06/16/20 06/16/20 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york city of the , one epicenters of the pandemic in thehe united ststates, this s demomocracy now! >> today thehe united states supreme court stood on t the rit side of f history, declaring t t sexual orientation and innnner identity is from nation are both prohibited under federal law. amy: in a historic 6-3 vote, the supreme court rules that employers who fire workers for being gay or transgender are breaking the country's civil

rights laws. the decision comes just days after the trump administration eliminated health protections for transgender people under the affordable care act. we will get the latest and look at the growing movement declaring black trans lives matter. over the past week, two more black trans wowomen were killed. understandde have to there can't be a succecessful black lives matter move without understanding that black trans lives matter as well. amy: and as more monuments celebrating the nation's raracit history are toppled or removed, we will speak to bree newsome. five years ago she was arresd at the stete capol i in uth caroli after sling a 3foot flagpo a and rovining e nfederatflag. i come agait you in the

name of god. this flag comes down today. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome e to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quaranante report. i'm amy goododman. in a majoror victoryry for the q community and d civil rights, te supreme court ruled monday that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, bisexual, and transgendeder people fromm discrimination in the workplace. the historic 6-3 ruling comes after decades of legal battles and campaigning. the ruling was penned by one of the court's most conservative justices, trump appointee neil gorsuch. chief justice john roberts joined the majority opinion in stating that titleleii of the 1964 civil rights act forbids workplace discrimination on n te basis of sex, applies to gay and transgender people. at least half of the 50 states previously alloweded employers o

fire workers for being lgbtq. we'll have e more on this story after headlines. in atlanta, mayor keishaha lance bottoms has orordered the police dedepartment to alter its use-of-force policy following the police killing of rayshard brooks, an unarmed african-american man who was shot dead in the p parking lot f a wendy's. police first approached brooks because he had fallen asleep in -- at the drive-thru. bottoms described his killing as a "murdeder." on mondaday, ray brookoks' famiy spoke to the media. this is his cousinin jymaco. asked how all thiss young black man was look at your children when you see them last. that innocence, that joy, that pureness of soul. and you have a glimpse of what we lost. you have a glimpse of what it

feels like. amy: meanwhile, the atlanta police department has revealed the officer who shot brooks, garrett rolfe, had been the subject of several citizen complaints dating back to 2015 but no action was ever taken against him. he was fired after friday's shooting. newly released spinner records or the other officer at the scene, devin brosnan, as discharged his firearm friday. boston has been plplaced on adadministrative leaveve. in news about ththe police killg of george floyd, newly released audio shows a 911 dispatcher in miminneapolis raisised concernsh her supervisor about how floyd was treated after seeing surveillance video from a camera near the s scene. >> i don't know if they used force were not. they got something out of the back of the squad and all of them sat on this man. i don't know if they needed to or not, but they have not said anything to me yet. amy: in anotother newly released

recording from that day, an eyewitness called 911 to say officers had "pretty much just kikilled thihis guy that wasn't resisting arrest." at least seven minneapolis police officers have resigned in the aftermath of george floyd's killing. police officers have also put in other parts of the quantity does country, including in atlalanta where ray brooooks was killed. as anti-racism and police brutality protests continue around the country, , police in albuquerquque, new mexico, havee detatained several members of an armed riright-wingng militia afa protester was shot on monday. the protester has been hospitalized in critical condition. the shooting occurred as protesters tried to topple a statue of juan de oñate, a spanish colonizer who massacred native americans years ago. 400 earlier in the day, another statue of juan de oñate was removed in the town of alcalde in new mexexo. in tallalahassee, florida, polie confirmed d monday they found te

dead body of 19-year-old b black lives matter activist oluwatoyin "toyin" salau, who had been missing for just over a week. nearby, the body of 75-year-old victoria sims, a white woman and aarp volunteer, was also found. salau was last seen on june 6. she tweeted d that same day thaa man had sexually assssaulted he. a man, aaron glee, jr., has been arrested in connection with the two killings. toyin's friends and supporters are calling for justice for the activist who was a regular presence at black lives matter protests. here she is speaking following the police killing of tony mcdade, a black transgender man, in tallahassee last month. mcdade was a black trans man, ok? for him.ing this we're doing this for our brothers and sisters who got shot, but we're doing this for every black person because at the end of the day, i cannot p] skin color.

