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tv   Democracy Now  LINKTV  March 26, 2021 4:00pm-5:00pm PDT

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03/26/21 03/26/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> eligible person. -- elected representative. why are you arresting her? under what statute are you arresting her? amy: georgia state troopers arrest a democratic black lawmaker at the state capitol as georgia republican governor
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crying signs a sweeping voter suppression bill designed to make it harder for african-americans to vote. we will go to atlanta for the latest. then we speak to the actor and activist danny glover about his support for the historic unionization drive at an amazon warehouse in bessemer, alabama. >> a 5% of the workers at amazon are black, unionization elevates the standard of living and creates -- diminishes the wealth gap. amy: plus, we go to evanston, illinois, which has just agreed to pay black residents reparations for historic housing discrimination, making it the first u.s. city to adopt such a measure. >> i'm just grateful and thankful this is happening, that i am alive to see it happening. of course my great grand parents are not here and neither are
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my grandparents, but they're offering this so we get to benefit for the hardship they went through. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. georgia's republican governor brian kemp has signed a sweeping elections bill that civil rights groups are blasting as the worst voter suppression legislation since the jim crow era. the bill grants broad power to state officials to take control of election management from local and county election boards. it also adds new voter id requirements, severely limits mail ballot drop boxes, rejects ballots cast in the wrong precinct, and allows conservative activists to challenge the eligibility of an unlimited number of voters. one provision would even make it
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a felony to hand out food or -- a crime to hand out food or water to voters waiting in line at polling places. the legislation sailed through both chambers of georgia's legislature and was approved thursday along party lines. governor kemp signed it less -- in private surrounded by six white men. the governor announced he had signed the bill, democratic state representative park cannon, who is african american, knocked on governor kemp's door saying the public deserved to witness his statement. she was arrested by several georgia state troopers, dragged through the capitol, and pushed into a patrol car, even as she shouted that she was an elected official. cannon's arrest was witnessed by fellow democratic state representative erica thomas. >> you are arresting representative for nothing? she did not do anything but
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knock on the governor's door. i am done. i am so done. protect and serve who? amy: state representative cannon was booked on two felony charges -- obstructing law enforcement officers by use of threats or violence and disrupting a general assembly session. she was released thursday night to cheering crowds of supporters, including georgia's u.s. senator raphael warnock, who met with cannon inside jail. the new georgia project, the black voters matter fund, and other groups have sued to stop georgia's voter suppression law, arguing it violates the voting rights act and the first and 14th amendments of the u.s. constitution. at the white house, president biden held his first solo press conference since taking office thursday, where he blasted georgia's republican-led voter suppression efforts. -- suppression law. pres. biden: what i am worried
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about is how an america cash and american this is. it is sick. this is gigantic what they're trying to do. it cannot be sustained. everything on my car along with my friends in the house and senate to keep that from becoming the law. amy: also at his thursday news conference, president biden said he "can't picture" u.s. troops in afghanistan by next year. biden responded to a question about the may 1 deadline for withdrawal set under the trump administration. pres. biden: the answer is it is going to be hard to meet the may 1 deadline in terms of technical reasons. we have been meeting with our allies. those other nations that have nato allies who have troops in afghanistan as well. and if we leave, we will do so in a safe and really way. amy: about 3500 u.s. troops and another 6500 nato soldiers remain in afghanistan nearly 20 years after the u.s.-led invasion.
