10/17/22 10/17/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new yorkthis is democracy now. >> people did not choose what i was saying. >> would understand she set down thbus. >> narrave of r just oone dated something.

amy: rosa parks helped spark the civil rights movement in 1955 are refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in montgomery, alabama. when she died in 2005, one network described her as a tired seamress. today weook at aew cuntary th expres her trouemakin her lifong dedicaon to fightingacism, and support for armed militant black activists. the film is called "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." we will speak to the film's codirector yoruba richen. >> it is really remarkable to think that some of her earliest memories are sitting with her granathe wating the klux klan try to intimite and teorize he house ander granather dendingita gun, defending his fily. y: we wi fture extensive experts and speak with jeanne

theoharis, author of the book "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks," on which the film is based. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in iran, a massive fire engulfed parts of tehran's infamous evin prison saturday, killing at least eight people and iuring dozens of others. it's unclear exactly what happened, though iranian state media reports prisoners and guards clashed before the blaze erupted. witnesses reported hearing explosions and gunfire coming from the prison. evin is well known for housing political prisoners and anti-government protesters. many of its former captives have said they were mistreated or tortured there. the blaze came as iran remains roiled by mass protests and just a day before the one month anniversary of the death of 22-year-old mahsa amini, who died while in the custody of iran's so-called morality police. in ukraine, kyiv was rocked by

explosions this morning as russia renewed its attack on the capital with fresh airaids, one week after last monday's deadly barrage of misses. ukrainian officials say explosive iranian devices known as kamikaze drones appeared to target energy facilities in kyiv, though iran has denied supplying weapons to russia. over the weekend, two gunmen killed least 11 volunteer soldiers and injured 15 others at a russian military training area in belgorod, near the ukrainian border. that is according to the russian defense ministry. on friday, the biden administration said it is sending another $725 million in weapons and military assistance to ukraine. in china, xi jinping is poised to claim a historic third term as president after the communist party kicked off its weeklong congress on sunday. xi, who has been in power for a decade, could remain china's

leader indefinitely after lawmakers abolished presidential term limits in 2018. during his opening address, xi lauded his government's response to the covid-19 pandemic and addressed the economy, china's military, and foreign policy. he also praised beijing's crackdown on hong kong, claiming hong kong shifted from chaos to governance. president xi also addressed the issue of taiwan, which has become a flashpoint between china and united states. >> the resolution of the taiwan issue is a matter for the chinese ourselves to decide. we insist on striving for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and effort but we are not committed to abandoning the use of force and reserve the option otaking all nessary measures. amy: ahead of the communist party congress, a rare anti-government protest took place on a busy overpass in beijing where a banner was unfurled calling for xi's

removal. another banner read in part, "we want a vote, not a leader. we want to be citizens, not slaves." social media users inside china said images of the protest online were quickly removed and accounts disabled. the u.s. and canada have shipped military equipment, including tactical and armored vehicles, to haiti amid a mounting security crisis. this comes after the government of u.s.-backed prime minister ariel henry called for international involvement to combat gang activity. the u.n. warned last week a blockade of a major fuel terminal by gangs was compounding food insecurity for millions of people, with 19,000 haitians already experiencing famine. thousands took to the streets of port-au-prince last week in opposition to foreign military aid and intervention. demands are also mounting for henry's resignation. this comes as haiti is facing a fresh cholera outbreak, with prisons particularly vulnerable toarge cluers of ces. in atralia, catastrophic flooding has forced the

evacuation of thousands of homes in the southeast. the state of victoria, home to melbourne, has been the worst hit with at least two people killed. australian prime minister anthony albanese warned the situation could deteriorate. >> we're living in very dangerous times in the days and weeks ahead. what we have is a potential of further rain events here in western south wells, victoria, and tasmania. all of them combining having an impact because you essentially have a single drop of rain has nowhere else to go except stay on the surface. amy: in france, an estimated 140,000 people took to the streets of paris sunday to protest the surging cost of living and to demand action on the climate crisis. the march was called by the leftist france unbowed party. >> i am angry because everything is going wrong.