i'm profiled whether i like it or not. amy: we will have more on the murder of trans-people l later n the broadcast. meanwhilile, in akron, ohio, protesteters gathered monday at the site where an 18-year-old black teenager na'kia crawford was shot and killed sunday while driving with her grandmother. she had graduated from high school less than two weeks before she was killed. witnesses say a white man shot crawford from a car that police are now trying to locate. na'kia crawford's family bebelieves the incident was racially motivated. in california, the fbi, the department of justice's civil rights division, and the u.s.. attorney's office for the central district of california are reviewing investigations into the recent deaths of two black men who were both found hanging from trees, 10 days apart. and about 60 miles apart. 24-year-old robert fuller was found in palmdale last week. his death was originally

described as a suicide by local authorities, but his family says they don't believe this was the cause and many are calling his death a lynching. 38-year-old malcolm harsch was found hanging from a tree in nearby victorville 10 days before. no official cause of death has been releasesed. the united nations human rights council has announced it will hold a debate on racism and police brurutality in the united states on wednesday. this comes in response to proposal by a group of african countries led by burkina faso. the nations recently expressed alarm over "recent incidents of police brutality against peaceful demonstrators defending the rights of africans and of people of african descent." in other international news, the u.s. embassy in seoul has removed a large black k lives matter banner and d pride flag from the building's facade. the u.s. ambassador had approved both but on monday, the state department ordered them removed.

the new w york police dedepartmt has announced it is dismantling its plain clothes anti-crime unit. the 600 officers in the unit will be reassigned. in 2018, the intercept reported plainclothes anti-crime officers had been involved in 31% of fatal police shootings in new york since 2000. meanwhile, albuquerque, new mexico, has announced plans to create a new civilian department made up of social workers and others to respond to non-emergency 911 calls. and seattle city councncil on monday voted unanimously to ban police use of tear gas and chokeholds. in georgia come the state legislature reopened monday after being shot down since march due to the pandemic with a bipartisan call to pass a crimes bill. georgia is one of four states with no such laws. in other policing news, the supreme court has declined to hear cases involving the legal doctrine known as qualified immunity. critics of the doctrine said it

has shielded many police officers and departments from being sued. in other supreme court news, justices rejected trump's challenge to california's state sanctuary law, in a major victory for immigrant rights advocates. the move leaves in place the ruling by san francisco's ninth circuit court of appeals, which said local officials do not have to help immigration agents enforce federal laws. the supreme court also declined to take up a number of second amendment cases, challenging state gun control laws, including open carry restrictions in maryland and new jersey. in a major blow for environmental and indigenous activists, the supreme court ruled the 600-mile atlantic coast pipeline, built by dominion energy and duke energy, can cross beneath the appalachian trail in virginia's george washington national forest. only justices elena kagan and sonia sotomayor dissented in the 7-2 ruling. friends of the earth said -- "if built, the atlantic coast pipeline would spew toxins, harm

wildlife and disproportionately impact the 30,000+ native peoples living in its path. today scotus ruled to let it proceed, ignoring communities and environment in favor of the fossil fuel industry." as coronavirus cases in the united states top 211,000 with over 116,000 reported deaths, and the number expxpected to be really far higher, the food and drug administration has pulled its emergency-use authorization for anti-malarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, saying "it is no longer reasonable to believe they may be effective in treating covid-19." the drugs have been repeatedly touted by president trump, even as multiple studies were released showing they were not only ineffective for covid-19, but potentially could result in heart attack or even death. when asked about this latest news, trump continued to defend the drugs monday. pres. trtrump: people that w wee

seriously ill, like they were not going to make it, let's give them a little hydroxy and nato make it an essay,, well, mayaybe the presesident was wrongng. all i know is w we have had some tremendodous reports.. amy: presisident trump also blad increased tetesting for ee country's high numumber of cororonavirus cases. "if you don't test, you don't have any cases," he told reporters. vice president mike pence echoed this idea on a call with governors monday, , encouraging them to adopt the sameesessage ththat more testing is leading o rising numbers, rather than community spspread due to o reld rerestrictions.. but the data suggests recent spikes in cases are much greater than what would be reflected simply by a higher number of tests being administered. cases continue to surge in arizona, where over 4400 new cases were reported over the weekend. arizona's outbreak started surging in early june, two weeks after lifting its stay-at-home order. arizona's infection rate per capita is now more than three times higher than new york state.

florida, which is also seeininga spike in cases, reported friday 3400 children have tested positive for coronavirus. 10 of those haveve a serious inflammatory conditionon, which hahas been descrcribed by health officials as similar to kawasaki disease, or toxic shock syndrome. confirmed coronavirus cases have topped 8 million worldwide, with over 430,000 reported deaths. latitin america remains a coronavirus hotstspot. in peru and bolivia, hospitals are on the brink as they grapple with a surge of patients and a lack of resources and equipment. in chile, where armed soldiers are charged with enforcing curfews and other lockdown measures, a new health minister was appointed after his predecessor quit over the government response to the pandemic and amid questions over the accuracy of the official death toll, which now stands at over 3300. meanwhile, in nicaragua, anger is mounting against the government of president daniel