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president biden announced thursday a new goal of 200 million u.s. vaccinations within his first 100 days in office, doubling his previous goal. this comes as the u.s. recorded over 67,000 new coronavirus infections thursday and nearly 1600 new deaths from covid-19. daily u.s. cases are on par with the peak of last summer's surge, and are once again rising despite a mass vaccination mpaign th's fully vaccinated 14% of the u.s. population. more than 30 million people across the u.s. have tested positive for covid-19, though public health officials estimate the true number of infections is likely over 100 million, perhaps as much as a third of all u.s. residents. this comes as a new study finds 7 out of 10 people hospitalized for covid-19 had not completely
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recovered five months after their release. mexico's official covid-19 death toll has topped 200,000 -- coming in third in deaths after brazil and the u.s. many public health experts believe mexico's true death toll is likely closer to 300,000, due to a severe lack of testing and poor reporting on covid-19 cases. india has cut back on exports of covid vaccines amid a massive second wave of cases across south asia. the move is slowing vaccation efforts in prer nation which are already lagging far behind rich countries like the u.k. and the united states. meanwhile, papua, new guinea, which reported zero covid-19 cases for months earlier in the pandemic, has seen a recent surge in cases that is overwhelming the nation's health care syste in northeast syria, nearly 43,000 foreign prisoners linked to isis are being held unlawfully in conditions that
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may amount to torture. this according to human rights watch. over half of them are children. the prisoners, who were detained over two years ago during the fall of the islamic state caliphate have been denied due process, and human rights watch says their home countries are either ignoring their plight or refusing to help itheir repatriation. in israel, the final vote count in tuesday's parliamentary election confirms prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his right-wing allies failed to secure a majority, with no clear path to victory. if netanyahu and his likud party fail to put together a governing coalition, israel could be headed towards its fifth election to determine the country's next leader. meanwhile, the extreme-right religious zionist party alliance, whicincludes only racist and homophobipolitical parties, has won six parliamentary seats. e number oknesset seeds being filled by women dropped to less than a quarter. in egypt, dozens of ships full of oil and shipping containers full of goods are idled in the
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suez canal after a massive container vessel ran aground. the ship, which is nearly a quarter-mile long, has cut off access through one of the world's most important waterways, connecting the mediterranean with the indian ocean. salvage crews are working to move the vessel but warn it could be days or weeks to clear the blockage. president biden said the u.s. would respond to any escalation from north korea after it launched two short-range ballistic missiles off its eastern coast thursday. it was north korea's first such launch since biden took office, and defies a u.n. security council ban. biden also said he is open to diplomacy with north korea, conditioned on denuclearization. back in the united states, senator elizabeth warren clashed with treasury secretary janet yellen at a hearing of the senate banking committee wednesday over why the $9 trillion money manager company blackrock doesn't face more oversight from the treasury department. >> is blackrock currently
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designated to receive that increased oversight? >> it is designated, but i think it is important to understand -- >> it not receiving the oversight from the fed does potentially a $9 trillion investment company pose some risk to the american economy if it should fail? >> one needs to analyze what the risk is, an asset management company -- >> what the risk is if you're not actually doing the investigation? amy: blackrock is the world's largest asset manager. it also has close ties to the biden administration. new york governor andrew cuomo is facing another scandal after news outlets revealed cuomo's family -- including his brother chris, who hosts a show on cnn -- were given special access to covid-19 testing last spring. cuomo is already facing calls to resign for covering up thousands of covid-19 deaths at nursing homes and for his abusive treatment of women. eight women, including some of his staff, have accused him of sexual harassment and misconduct.