public services, mistreatment at work, we have a lot of reasons to be here today. and there's also everything to do with climate. inaction on climate all these years starts to build up to have heavy consequences. yep a terrible summer and this will continue. if we don't do anything, well, we have all of these young people -- what kind of future will they have? amy: transport and other public sector strikes are planned for this week in france following weeks of strikes in the energy industry. in britain, two climate activists glued their hands to the walls of london's national gallery friday to call out the u.k. government's role in fueling the climate catastrophe. the activists from the group just stop oil first flung two cans of soup onto van gogh's "sunflowers" painting, which was protected by a glass screen. >> is it worth more than food?

worth more than juice? are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people? amy: it's the latest climate protest involving prestigious art works and museums. last week, two people glued their hands to a pablo picasso painting in melbourne, australia, as activists seek to disrupt normal life in unexpected settings to call attention to the climate crisis. meanwhile, protesters from the group animal rebellion poured milk onto the floors of grocery stores across united kingdom sunday, calling for a shift to a more sustainable, plant-based food system. there protest came as the british government unveiled plans to further crack down on climate activists through a new public order bill that could also be used to break labor strikes. the united nations has called for an investigation into the cruel and degrading treatment of 92 mignts who we discovere near the tkish bordeby greek

authorities friday completely stripped of their clothes, some with injuries. both turkey and greece have deflected responsibility and blamed the other side for the situation, though details of what happened remain unclear. in turkey, an explosion friday at a coal mine in the northern black sea region killed ateast 41 people. as turkey mourned the victims over the weekend, union leaders and opposition politicians called out turkish president erdogan for blaming the deadly blast on fate. the explosion came as tensions were already running high in turkey following the passage of a new bill press freedom groups say worsens censorship. the new law could land journalists and others in prison for up to three years if accused of spreading disinformation. back in the united states, democratic senator raphael warnock debated libertarian senate candidate chase oliver in atlanta, georgia, on sunday. next to the two men stood an empty lectern for republican candidate herschel walker, senator warnock's main

competitor, who refused to participate in the debate. the event came two days after warnock and walker faced off friday night in what is expected to be their only debate. walker was forced to defend his anti-abortion stance after a former romantic partner recently said the ex-football player once paid for her to have an abortion and later urged her to terminate another pregnancy. she had the child. walker has denied the claims. senator warnock, meanwhile, defended abortion rights in light of the recent reversal of roe v wade. >> patient's room is too narrow and small and cramped a space for a woman, her doctor and the united states government -- we are witnessing right now what happens when politicians, most of them men, pile into patient's rooms. amy: warnock and walker also clashed over their positions on the police, medicaid expansion, and who they supported as the respective leaders of their parties. in labor news, workers at an apple store in oklahoma city voted of friday to join the

communication workers of america, making them the second retail outlet of the tech giant to unionize. senator bernie sanders celebrated the successful organizing campaign, tweeting -- "last year, apple made a record $95 billion profit. its billionaire ceo made $99 million in 2021. it's time for apple to treat its workers with respect." and anti-nuclear activists gathered in front of dozens of congressional offices ross the united states, at the united nations, and elsewre to demand leaders "defuse nuclear war." the prests coincided with the 60th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis and as nuclear powers have been ratcheting up tensions amid the war in ukraine. this is david borris from the group chicago area peace action. >> the mathematical possibility of a nuclear weapon being detonated by accident by design is now zero.

if it is not zero, it is inevitable. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. it was december 1, 19 55, rosa parks famously refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger in montgomery, alabama, thus launching the modern-day civil-rights movement. when she died in 2005, why network described her as a tired seamstress. they said she was no troublemaker. but the media got it wrong. rosa parks was a first-class troublemaker. today we spend the hour loing at ts often nored si of her remarkable le. it's told in the nepeacock documentary "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." >> i felt -- people chose not to listen to what i was saying. >> we unrstand she satown on e bus.