ortega, which has refused to order social distancing and has encouraged large g gatherings. medical professionals say they are being retaliated against for speaking out. this is dr. marianela lopez, who says she was fired after suggesting a voluntary national quarantine to halt the surge in cases. >> we have seenen an absenen of health authority. the e president is absent. it has been more than 30 days sincnce the first t case appear. wewe have seen t the measures sn c central amerirican couountri. thee precedent -- the mininistes of h health, what t we've had ia lack of infnformation and little credibility. amy: officially, there have been over 140400 cases and 55 deaths reporteded in nicaragua but a recent independent study suggests t the true death totoll could be 20 times s higher. the e federal governmentnt has scheduled the executioion of for prisoners this summer, including three next month. they will be the first federal executions in neararly two decas

after the trump administration reinstated federal capital punishment last year. reuters s is reporting the trump adadministratition is paving thy fofor u.s. defefense contractoro sell a armed droneneto govererns that have beenen barred frfrom h purchases by reinterpreting a cold war-era arms treaty. the departments of commerce, energy, justice, and homeland security approved the new interpretation to the 33-year-old treaty last month. the e first drone saleles are expected to be approroved this summerer. sasaudi arabia and the u unitedb emirates are expecteted to be among ththe first countries toto purchase t the weapons. in rusussia, former u.s.s. marie paul whelalan was sentenced d my to 16 yearars of hard labor aftr being convicted of espionage.. whelan was arrested in moscow last year after reportedly being given a flash drive containing classified information while visiting russia for a wedding. whelan has denied all charges and says he was framed. some have speculated his arrest was retaliation for the arrest of russian gun rights activist

maria butina, who in 2018 pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as a russian agent without registering with the justice department. a south korean news agency is reporting nonorth korea pepearso have blown up an inter-korean liaison office. north korea had threatened to destroy the office, among other threats to south korea, in recent days. north korea's warned today it is ready to enter the demilitarized zone between the two koreas, reportededly partly in responsno defectors in south korea sending propaganda material to the north. a group of investigative reporters found that nearly half of all nigigerian asasylum seeks who arrived in the netherlands last year effectively disappearered. they say most of the nearly 1000 unaccounted for refugees were likely forced into sex or drug trafficking. the reporters say the pattern is widely seen across other european natioions and also affects refugees from other african countries. the international organization for migration says that up to

80% of nigerian women who migrate to europe are potential victims of trafficking. anand the european human r righs court has s ruled in favor of a group of a activists w who were convicteted by french courts for their support ofof the "boycott, divestment, sanctions" movement. the activists campaigned at french supermarkets in 2009 and 2010, raising awareness of the oppression of palestinians and calling for a boycott of israeli products. the european human rights court ruled the conviction violated the free speech of the activists and ordered france to pay them damageges. and those e are some of the headlines. this is democracacy now!, democracacynow.org, the ququarae report.. when we come back, we look at a major victory for lgbtq community and civil rights. the supreme court ruled monday a landmark civil rights laww protect gay,exual, traransgender pepeople from disiscriminatation the work lace. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the e quarante report. i am amy goodman in new york joined by my cohost jujuan gonzalez from his home in new brunswick, new jersey. juan: welcomome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around ththe world. we are going to begin with the supreme court ruling monday, the landmark ruling that a civil rights law protects gay, bisexual, and transgender people from discrimination in the workplace. the historic 6-3 ruling marked a massive victory for the lgbtq community as well as everyone, as was penned by one of the court's most conservative justices, trump appointee neil gorsuch. conservative chief justice john roberts joined the majority opinion in stating that title vii of the 1964 civil rights act, which forbids workplace discrimination on the basis of

sex, applies to gay and transgender people. at least half of the 50 states previously allowed employers to fire workers for being lgbtq. one of the key cases the court considered was that of aimee stephens, a transgender woman who was fired from her job at a michigan funeral home in 2013. stephens did not live to see her victctory in the s supreme cour. she died on last month at ththe age of 59. the supreme court also reviewed the case of donald zarda, a skydiving instructor who said he was fired for being gay. he died in an accident in 2014. this is zarda's lawyer gregory antollino. >> it will be a catalyst fofor changingng history. it is a new decisision. it is s going to take the state that don't intact lgbt righ

time t to adjust to, but it is certainly aa catalyst, ann soundsc one, and that biggerer than i can imagine at this tim amy: theictory comes amid a nationwide uprising agnst poli brutality and ai-black racism that has often shone the light on violence against black trans women.n. in brooklyn on sunday, at least 15,000 people marched through the streets in defense of black trans lives after two more black trans women were killed last week. it also comes just days after the trump administration reversed health protections for transgenender people under the affordable care act. well, for more, we go to boston, massachusetts, to speak with chchase strangio, deputy directr for transgendeder justice with e aclu's lgbt & hiv project. he was one o of the attorneys fr aimee stephens i in the landmark supreme court civil rights case to protect lgbtq workers.