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new york lawmakers have reached a deal to legalize recreational marijuana in the state for adults 21 and over. the proposal would invest marijuana tax revenues into black and brown communities who have been disproportionately targeted by the decades-long war on drugs. a portion of marijua busins licenses would be reserved for business owners of color. the measure would allow an individual to cultivate up to six marijuana plants at home and for marijuana to be delivered to people's homes. the bill could pass the democrat-controlled state legislature as early as next week. the new york city council on thursday passed legislation that would make it easier to sue police officers for use of excessive force and other forms of misconduct. the legislation would limit so-called qualified immunity, a decades-old legal protection that has given police officers near-immunity from lawsuits. mayor bill de blasio is expected to sign the legislation, making new york city the largest jurisdiction to limit police officers' use of qualified
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immunity. the bill was among several other measures the council approved thursday, including a $72 million plan to improve police practices and accountability. a warning to our audience, the next story contains descriptions of sexual violence. the university of southern california has agreed to pay over $1 billion in settlements to more than 700 women who accused former student health center gynecologist george tyndall of sexually assaulting them. last february, a federal investigation concluded the university had mishandled dozens of sexual assault reports against tyndall, allowing the abuse to continue for years. survivors have said tyndall raped or forcibly touched them, and made racist and misogynistic comments while he sexually abused them. tyndall was arrested in 2019. his trial is pending. in los angeles, local media report about a dozen people were arrested thursday night asde massive protests continued over
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the violent police eviction of hundreds of unhoused people living in an encampment in the city's echo park. a reporter with "the l.a. times" and o reports with t outletnock l. were ao detain by poli while veringhursday's prott. the expulsion of unhoused people from echo park comes after several residents living in the gentrified neighborhood complained to city officials and police about the encampment. unhoused organizers say there is a major shortage of permanent and affordable housing options in l.a. 14 republican state attorneys general are suing the biden administration over its moratorium on new oil and gas leases on public lands and water. biden's order was part of a string of executive actions addressing the climate crisis. and in northern minnesota, witnesses say police arrested more than two dozen water protectors thursday as they took nonviolent direct action to stop construction of enbridge's line 3 piline. >> you guys are all under arrest
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for unlawful assembly trespassing. are you going to come out on your own free will? >> this is our land. >> yes or no? >> this is our land. amy: if completed, enbridge line 3 would carry more than 750,000 barrels of tar sands oil a day through fragile ecosystems -- endangering lakes, rivers, and wild rice beds. construction crews were idled thursday for more than four hours after the land defenders locked their arms together as indigenous water protectors sang and prayed. this is indigenous activist and lawyer tara houska addressing the biden administration. >> we are askinthis administtion jus likwes the administration's prior to do something difrent and same with t indigenous ople. is noenough to jt cancel on project wle othergo throh. no of us a sacrifid zones. its time f change. amy: and tho are somof the
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adlines. this is mocracy w!, democracow.org, the arantine report. i'm amgoodman. orgia's publicanovernor brian mp has sned a swping elecons billhat civirights groups a blastinas the wst voter suression gislatio since e jim cr era. this comes just months after democrats won two senate seats in georgia and joe biden became the first democratic presidential candidate to win the state in 28 years. the bill grants broad power to state officials to take control of election management from local and county election boards. it also adds new voter id requirements, severely limits mail ballot drop boxes, rejects ballots cast in the wrong precinct. one provision would even make it a crime to hand out food or water to voters waiting in line at polling places. voting rights experts say the bill is specifically designed to make it harder for african-americans to vote.
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governor kemp signed the bill in private surrounded by six white men. this comes amidst a nationwide push by republicans to make it -- restrict the vote after donald trump lost in november. since the election, republican state lawmakers have introduced over 250 bills in 43 states to limit voter access. on thursday, president biden criticized the republican efforts during his first news conference. pres. biden: at iwh'm worried about is how un-american this old initiative is. it is sick. it is sick. deciding in some states that you cannot bring water to people standing in line waiting to vote? deciding you're going to end voting at 5:00 when working people are just getting off work? deciding that there will be no absentee ballots under the most rigid circumstances?