>> the policeman said, what d u stand up? i sa i don't feel should have to and up. >> just on one day did sething couldn't be fther fm the truth. if the revee is true -- >> ts thousa radicalws. >> ithey could s her out ere th theanthers,hen th would understan the real rosa pks. but th might've beea little frighten. >> she ibeenn activi for er three decades. >> sheas espially dangeus. >> fhting sues thaare still at t fefront. >> s never ge u amy: that's the trailer for "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks," which is set to air on peacock on wednesday, october 19. on friday, i spoke with two

people involved in the film. yoruba richen is the film's co-director. acclaimed filmmaker, former democracy now! producer, and the founding director of the documentary program at the graduate school of journalism at cuny. i also spoke with jeanne theoharis, professor of political science at brooklyn college. author of the award-winning biography "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks," on which the you document is based. i began by asking yoruba richen why she chose to take on this project and why she felt it was important to tell the story of rosa parks over a half-century later. >> i was contacted by my codirector join hamilton, who had connected with jeanne about the book and was quite astonished a full documentary film had not been made about rosa pks. en she'dontact -- sheead

thlove, coacted me, and ked if ianted -- told to re the book and ked if i wanted twork wit h on getting -- on making a documentary. as i was reading the book again and again, i wasstonished to learn so much mor about this is parks life and her work and activism. i just thought it was the story that had not been told on so many different levels in terms of the work that the activism and work that misses parks did before the bus boyco, he relaonship wh her husba, anhow herought h into tivismand alof her wor post t bcott, hoshe goto deoitnd the work that she did in detroit. i have to say, amy, i don't know if you remember, that we were in

d.c. at the memorial for her, was working for democracy now! and we were at her beautiful memorial. amy: it was astounding. i remember when we hopped on the train, i was watching cnn in the newsroom here at democracy now! and it said rosa parks had died and there was going to be this memorial. first woman and second african-american to lie in state in the capitol rotunda, that she was an amazing woman because she was really just a tired seamstress, she was no troublemaker. they said. well -- that is what she was and exactly what you document in this amazing film. and jeanne theoharis, that you wrote about in "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." we hopped on that train, went down to tell that story. thousands came out. this wasn't even the big funeral in detroit.

so that takes us to jeanne. you are an academic, professor. talk about your investigation to the civil rights movement and then realizing what we did not know about a woman who perhaps everyone knows her name, rosa parks. >> i think you starting that memorial, that funeral is where i started it because i was both transfixed by it. it is incredible, unprecedented honor for a woman, activist, for civil rights activist and yet as both of your noting, she gets smaller and smaller in it. she is talked about as accidental, not oublemer, qut. i do talk aew monthlater on h we memorlize theivil

ghts movement. toe, we nnot sepate her funeral and this outpouring of congress, this stampede of congressional leaders wanting to honor mrs. parks for what happened a few much earlier which was the travesty of hurricane katrina and the federal negligence after the -- during, befo, and afr the storm. this to me wasnsepable. i do a cple of talks. a friend says, liu turn that into a chapter for this book i'm doing? i think, sure. but i need to tell a fuller story about mrs. parks than i knew, there has to be a good biogray. look andhere is no serious ography of rosa parks. until my book mes ou i013, there iso serious footnote that biography of her post about what i start to look -- i am coming to this as a scholar of the civil rights movement outside of the south. one of the first things i start

to realize is how huge her political life is after the boycott. they are forced to leave montgomeryn 1957 d moved to troit to at she dcribes a the nohern prosed land that was in. she will spend the next 40 years fighting the racism, the school segregation, the housing segregation, the job discrimination, the police brutality of the north. and that whole second half, en thoswho knewhe wasn't just a simple seamstress, had reall missedhat seco half, msed l of her conneions to blk powe missed l of her conntions to thantiwa moveme inhe 1960'to an-apartheid mements. there was just this much bigger sorted tell. i realize that is not just an article, it is a book. amy: before we move forward from sitting down on the bus in 1955, let's go back.

in this clip from the documentary, she describes her grandfather's response to racism shaped her as a child. we hear actress lisa gay hamilton reading from rosa parks leers. >> bthe time i w six, w old ough to alize weere nofree stuffhe ku kl klan wa ridinhrou the bck communit earning chuhes, killing ople. later led it wasecause rican-amicanoldis were returng from wld war i and acting af they derved equa rightsecause they had served their country. at one point, the vlence wa b, my grandfatherept his gun cle by at l tes. my gndfathas gng to defend h homwhatev haened. i wanted to see him shoot that gun. amy: in this clip, we learn