chase, welcome back to democracy now! can you talk about the significance of the victory and the fact that the person who wrote the majority opinion was the trump of county -- - appotee neil gorsuch? >> thanknk you for havaving me k and neck living able t to talk about sosomething as a for once. a historic rulings and absolutely -- the court was unequiuivocal that federeral prohohibions on n sex discrimination incnclude prohibition on discrimination against lgbtq people.e. ththis means you cannot be fired across the country for being lgbtq or otherwise face employment iss termination. i think what is alalso imporortt isis that courts use tititle vii cases to inteterpret l ofof t other fedederal civil rights las that prohibit sex discriminatition. this will have a a transformatie effect on federal civil rights laws in the context of housing,

education, and health care. this truly is an historic win. in termsms of e breakdowown come absolutely we b briefed thiss ce for r neil gorsuch. he w was o s swing vote. premised on the idea you look to the worords of the statute, noto the intentions of congress at the time a statute was enacted. we hopope that he would stick to his pririncipleles insteaead of reverse engineer an outcome based on politics, and he did that. ththe chief f joined. i am shocked butt t was ee right and d righteous decision. we were right on the law, and so were they. thehein terms of implications off this decicisio, just last week, the trump administration reversed h health protections for transgender peopople under the affordable ce acact. they announced this ironically in the fourth anniversary of the pulse massacre that claiaimed 49

, i gayn orlando, florida nightclub. your sense of how -- with this decision have any impact on t ts latestst movove of the trump administration? > absolutely y it will have a huge impact. onone of the things to pointt ot is t the trump administrtration isissued a comprprehensive anti-trans regulation at 4:00 p.m. eastern on friday knowing the supreme courwawas going g to issue an opinion 10:00 a.m. . on monday mornining and could likey undo the r regulations that wewe putting forth. it was an act of just absolute cruelty toward lgbtq people and people who need access to abortion, i might add, as well. ultimately, a federal agency cannot contradict the statute that it is implementing. the aca had the prohibition on sex discrimination, and that is the source of the protection. the trump administration is not the final word. the supreme court is. they just made absolutely clear prohibitions on sex

discriminations include lgbtq people. i think that role is dead on arrival. obviously, people are going to continue to face discrimination. we know even when legal protections are in protect -- we are facing relentless discrimination so we have to keep fighting. the law is not the only source of protection absolutely but this will have a cascading effect. all of the ministry of actions of this administration has taken since day one in 2017 fromom resending g title ix student guidance, those actions are completely u undermined by yesterday supreme court ruling. amy: i want to bring j jua imara jones into the conversation. if you c could comment on the friday's trumpof order that would take away protections for transgender

patients under the affordable care act and then what happened yesterday? >> thank you. it is going to o be back on as well. this regulations that allow for equal access to tradespeople are pivotal in two o primary ways. the e first is that f for trends people eitheher need or choose o have medical intervenentions, either p performance or r surge, we know this medicical interventions are lifesavaving. ththey havave a dramatic impactt only on people's ability to stay alivive, but also to have a well-being that allows them to be full citizens. it is pivotal in that way. the second way is that we know many trans people are afraid to go into health care facilities. by people's driven past experience with discrimination.

i have even had that happen before. in the law,y that even with the existing regulation as chase poiointed o, people still face discrimination. but to codify that and to expand that meansns again, with regards to regular health care are lifesavingng health care that is not related to transition that tradespeople would either not be able to access it bececause of e decision of those health-care providers or not go in because of that fear that is based on past discrimination, and all of that is happening against the backdrop of covid-19. so it was particularly cruel in so many ways.. juan: i want t to ask k chase iu can talk about you were one of the attorneys for aimee stephphs to one of the lead plaintiffs in this case, this historic case. could you tells a little bit about her story andnd also o the unfortunatee fact she passed

befofore the final court rulini? >> yes. that parart of thehe story i is absosolutely heartrtbreaking. trans peoeople,ny like me, struggled internally for many yearsrs and ultimately somewhat later in life came out as trans gender her family. and really had hope heher emplployer would a aept her. she wrote this incredibly beautiful letter to her colleagues andnd her boss at the michigigan funeral home where se had worked for many years and was a modedeemployee.. she wrote this letter and was immediately fired just because she's transgender. that was in 2013. she spent the e last seven years of her life fighting for justice, even when many people told her she hadado claim. alternately, it was the united states equal employment commission that brought the case against her employer when the obama administration was enforcing federal civil rights laws to protect trans and lgb individualals. behalffvened on aimee's