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so i am convinced we will be able to stop this because it is the most pernicious thing -- this makes jim crow look like jimji eagle. this is gigantic what they're trying to do. it cannot be sustained. amy: in georgia, the black voters matter fund and the new georgia project have already sued to overturn the new law saying it violates the voting rights act and the first and 14th amendments of the u.s. constitution. on thursday, georgia democratic state representative park cannon, who is african american, was arrested by state troopers after she knocked on governor kemp's door saying the public deserved to witness his statemen she was dragged through the capitol, and pushed into a patrol car even as she shouted that she was an elected official. newly elected georgia democratic senator raphael warnock condemned cannon's arrest. >> i saw a state representative
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knocking on the door of the governor and she was arrested. meanwhile, we saw a violent insurrectionist attack on the united states capital. police officers died in that case. i want to know what makes her actions so dangerous? it is that big lie that is the fuel for these terrible voter suppression laws that we see coming out of the state of georgia and we have had to push hard against a big lie and make sure we secure the democracy for all of our citizens. amy: we go now to georgia where we are joined by anoa changa. she is freelance journalist based in atlanta covering electoral justice and voting rights. thank you for joining us. this was an amazing night. it wasn't until about 11:00 last
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night that the state representative was released from jail. talk about what happened. >> this is really triggering and reminiscent for a lot of us who are present in 2081 representative -- 2018 one representative was arrested. i really remember what happened. it is similar incident when former state senator was also arrested, now my congress woman in the fifth congressional district and also arrested in the state capital during a protest prior voting rights after the 2018 election and we're sick the same thing now the second black woman state elected official being arrested by capitol police exercising what they feel is their constitutional duty to make sure the public has access to what is happening behind closed doors in this instance. we have representative park cannon who is known to be very vocal supporter of not just
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civil rights, but vy active in terms of grassroots organizing, and there have been several protests around these just lesions including a sit-in a few weeks back with representative cannon and others in the state house. what we are saying happening in the fact she's been charged with felony obstruction -- amy: i want to go for a minute as the governor announces he signed the bill -- he did it in private, by the way. park cannon, african-american, knocks on his door saying the public deserved to witness this statement, arrested by several georgia state troopers, derived through the capitol, pushed into a patrol car even as she shouted she was an elected official. her arrest was witnessed by erika thomas. >> you're going to tell me you are resting a sitting state
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representative for nothing? she did not do anything but knock on the governor's door. i am done. i am so done. i am so done. protect and serve who? amy: it is an astounding moment but the most important things to talk about what they were therefore, to witness this. we see a photograph that came out of -- usually he signs in public these bills but now he signs in private and he is surrounded by six white men, governor kemp. talk about what was signed and why this is the most restrictive voter suppression law in the country right now. >> yeah, again, we saw the same exact reaction happen from the capitol police at the behest of brian kemp in 2018 one now representative congresswoman tequila new williams was also --
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leaves was also dragged out in the same manner and thrown into a paddy wagon with several other protesters. we have seen this. we know the hostilities they have a concert counterparts across the aisle. what was side is egregious. even though some of the more egregious portions were taken out of the bill -- there's that thing they do with trying to make it look like this is a bipartisan that incles both democrats and republicans to make it seem like they are taking the higher road and doing a good thing. however, what we do know is this will increase the burden on folks are trying to vote absentee are requiring an id requirements of making people filing valid applications to provide a copy of their ideas application stage and when casting a ballot. that is an undue burden on people who do not have access to copy machines or scanners, on top of folks who may not have the ability to scan or fax or email application or who have to
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mail it in any way. they try to reduce believe voting. the provision that was trying to remove sunday voting did not past but now the sunday voting is an optional measure in there. we also see why they are trying to make it possible so some of the ballots can be processed before election night, which is something that contributed to what we had during the election. at the same time, shortening the window for requesting absentee ballots. instead of making absentee ballots be postmarked for two postmarked on election day with some reasonable amount as several states do, they have shortened the period so people have a shorterututut about of to be up to request absentee ballot in that they're the absentee ballots would be received earlier -- but that is not the best solution. like you mentioned in your opening, the usurping of power from local and county elected officials, particularly at the web of republican majority,