about her husband raymond parks known as parks. >> rmond pks was theirst re activt ivermein. was a longte memberf the naacp. he washe first man iad met nce the ath of m andfatr that w not rea to accept - heas in his le 20's and rking as barber inowown ntgomery >> a mutl friend introde themo one anoer. rosanitiallys not intereed. >> i thoht he watoo wi. i haan aversn to whi men with t excepti of my andfathe raymonparks isery light-skned. er expience wh light sk like men- coulnot be fther frothe trh from rmond. arksould telme abo his

prlems grong up beg fair coared did -- complected. h a car with bel seat [iiscernle] amy: an excerpt of "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." yoruba richen, this rich history , i mean, the story of rosa parks tells us the story of the 20th century. from the grandfather in world war i to her husband raymond parks and their partnership. tell us about her family and how that shaped her and what it tells us about the history of this country. >> i mean, it is remarkable to think that some of her earliest memories are sitting with r grandfathe wating theu klux

kl try to intimida and teorize their hou. and r granather defending with a gun, defending his family. i think that also tells us so much about the role of self-defense in our struggle, not only our freedom struggle but our struggle to stay alive in this country. and self-defense waslways rt ofur strategfor fighti for our rits andor our body -- bodily integrity. she really epitomizes that. we see that throughout her life. and also her grandfather's -- both descendants of her family being descendants of slaves, her mother's valuen education,

being sent to miss white's school where she learned -- flourished as a reader and lover of history. this was really an intelligent woman. she says -- unfortunately she was not able to go to college, but what she would have liked to do if she was able to. her family took her in after she had to leave detroit -- had to leave montgomery for detroit and protected her. and we really wanted to tell that story, that personal story of who she was because, again, you know her name but we don't know so much. and we certainly did not know her personal. story. amy: we will speak more with yoruba richen and jeanne theoharis about "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks."

♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we continue to look at the new peacock documentary "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." information in a moment, we will wednesday. continue our conversation with the film's co-director yoruba richen and professor jeanne theoharis. the first, let's go back to the documentary. in this clip, actress lisa gay hamilton reads from rosa parks' letters about her investigation

in 1944 of what happened to recy taylor, a black mother and sharecropper who was raped by six white men in alabama. >> i remember one case out where my father's family came from, recy tlor was her way home fr churcwhen she w kidnped, forced into car at gun and stripd of her othing and raped by six white men on september 3, 1944. hopehe went the sheriffnd toldhem. th rlized nothings going to hpen to tse men >> rosparks ars abou ts from what won th know -- white won they kw. rosa pks at so of her

comments decide they suld inveigate it >> ra park was sdicate t testimon in tse tim to go 1 miles from home,he sheris drivg bstep thee goes again. areas. i n only igine whathat mu have be like having to tell tha story and rosa pas writing downvery wd. wasncredibldangerou for a black woman to report the details that they had been victims of sexual violence. for mrs. parks it was dangerous because she was seen as the problem. >> in collaboration with other actitivists, took out an ad in e local newspaper in order to let people know what had taken place into a place pressure on law enforcement to do something. amy: that clip from "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." the same title as the book on

which it is based by jeanne theoharis. jeanne, if you can tell us more about how this shaped that rape of recy taylor shaped and also the reference before that because the scottsboro boys, rosa parks -- with all of this. >> rosa parks gets involved with the case because of raymond. when she meets him in 1931, the first row activist she ever met him and what he is doing in 1931 is organizing around the scottsboro case, organizing these are nine young men who were riding theails, get arrest when two white women e found in the train, that arge cnges trate andheir quickly tried and all but the youngest, who is 12, or sentenced to death. locals began to try to protect the scottsboro brothers from being put tdeath.

in the binning, raymond is the more public activistn she is more behd the scenes t they're having meetings and at her house. she will talk about late-night meetings, guns on the table. by the 1940's, she is wanting to be even more active. her brother is fighting wor war ii like many black men a and yet most black people can't vote at home. so she goes to her first montgomery naacp in 1943. she makes it known she wants to register to vote was to a man by the name of ed nixon comes to bring her some materials and their the begin of partnership that will change the face of american history because e.d. nixon and rosa parks are going to set out to transform montgomery's naacp a child more activist branch. -- into a more activist branch.