to make sure someone was defending her rights, knowing the u.s. was likely going too shipip positions, , which they ultimately did at the united states supreme court. it was the employer's and the united states against the workers. victotoryn incredible for woworkers in general. this was incredible victory for expensive interpretations of civil rightsts laws. meend the realitity is that ai lost her jobob, her healthh insurance because we livive in a country that ties access to health i insurance to emplploym, whwhich is tragic in and of itseself. her health beganan to decline because of that. she spent the last seven y years of her life not onlyly fighting for the e basic did nettie of te refoformation it w would happeno heher was wrong, but while she s precariouslyly -- she did not he financiaial security that led directlyly to her premature deah justst weeksefore the susupreme court ruled in herer favor in ts cacase. i think that is reminder ththat discrimination leads to death.

that is especially true for black k people who facace higher rates of discrimination in employment, and housing, shelter access, high rates of deadly violence from the police. we have to connectct the fact tt two o of the three individual workers haveve died before the outcome of this c case, andnd tt is directly tied to discrimination. we have e a responsibility to nt only ensure the enforcement of this action, but go much farther to ensure jujustice for our full community. your let's go back to aimee stephens in her own words. have basically been living two lives was the one at home and one and a public and when it work. and i'm the beginning it was not so bad. on and time progressed, i got the point that

peopletwo lives, the two was becoming downright impossible. and i knew that i could not keep going that way. in things came to a head november 2012. when i stood in the backyard with a gun to my chest, pondering the question, if i can't go forward and i can't go backwards, where does that leave me? and if this is all i have to look forward to, then what is the point in continuing? and in that hour, going over chose life.ind, i that i liked me

too much to get disappeareded. amy:y: that was aimee stephens spspeaking at an aclu news conference for she died last year in september. i wanted to turn now to the massive march in brooklyn that took plalace sunday. it brought out at least 15,000 people to the streets to protest violence against black transgender people. particularly women who face disproportionate levels of violence at the hands of police and on the streets. demonstrators were white and flooded the front of the brooklyn museum and surrounding blocks. journalist and activist raquel willis addressed the crowd. >> i believe in my power. i belilieve in your power. power.ve in our

i believe i in black trans power. amy: the protest came as two more black trans women were killed last week. in ohio, 25-year-old riah milton was shot and killed last tuesday during a robbery in liberty township according to local authorities. two people have been arrested and charged with her murder. milton worked as a home health care aide and attended the university of cincinnati. one day earlier, dominique "rem'mie" fells was found kilild in philadelphia. an investigation is under way. friends remember her as a social butterfly. fells was a dancer and artist who hoped to become a fashion designer. the killings are believed to be at least the 13th and 14th violent deaths of transgender people this year. the american medical association has declared the killings of trans women of color an epidemic. for more, we are going to imara jones. who was there on the stage, at the of "translash"

brooklyn protest. can you talk about the significance of what is taking place right now? also come the murder of tony mcdade in tallahassee? it is the mash-up of so many different t voices right now tht are grgrinding t together and i think creating this moment of intensity that is leading to this ongoing crisis and deaths alsock trans women and leading more thann -- 15,0,000 people out on n the streets. these eventnts are togetether. it was significacant because i personally cannot -- could not remember a gathering foror black trans lives that large. i would be shocked if it was not the largest ever. it may be the largest gathering for trans rights overall in american history.

so that is significant. these two forces at work right now where we have tremendous visibility, tremendous realization of the presence of trans people, the need for trans rights,s, our contributions both now and throroughout h history, and at e same timime a tremendous backlah that is vevery real, that is coordinated,is that is on the march. in these two things are colliding. that is the significance of this moment. we have to hold the reality of both o of these thinings occurrg at the same time. juan: i wonderr if you could tak as well about the story of layleen pololanco, the afro latn transgender woman who was found dead in a jajail celll at rikeks island last jujune? she was held in n solitary

confininement. a new video shows guards try to wake her f for approximatelyly 0 minutetes before they c called r memedical assistanance. things ththat so many are e tragic about the death o f layleen polanco, , besides s the fafact she was a beautiful human beingg. the tragedy in her case is the fact she was in jail waiting for $500 bail. the fact is that heher death cod if rikers,revented the worst of the worst prisons, the largest jail in the world, had followed its own rules about monitoring people e who had epilepsy. if they had followed their own rules about con for medical attetention as you mentioned, ad also this ties to the fact she was viewed as less than n human being. one thing that t is clear on the tape is that when n guards fouod