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sibley does not like the way they are doing their job. we often see the fulton county election board dragged before various hearings or just thrown out as an example of a county board of election that is not doing what they want them to do. we have this requirement now i've in-person surveillance of absentee drug ballot boxes in the times they're about to be open and available. these are things that add an undue burden and cost of the counties. it is not known how much more this will cost the counties or where that money will come from. there are huge implications already. one of the other things you touched on i wrote about ahead of the general election, the line warming probation. the law is mandating no would be allowed to give out water or food or anything else to people who are standing in line waiting within 150 feet of a polling
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location. that distinction is -- that is a very particular distinction because that is the distance away that folks have to be to not be consideredeering a group or candidate. to claim and go after very different groups and run organizers and southwest georgia who were claiming to be electioneering. other folks need to understand come you cannot actually by law already -- you cannot give people anything of value to vote. that is why you cannot get special deals for meals or things like that for their vote alone. what a lot of organizers have traditionally done because of the way the law has been interpreted is to give it to anyone in the vicinity. community members, poll, anyone. so they are really laying this out in the law specifically to target this activity that is
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engaged in almost exclusively by predominately groups of color that are nonpartisan. they are simply seeking to help alleviate some of the burden that is input on people who were either in general community when it is engaged in a civic process or people standing in line because of the long lines, because of so many of the issues that have been created by mismanagement by the state election -- brad raffensperger losing some authority within his role in be removed as the chair of the state election board, which will now be at the discretion and a selection of the state legislature. this is in direct response to a lot of the pushback amongst trump and his supporters around brad raffensperger's handling of the election. the other thing i forgot, the creation of a new voter fraud hotline. there's literally a minuscule threat of voter fraud nationally in any given moment. we did not have any valid voter
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fraud but there continue to put processes in place that reinforce these narratives that we are a part of the big lie but have long existed within the republican toolkit to help get their base fearful of what i come in terms of@@ black voters and other voters -- amy: anoa changa, thank you for being th us, freelance journalist based in atlanta, georgia, covering electoral justice anvoting rights comprehensively. george activists have launched a statewide boycott of coca-cola, which is based in georgia, of the corporation failed to denounce voter suppression. this from "the guardian, that activist replacing pressure on delta, aflac, ups, and southern company all based in georgia to use the political clout to work against voter suppression and finally, the now congressmember
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that you mentioned dykema williams tweeted "we play by their rules and one and now georgia republicans are changing the rules to make it harder to vote. brian kemp just cited stripping voter suppression bill into law here in the south we know ahead. we will see you in court and in congress with." when we,, we will speak to actor and activist danny glover. he is going south today. he is going to bessemer, alabama to show his support once again for the historic unionization drive at the amazon warehouse. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]
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amy: "hey saturday night" by the coup featuring tune-yards. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman. senator bernie sanders is heading to bessemer, alabama, today to show support for amazon workers who are in the final days of voting on whether to join the retail, wholesale, and department store union and become the first unionized amazon warehouse in the united states. it's one of the most closely watched union elections in decades. voting ends on monday, march 29. ballots have been sent to nearly 6000 workers, most of whom are black. amazon, which has 1.3 million employees, has fought unionization efforts for years. meanwhile, the company's founder and ceo jeff bezos has become one of the world's two richest men.
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his personal wealth has increased by $64 billion during the pandemic alone. senator sanders joined other lawmakers who have traveled to bessemer to support the unionization drive. new york congressman jamaal bowman visited last month and called on amazon executives to come out and talk to their critics. >> and if you cannot hear as well, so come out and meet us and say hello. explain your situation and we can take it from there. treat your workers with dignity and respect. if they want to organize, let them do that because this is america, democracy. labor built this country. you would not have a company flavor was not working, doing the work for you. come out and show yourself and be a real person and let's have a direct conversation. amy: one of the most high profile pporters of the amazon unionization drive is the actor, director, and activist danny glover. he is headed back to bessemer, alabama, today. welcome back to democracy now!
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can you talk about as you're shooting in canadaut you're gog south? >>irst o all, was jus thinng about grgia. thiss wherwe need nina simone, a mississippiong gaan 80 wos for grgia -- gaanizing rds for orgia. my rootsre in georgi my gre-grandmother was freed by t emaipationnd if th civiwa so i ve a lon storin georgia i comm all tho who have struled in ts new geration of activists of litical politician thatre the right w andighting. d also cizens asell. this isoingo takehe work of citens.
