing makes me cringe more than hearing the term "outside agitator." is a copout. elected officials -- we'rere seeing that usused to state mymn constituents don't have any reason to have this level of discourse. they deemed my father to be in a outside agitator. they said andrew goodman and james cheney were outside agitators. that terminology frightens me to my core. but it is also a copout. i want to piggyback on what my other two friends on this program stated that right now is

not the time to just tell people to go home. now is not the time to hide behind sheets of peace. now stop the time to tell people to go home and wait until november when you can cast your ballot. that is not the way this is working. we have to have tangible solutions, which leads me into the next point. i've heard a lot of elected officials, including dr. west's point, like elected officials stand up and say, "leave the streets, go home, register and vote." 1960 5, 1968, martin orlling malcolm that they had to just go home and come back when it was time to vote. that is not the way this works. you asked a very good question about what needs to happen and why law enforcement has not been charged. let me give you some tangible things that we can do that need to be done. the first thing cut to my sister keeanga-yamahtta taylor, who i'm

glad i did not have to go after her because i don't have anything to say after she speaks i would often say the first thing we need to do is arrest all the officers. all the officers need to be arrested, not just in george floyd's case but they also need to be arrested in breonna taylylor's case most of the secd thing we need to do is lower the federal civil rights statandardo that we can bring criminal charges agaiainst cops who murdr our people. ththe first t thing we need to s limit qualify and unity so we can bring ththe 1983 actions againstt cops who are bad in departrtments to allow them to e bad. and ththe fourth thing we need o do is we need to have a national database for law enforcement officers who commit babad acts. right now you canan murdeder somebody, get off, go to o sit s down, and get rerehired. ththat is notot the way thihis d bebe. and those are tangible solutions that i don't want to wait until november 4. i want people to put pressure on the local officials and government right nowowo do those

things and every mayor -- amy: we have to leave it there. we are certain he going to continue this discussion bakari sellers bakari sellers. , author of the new book "my vanishing country." dr. cornel west of the practice of public philosophy a a

from our studio in tokyo this is nhk "newsline." we begin in the united states where donald trump has declared himself the president of law and order. vowing to end the violent protests across it country by calling in the u.s. military if governors don't, quote, establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence. the riots began after an unarmed black man died in police custody

in minneapolis a week