heher and were e taking her body out, they were laughg, making lighof the fact she had died, makingight of r appeance. at dumananizion is at ee co of f so much ofurur mistatment, d thatat ione of e things we ve to bequally focused overturng. i thinththat ihy the cp you played forimimee stephs is so powerful in that, tt at the end of the day, regardless of how different we may appear to other people or the way they may or may not undererstand who we are, that at the end of the day, our humidity is equal to theirs. therefore, we deserve to be -- have the same access and the veiled the same rights as everybody elsese amy: want to turn to the renowned scholar a and activist angela davis speakining on a pal about abolition hososted by drem dedefenders sundnday. >> if we want to develop an

intersectional pererspectitive,e trans community showiwing us the way. -- weecan't only point need to point to cases such as the murder of 20 mcdade, for example. but we have to go beyond that support thee we trans community precisely because this community has taught us hohow to challenge tht which is totally accepted as normal. i don't thinkk we would be where wewe are today, encncouraging er larger n numbers of peoplele to an olitionist frame had not the trans community taught us that it possible to effectively challenge that which is considered the very foundation

of our sense of normalcy. t to it is possible challenge the gender binary, en we concerert effectively andst prisons andnd jails police. amy: that is angela davis. if you would like to see ourur hour with her last friday, go to democracynow.org as shehe talked about defunding police and abolition, tulsa, and so much more. you can talkif about the centering a black trans lives in the black lives matter movement in this uprising that is going on, not only around the united statates, but around the world right now? >> i i would say it is not yet centered. i think that it is beginnnning o be centered. anand i think that what i is rey powerful about what has happened on sataturday is that it was the culmination n of a lot off knowledge in our communityty, te fact that t even though black kd

brown trans s women started t te fight for lgbtq liberation at stonewall that we w were fished out ofof it. we have nonot benefited from the movement that we helped to start. we are s saying that is not goig to happen. that we understand from history dr. davis was alluding to, when we try to prioritize s some rights over others, whom we try to prioritize certain people over others, historicallyly we know that all the rights that arere gained that way are f fragile. they don't t last very long. the bottom line is we all g go r nobody goes. what w we're saying is that we e going. it is really important against the context of black lives matter itstself, because black lives s matter was started outuf e -- some o of the foununders ae lgbtq women. is we have toing

these movements retururn to t their roots and that t we l go or nobody goes. that was s such a powerfulul thg that i saw when i was c covering it for translash and that struck me in that momenent, we are not going to be left out. amy: imarara jones, take you for being with us, journalist and founder of "translash" and chase deputy director f for transgender justice with the aclu's lgbt & hiv project. when we come back, as more monunuments celebrate the natios racist s street are toppled or removed, we will speak with bree newsome, the womoman who fivive years a ago shimmied up a flagpe on the state capitol grounds i n south carolina and removed the confederate flag. stay with us.. ♪ [music break]

amy: "#staystrong: a lovove song to f freedom fighters" by our rt guesest, bree e newsome. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine repoport. i am amy goodman with juan gogonzalez as we turn to look at how monuments to racists, colonizersrs, and confederates continue to fall across the united states and around the world. [cheers] that was st. paul, minnesota, last when activists with the wednesday american indian movement tied a rope around a statue of 15th century colonizer christopher columbus and pulled it from its pedestal on the state capitol grounds. the aim members then held a ceremony over the fallen monument. this comes as workers in frankfort, kentucky, removed a statue of confederate president

jefferson davis from the state capitol building. house e speaker r nancy pelosi s joined otherer lawmakers demandi the removal of 11 confedederee statues from the natioional statuary h hall in the capitol.. president trump said he will not even consider renaming u.s. army bases named after confederate military officers. there are 10 such bases, all of them in southern states. trump tweeted -- "these monumental and very powerful bases have become part of a great american heritage, and a history of winning, victory, and freedom." trump's tweet contradicted defense secretary mark esper and joint chiefs of staff chairman mark milley who suggested they were open to a discussion about renaming the bases. meanwhile, nascar has banned displays of confederate flags from its events, where the white supremacacist symbol hasas longn a fixture. all of this comes as police in albuquerque, new mexico, have detained several members of an armed right-wing militia after a protester was shot on monday. the protester has been

hospitalized in critical condition. the shooting occurred as protesters tried to topple a statue of juan de oñate, a a spanish conqueror who massacred native americans four hundred years ago. earlier in the day, another of his statuees was removed in the town of alcalde in new mexico. well, for more, we are joined by someone who o has inspired manyf those who arare taking action no was fivyears ago i2015, the ssacre onine rican-amican chuhgoers by dylann roof --hoho embced d th conferate e ag -- renewed protests to reveve thelag g fr ththstate capitol grndnds. south carolina stateawawmake had agreed toebate removing the flag, but rly on a saturday morni, after a huge memorial service for the rican-americans o o were murded, an african-ameranan man n nad breeeeewsome, equipped with a helmetndnd climbing gea s scalethee footlight bowl -- scaled the