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and r tizens t a to th partular moment. wealk aboulabor. i haveeen a song pporter labor mentire life. gr up in t system organidabor and organing tizens with theosta emplees, whi my pares were oud membs of the union, th naonal council- the natnal stal employeunion. so inow out that. at has been e circumrence my le. and this eltion, can tal abt iortance. all we want is election a statent righ here. memberou know, ts ection as -- at azons statemen we a in a cris. we are deali wh and narrate -- nrative tt willot allow us move bend
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and somewhe elsand to b somethg else d traform this count. we a livin in is partilar moment at is time d certnly, unis are gog to pl an extordinaryole. know th role at uons have pla throught the 20 centur parcularly e mid 20thentury and to e end of world r i buwe uerstand e role o labohas to py is esntial. have a ndemic. the ndemics going hange e whole ture in how w deal with eh other. relate to each other. alththingshat we te for grand acommon iour haviors channg. employment is ing tohange as well. so there so my unknns
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but at is stdfast is tt oncenions, onceorkers he presentaon on alevels, once theave eat the rgaining tablethere's another nd of expressioas any lationsh. that rationsp is gointo be sentialcross e new ways in ich we dl whommerc new ways in iche deal wit buness. at relatnship isoing to essentl. so he we areight nowt this rticularoment. its going be toug itas alwaybeentough. but t same me, i thk the litica wl ithere in ways tt i think are nessary anstl will translate into other struggles as well. amy:anny, if you have been to bessemer before. you talk to the workers. what did they tell you about the
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conditions in the factory? also, in light of what we just set at the beginning of this segment, that jeff bezos, one of the two wealthiest men in the world made $65 billion during the pandemic alone. that is like $7.4 million every hour for the past year. t those two togethe >> wl, what is clear is juxtapehat. e richt man, o of the richt men or theichest rson in e world,ust ppos that relationship in which the exist in. an artist, i'm listening to the stories. we are often moved by stories. talking about stories and how we are defined by our stories. the story is the workers i have met at the plant i besmer.
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it was horrific. the constant surveilnce the inality to meet whater demas are. the diffent wa o managent e whole ocess oforking a cializinthem ahuman ings --t ever levelrom ing the bathro. it was uelievablfor me. i te to draw conusions, compariss b thiss an exame of theind of way we al withumaneings re in the 21 centu, givethe extraordary infoation th weav --upposedl the evolution we have had as human beingsthen ware inrouble. wealked about th right her
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wi one of e largest employers in the world who deals with unions in otherething dangerouthis is something that o happen. not only in bessemer, but everywhere around the country. all of us should be outraged at what is happening in the workplace that we know now exists. and the other attempts to discredit unions itself. to pay enormous amount of money to bring specific companies in in order to dissuade people and intimidate people from voting for unions. amy: i want to ask about one other issue before we turn to a
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third one that is deeply close to your heart that you have been very active on, this unprecedented reparations law that has been passed in evanston, illinois. i know how close your heart haiti is. i traveled with you. we were in south africa and went on the airplane with president aristide when he returned to haiti. president biden has now deported more haitians over the past two months than president trump did in the previous year, even though the biden administration admits haitians may face harm after being deported. haiti is in the midst of a political and economic crisis. at least 1300 haitians, including hundreds of children and infants, have been deported since february 1. the last deportation just on wednesday alone. your thoughts on what the media tends not to do is talk about the conditions over the years
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that have led people from the northern triangle, from honduras, guatemala, and el salvador and haiti to come to the uned state >>h, boy haiti. most pple at some point thout i was of haitian descent. i am aaitian aheart. it ia diffict situatn. coemnationf what w ppenin pple o were fleeingai at the polital -- t polital mder and acts of violence happening at that particular point in time. what do we do? we put them on guantanamo bay.
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the whole question with haiti -- i don't want to be long-winded about it because haiti begins at the beginning. the beginning s 1804. if you look at haitian history from that particular point, whose hand was always there to impede any kind of progress for the haitian people? impose artificial embargo over 60 years for haiti after his victory in 1864 -- 1804 until after the emancipation when the embargo -- so-called embargo was lifted? from every point from the point of time of coup d'état, the earthquake to the coup d'état of freely elected president in 1989, aristide.
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for the continuous messing in haitian politics, it is exactly that. from that denial of any kind of political expression within people -- that haitians are haitians because they are. because they exist. they continue to exist. this resistance comes in so many different forms. so we applaud them for the resistance, but we don't talk about the extraordinary pressure that is faced in the undermining of haitian democracy that has been enforced for over 200 years. amy: we have to leave it there for now and from 1804, the founding of this republic and the of enslaved people, u.s. congress recognized republic for decades because they were afraid it would inspire and slay people in the united states to rise up.