now we would call it issues of racism in the criminal legal system. there are two kinds of cases. cases where black people and often black man are being wrongfully accused and cases where black people, particularly black women, are not protected by the law sorting raped or brutalized and a lot stop protect them. recy taylor is one such case but it is only one of many that she is investigating, that they're trying to get justice for. over and over they try and over and over there is no justice. i think one thing we can see in rosa parks' life in this decade from the mid-1940's until the early to mid 1950's is how many things they are trying and how hard it is that she would fight to keep going with all her efforts seemed in vain. so she is getting, as we would call it today, she is getting

burned out. this is taking a toll and yet i think one of the things that makes parks -- that i admire so much in her is disability to keep going even when you get discouraged. that is what we will see her do. a maker let's go back to "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." to that moment when she refuses to stand up to give her seat to white man on the bus. this is her arrest december 1, 1955 that launched the montgomery bus boycott. you are featured, jeanne, historian jeanne theoharis and rosa parks in her letters read by actress lisa gay hamilton, along with rosa parks' voice is so. -- ielf. y theime --

the fnt of th b was reserv for whi people d the back was foblack pele. the ddle is nd of ao man's land thablack pele are titledo sit theut othe wh of eriver could be asd toove. e tms of alabama segregation, all four people in her i will have to get up for this one white person to sit down. >> the driver said, y'all better make it light on yourselves and let me have the seats. i coulnot see h standinp was ing to me it lig for me thought bk to theime wh my granather uld have his gun ght by the feplace.

amy: our guest jeanne theoharis is among those we hear from in this next clip also about the challenges rosa parks faced after the montgomery bus boycott, along with rosa parks herself and historians very frances berry, keisha blain, and robin dg kelly as well as others. >> rumors about rosa parks that she is an naacp plant, a communist plant. she has a car. she is not even from montgomery. >> we often don't want to talk about thepsals, weon't wanto talk aut the nsequenc and howeople ke personalacrificein ordero advanca broade movemen >> after the incident, i worked

five weeks through the month of december and was discharged from my job after the first week in jaary. >> the oer of tharbersp onhe air fce be prohibi all diussion orosaarksnd the s bcott. raymond resigns protest thinki if can't defendis wifehe ibeing lenced. >> dr. kinendsp getting th aclade. he iinvid everywre to speak. he is hero. >>ivil rhts gups woul have h go out and speakt even and rai mon, but it never ocrred to anybo the ought find so way forhem to beupportg. i ink pt of theay s was treated was because she was a woman, therefore, taken advantage. >> montgomery is a small town.

people had to kno she was no longer wking. king neverffereder a job rosa would n dare ask i d't ink she's the nd of womathatould think she was owed. amy: again, that is a clip from "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." it is premiering on peacock. yoruba richen, if you can talk about this key moment -- evenness, the moment where she sits down on the bus, refuses to get up for white passenger, is arrested, not as much is known about it, certainly, the background of her remarkable activist history, but what surprised you most about this period? >> well, a couple of things

surprised me the most. first off, really digging into what the boycott was was really interesting for me. and that kind of reach detail aboutow itctuallworked, that the we dispahers, that it wa wen -- mostly l by women, hearg from e youth who ok part it waso betiful d how the tn, the blacunity ofontgomer came together a worked together over a long period of time come almost a year, to make it a success. so that was really eye-opening for me to see actually how it worked. and then of course, the backlash. i hadnown she would to detroit, lived in detroit, spent most part of her life in detroit but never knew why she went, why

she got there. that backlash and the threats to her life a to her welbeing, u knowsheado get ouof ther we often tnk of these civil rights leaders aseroic and ke thesetances a then erythings fine. but the risk and the danger that they face is often not explored. we really, obviously, that is a key moment to her life and part of what she sacrificed by taking a stand on that bus. amy: professor theoharis, what was accomplished in terms of the supreme court decision that would come a year later? how many people knew it was rosa parks that launched dr. king

really did a huge national and international arena? >> right. the boycott is 382 days. it is massively well organized. they set up pickup stations, giving 10,000 to 15,000 rides a day. two months in, one of the things they learn -- rosa parks is not the first person to get arrested on the bus. there was a trickle of people over the decade before rosa parks. we know the name clyde it coal been a months levels of -- we know the name claudette payments early. i woman's daughter is raped. one thing montgomery's community