-f-foot agpole a unhnhood the nfnfedere flflag she idid -- "y"youome agagnst me with hatred anopoppression a andiolencnce. i come against you in ththe name of god. this flalag comes dodown today! take a lisisten. >> you comome against t me with oppressiond and violence. i come against youn the name of god. this fly comes down toda amy: when bree newso r reach the grou, , she s ararreed, fi years a. weo now toaleigh, rth rolina, ere we're joid by ee n newme bs, a artt and anti-rist actist.. it is grt to havyou backn decracy no we were in your jail when you were arraigned with your fellow activist that day when you pulled down that flag, the day after president obama was there in charleston singing " "amazing grace" and thousands gathered to honor those killed at mother manual church. can you talk about your action

then? you were arresested in t the flg was put back up. but now what has happened today? >> a absolutely.y. thank you so much for having me back was not i so apprececiate everything t that yowiwill do wh ththis show. think for a lot of people at that t time in 2015, t only was it obviously offensive and shocking and horrific to witness the events that happen in charleston, but it was also offensive to see so much atattention and fococus be giveo the confederate flag that had been there on display at the capitol grounds in south carolina since the 1960's. it was like one of these symbobs ofof the c confederacy that was placeded during the civil l rigs movement to really send a message e the timee that the state, the powers that be inin south h carolina, were opposedeo the civil rights movement. a the your 2000,, they rerehed compromise where they move the flight from the dome o of the

capitol toto the l line, where t was at the time i took it down. at that point, they rode into law the fly could not be lord pretty reason unless there wawaa twtwo thirds approroval. in the statahouse, makaking it very -- virtuaually impossible.. when we got to that situation in 2015 and we e had this horrific raciallyotivated killing in charlestonwewe hadhis very momome of the pastor of emanuel he was also a state senator, they lowered the u unid states flag, lord thee statate g of south cararolina,ut not the confederate flag. and just the fact there was a refusal to even show the slightt t bit regard for the blk k livethatat we lost erere at emanuelame just illuminated everythihing we have been saying up to that point about devaluing a prererty over black life, e fact there is so ltle rega gin to this history of vience a a given to the realities of racism that we are

expeririencingoday. so it wainin tha that i committed this act of civil sosobedice, , th basicallyly define thwhwhite wer r stcture e d the powers that behahat sated atatus q of racism is acceptable, to the point we would stst lea thihis symbol of terrism on display even inhe aftermath ofhahat hadappepene y youaveould imaged f fivyears ago the vement that isowow sweing, nousust thunited stas, b the rld, in tes of challenginthexisting mythical figiges -- of cours you mention you wer ipired by the r roa must fall campan athe univeitity of cape to, t alsosoow we are sayg througut the iusustriazed world, whethert isis t cecilthe kingst in belgiumthe symbs of the u.s. rts

named after the g gerals, yr reonse to what yo're sing in this va movement that has now developein the last few weeks? >> i just ink it i incrible. i certainly pudo be a part of . i nsider melff steing inin a moventnt tt t exisd long fore i g herere. i would not be here, i would not have done what i did in 202015 f i did not believe -- if i did not believe in the power of the people to work together and transform the world. so the things i am saying now, that is what i fight for. i think that is s what everyone who participates and takes action and a social justice movement, ththat is what we are fighting f for and that is whahe believe.e. i think it reflects araround the world. i think people want transformational change. i think people are tired of centuries s of colonialism a and whitite supremacisist ideology.

as i mentioned before, i think the taking down of m my name and ymbolology, that propertyy is more importanant in our livi. that was the ideology that informrmed colonialism, thatat s ok to exexploit people andnd las for profit because profit and property is worth more than life and naturaral resources. this groundswell we're seeing now around the world is lee about rejecting that and a aut calling g for a greater sense of humanity, a greater r sense of human citizenship, a a call forr dignity and rejection of that kind of ideology of the past. amy: i want to ask you following up on what juan asked about the renaming of the 10 armies deletions named after commanders in the confederate army did the civil war to preserve slavery, "the washington post" rights -- "fort benning in georgia, the

home of army infantry and airborne training, is named after brig. gen. henry benning, who led troops at antietam and gettysburg. in remarks in 1861 laying out slavery as the reason for secession, benning warned that abolition would lead to "black governors, black legislatures, black juries, black everything. is it to be supposed that the white race will stand for that?" in "the atlantic," retired general and former cia director david petrtraeus called bebennig "such an enthusiast t for slavey that as early as 1849 he argued for the dissolution of the union and the formation of a southern slslavocracy." meanwhile, fort hood in texas is named after the confederate general john bell hood. he wrote a letter wrote to union general william sherman in 1864, that described his conviction that "negroes" were an inferior race. he wrote -- "you came into our country with your army, avowedly for the purpose of subjugating free white men, women, and children, and not only intend to rule over them, but you make negroes your allies, and desire to place over us an inferior race, which we