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we're going to leave it there because we want to keep you on and go to break and then talk about this historic moment in evanston, illinois. we are talking to the actor and activist danny glover was on his way to bessemer, alabama. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]
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amy: "american dream" by mother & the boards. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. we end today's show in evanston, illinois, where the city council has agreed to pay black residents reparations for historic housing discrimination, making it the first u.s. city to adopt such a measure. in the first phase, the city will distribute some $400,000 to up to 16 families to be used toward housing- related costs. the city has committed to distribute $10 million over the next decade. for decades, black residents of evanston were subjected to redlining, which prevented them
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from obtaining bank loans to purchase property. this comes as civil rights groups are pushing for slavery reparations at a national level. still with is the actor and he serves on e nathtional african-american repatarions commission. in 2019, he testified before the house in favor of reparations. he has also supported the reparations effort in evanston. we're also joined by evanston city councilmember robin rue simmons, who led the reparations advocate. and dino robinson, founder and executive director of shorefront legacy center. he co-authored a report by evidence and officials by city officials on city policies and practices affecting black residents from 1900 to 1960 and through the present day. we're going to begin with councilmember robin rue simms. can you talk about what you have just passed and the significance of it?
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>> absolutely. thank you for having us. what we passed actually s in 2019, resolution to provide reparations to black evansn residents. we passed with funding from our cannabis sales tax with initial commitment of $10 million. but we passed on last monday was the first disbursement or the first remedy, which is going to be in the form of a housing remedy, $25,0 direct benefit to eligible like residents for home equity, home wealth acquisition or purchase, any type of improvement but something that will build wealth through home equity. i have to say in 2002 under the leadershipw of a judge was the second ward alderman at the time, our city passed a resolution can support five hr 40. we have been working toward this for sometime in evidence.
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amy: can you explain what residents get it and who doesn't and what programs get it? >> sure. our paration eligibility is for black residents that li in evanston between 1919-1969 and their direct descendants. you can learn more about that report at our city of evanston.org\ reparations. dino can tell you more about that. that time period is significant because not only resident -- redlining but more specifically they type like housingolicies that were enforced by the cit of evanston. this is an evanston-specific policy. what is important is our case for reparation was based on policies that were enforced by evanston. amy: this is this is delois robinson, whose family was subject to the racist
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practice of redlining in anston. >> my great-grandmother, who was in evanston i guess probably since the late 1930's, early 1940's. she was a business owner. the redlining affected her and her husband because they were trying to open a business in a well-established area of evanston. when i say well-established, where he would be all types of nationalities that come through the area. but she was forced to stay in one certain area to the point she had to have the restaurant in her home. it kind of deals with your self-esteem. so it is a thing of come am i good enough to be able to stand on my own and say, no, i want property here or i want to cross
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the redlining? amy: i want to turn to dino robinson, founder and execute director of shorefront legacy center, the only community archive for black history on chicago's suburban north shore. lifelong evanston resident who co-authored a 77-page report commissioned by city officials on city policies and practices affecting black residents. can you talk about what this means for your family and your community? specifically, talk about the policies that were so discriminatory that areeading to reparations, dino. >> thank you for this opportunity. in theity commissioned myself and my colleagues to work on this report, we wanted to highlight our years of research -- our own research that showcased these different discriminatory practices and put into one document. once the 2019 passing of the
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resolution happened, we started getting inundated with phone calls and emails looking for information. this important document was helpful in disseminating the information that was needed to help support the movement. a series of patterns were found where at one time in evanston's history there was no black community as a one area -- everybody lived everywhere. but distinctly after 1900, the patterns were seen were black families were forced to live in certain areas of evanston. it started with zoning ordinances and supported with redlining, further supported by land clearance ordinances in the 1940's as well that really impacted families -- black families in evanston. this report showcases that. and how this report helps in this program helps is it is one
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step in helping to remedy the past atrocities that happened against the black community throughout evanston's history. as far as my family is concerned , who this haselped, it is a specific segment of the black population that has longtime generational impact here in evanston. i myself am more or less a newcomer to evanston. in this parameter set up right now, my family does not benefit from it but i do believe this program that is set forth is very helpful for the generation families that have been here. amy: interestingly, jacob blake, who was shot by police officers seven times in the back in kenosha, wisconsin, is it true his grandfather, reverend jacob blake, was seminal during the civil rights battles of the 1960's and there a manor
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named for him there? >> absolutely. he was fighting against predatory real estate agencies, work towards during black families from one area and denying homeownerip and other areas of evanston network predominaty white. we have recordings from oral histies over the las l discrimination in real estate agencies who would not rent or lease homes to black families outside of the area that we know now as the fifth ward. amy: danny glover, can you talk about how you got involved with this? you are back in evanston in 2019 to speak up for this reparations bill. you have spoken next to ta-nehisi coates in congress for reparation.
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how gnificanis this? >> mean, we can't tell you -- there is no way to expss how significant thiss. is is pa of the multi--- expresons by lal communies. we tald about is on a cal level. agine w tharesonas yond evaton, illois. imagine thkind of dcourse at hpens tcommuny by ordinary citizenabout paration yes, amazing, ker has pyed an extordinaryart as wl but u have peoplstudyinghe ole ideareparaonss a regard to the tarragon cntries and the colizer thaextracte
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wealth fm the soou havthat on thene hand. but we don't havenything the naonal lev. we he sml exampl, b we've had to suppoed by th acon. isctn simply study,r 40 introduced by john conrs, decrat-sociali, troduced by himhen he came to congress ever yras to be theost reonsible ing thate can do on the feral lev. whatt will do,hat will ppen is u will have a multipcationf expressns. and witn that, u figureut what works, at does't work, whatre the this we neeto shapand reshe about it- l of the. but it comes puic diussion d thats wt is happening in evanston, illinois, right now.
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amy: speaking of the racial wealth gap, i want to give you one example. the median net worth of black families in boston is just eight dollars. the median net worth of white families in boston is $250,000. nearly 31,000 times as much. boston's new mayor kim janey is the city's first black mayor, the first woman mayor. she has vowed to address this. we've this and to what we have seen in evanston now. danny. >> i'm sorry? amy:he wealth cap is a massivy difrent. of course. i s thinki abo whadid rtin lutr king say, the best -party programwas th union. rtainlan expssion which is
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real. how'd we p our min around at? one the things weo arou th ctainlyoward reparatis i a w of not corrtingthe ls that ve beenone in t past -- thats anothequestionhat we ve to grplwith whewe talkbout -- because so much attentn is given t thi wealap and tn at theame me, we know thatoverty -- you ow, ere isovertyot onlymong bwn, blk, d poorhite as ll. we talk aut the wlth gap ase seek wh is hapning t
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thisystem, ts econom syem as a result covid, the impa wh traditnallynd histically heen cut out o the sysm, what es it me now for the whole country itself? amy: finally, robin rue simmons, it has not been determined the total use of the $10 million. you will be holding a series of public hearings. can you talk about what you think will happen and also come have many cities around the country gotten in touch with you no >> thank you. we started with a public process to get to this initial commitment of a housing remedy. we will continue. as you stated, we have only identified -- of our 2 million-dollar find. i want to add that fund is growing by the buying of our
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stakeholder and ally community as well as businesses and houses of worship that have been contributed to theund as well. we will continue with the public process, stakeholder dissipation, and giving the reparation committee direction on what they believe remed is for the black community in evanston. of course we will have to do that in line with our purview with local government and reparations that has been developed by shorefront legacy center andino's team. one thing that will remain a process is our tional partners , mainly in cobra. cobra has supported our community by participating in leading and advocating our residents and we are really grateful. we will continue with the public process to determine the next $9 million -- amy: i want to thank you for
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being with us, robin rue simmons , dino robinson, and danny glover. have a safe trip from vancouver to bessemer, alabama come today. that does it for our show. very happy birthday to nermeendú
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