have raised from barbarism to its present position, which is the highest ever attained by that race, in any country in all time." again, that is general hood. and it goes on from there. these are thee men that presidet hisp is now defending over chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and defense secretary saying we should have discussion about this and one general after another sing these names should be removed from these e bases. if you could respond to what they represent? of course, president trump started his business career wiwh his father being sued by the u.s. government f f not allowowg africaamerericans ininto his housusing developments in queen. >> yes. so i think, one, it is important to recognize and name the ideology of white supremacy, which is exactly whahat that que

you r read articuculate, that te "whiteace" isis the superioior race and t that all other peopoe haveve been elelevated to civilization, you know, is a byprododuct of coloniaialism and slavery, right? and that i think thehere also needs to o be an acknowledgmentf how mainstream white supremacist ideology is. soso if we're going t to reallye this prorocess of removing symbs , of renaming things, i one is also to be careful that we don't just engage in that service going about it. where we just a plea change the names and don'n't address the ideologies. military bases, for instance, are a major parart of f the unid states imperialism. united states imperialism i is very much informed by white supremacist ideology. so when trump is making this claim he will never change the confederate -- the names of the bases named after confederate's

and people are saying, oh, that is so outrageous, yes, it iss outrageous but we alalso need to examine why was s it named after confnfederate toto begin with? that clearly indicates how mainstream the ideology of the confederacy continued to be and continues to be in the united states of americica that wewe ae stilill having this d debate in 2020. secondly, we need to make sure we are also examining what exactly is white supremacist ideology because confederacy was half of the united states. i think there tends to be this narrative around the south being uniqueuely racist, it is ononlye soututh that benefited and profited f from slavery, it iss on t the southth that contininuo uphold white supremacist ideology. of deskt recent state spate of police killings and uprisings are happenining all or the nanation. many of these -- many of these upuprisings are happening in cities whehere the leadershihips

black now and we even have black polilice chiefs and blacack may. we have to dig deeper a and reay understandining what it means to uproot and root outut white supremacist ideology as we go through this process of rerenamg things and changing g symbols. newsosome, we are headading t toward a presidentil electionon in n november. yoyou suggested this yearar cooe ththe most sigignificant electin since e the civil war.r. could yoyou explain why and what are some of your concerns about the election? >> absolutely. i do t think this i is the most coconsequential election since e civil war becaususe i think it s reallyly addressing the sameme issues. we hadad the electioion of thehe nationon's first black presididt fofollowed by the e election ofy overt white supremacist to pretty much ran on a platform of trying to undo the black presidency and ran on a platform of catering to everyone e who ft anxiety around the idea of

changing demographics of america, the idedea that america coululd really be a multiraracil democracy. and that is essentially --- not just a selection, but what thiss momentnt is about. is will evenconcerns be able e to have an election? will it be free and fair and secure? are we certain the trump administration will vacate office, vacate the white house, vacate these offices if we vote them out? because what we see on the opposite side, what we see in terms of what trumpmp represents as a m movement, is vevery mucuh white supremacy, white nationalism, thihis beliefef tht amamerica was m made for white people, , should only be for whe people, and they really see e ts as a do or die momenent. i think it is important for evereryone has too recognize tht that is what is at stake. we have seen armemed white militiamen storming capitals in america a at the same time we se

the trump administrtration sendg people withoutut clear insignia, troops that are armed, not clearly designated out to the streets in d.c. to facace off wh anti-police brutality protesters. we really y need to recognize wt is at take in this moment inn terms s of facing up both authoritarianism, fascism, and white nationalism. america i was wondering, one, if you could comment on the taking out of the statue of frank rizzo, the former police chief in mayor of philadelphia afterer he was defaceded by protesters. juan: : that was a long titime coming. frank rizzo was probably the mostst racist t d most ovevertly fascistt political leader inin e modern history of the north of the united states, a and i lived in philadelphia during his period of time as mayor. he persosonally led charges attatacking black citizens and s

police systematically terrorize the black community. for the rizzo statute comes is a real step forward in rewriting the history of philadelphia. amy: we want to thank bree newsome bass for being with us artist and anti-racist activist. ,i am amy goodman with juan

- [narrator] norman, oklahoma. a city c council meeeeting rereveals a deep divivide. days later, a gay teenager in the town kills himself. the tragedy provokes hahard questions for his consnservative parents and for this bibible-belt community y town. - [man] the bible clearly states choose me or deny me.