has learned from that, the state may try to do the same thing with rosa parks' case. we are post-brown so there's much more chance this could get changed on appeal. what rosa parks 25-year-old lawyer decides to do is file a proactive case into federal court in that case has four women on it. it is that case that goes all the way to the supreme court and leads to the desegregation of montgomery's buses. it is this multipronged strategy. there's rosa parks pressed for, this incredibly well boycott, and rosa parks as we thought is traveling that year to raise money to keep this boycott going and then they have the federal

case. there are many tactics that lead to the desegregation of montgomery's buses in 1956. but that does not stop the suffering of the parks family. sadly, leaving montgomery does not stop the suffering. i think what we see in the detroit section, if that suffering -- is that suffering goes on for many years. amy: we learn about rosa's life after she moved to detroit. we hear from detroit civil rights activist ed vaughn were relatives of rosa parks including her knees, great-nephew, and parks herself through her letters read by lisa gay hamion. >> i d'know wheer i cou ha bn moreffective as a workeror freed in the south that i am here ietroit. really ce the sa thing tt has curred ithe sth exisd here ta certai dree . we dhave t same problems. >>hites detro were

relegated to the rst partof wn called the black bottom. >>t was fficult,o say th least. grand we jusgrow hiswn food >> my ther h a greenhumb. he wouldork all y in the chrysler plant and tn he wld comeome d worthe gard. we gw upn frh tomoes, grn pepper oon. the was engh fooin that little plot r him, gndmoth . >> ra pas is a vy creati person shwoulcreatetuff out o own. dresseand idea quilt >> s taughus how t sew. r stitches we aolutel perfec she cod lo at something and go home and sew it. amy: from "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks."

talk about this period, yoruba richen, in detroit. that is -- well, when she died, where the big funeral was. but how detroit shaped her. >> and how she shape detroit. you go there now and you have murals, rosa parks boulevard, her imprint in that city is really palpable. the northern promised land that wa'a think scrubs at all. shis the throught the uprisis thatappen inetroit at tt time, thbiggest uprings,acialprisings the country had en. shes there on t people's tribunal, whi wasut together byhe people droit, the blk peoplef detroitn respse to thillit

algis, the youoys who were getng no justicey the police. detrt has, like many citie detroi h a notious retionshipviolent relaonship wh the blk community. and she was part of a ibunal atas at e churchf the blac monna, ilitant black church, very famous church come activist church that she also was a part of and attended. and they put on a tribunal. they had -- to seek justice, some kind of justice for the young boys and to give -- rule these officers were guilty. she worked for john conyers. she helped him get elected.

that was her first paid political job. conyers was the first congressman to introduce the reparations bill. she supported reparations. her support for the black freedom struggle alter the 1960's, 19 70's, 1980's come in 1990's, up until she passed, was through the work going on in conyers office and in detroit. amy: more with yoru riche, codirector of "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." and professor jeanne theoharis when we come back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: lena horne singing "stormy weather." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we continue to look at the new people how documentary -- pickup documentary "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." on friday, i spoke with the film's codirector yoruba richen and professor jeanne theoharis. >> she saw no contradictions. she would describe malcolm x as her personal hero and yet saw no contradiction with that and her

incredible love and respect for dr. king. she embraced ella baker and queen mother more. we hear joann watson in the film talk about her being holistic, but one of the things that missive -- mrs. parks is so good about it she shows up for everything. she is looking for all different kinds of strategies to challenge the kind of racial injustice and in this country, the social injustice, poverty, war. she has a whole platter of issues that she is working on, and she refuses to choose. she is part of the naacp and yet she's doing all of this work in the late 1960's and 1970's around political prisoner cases from angela davis to the woman 1010 to the rna 11. we see in the film what happens to the public of new africa, which is born in detroit is a reparations black power group

before it moves to mississippi. she is a longtime supporter of reparations. she is an early opponent of the war in vietnam. that is part of a. schu supported john conyers and helped him -- she is part of -- supported john conyers and helped him get elected. she have been working at what we could call a glorified sweatshop in the early 1960's. conyers job comes with health insurance. both she and raymond had had a number of health issues. for her, related to the stress of this work. we don't often understand the kind of toll this takes. we honor rosa parks, but we erase what is a decade of suffering really for her and her family. but then she's on the ground

doing constituent work with john conyers, doing work to challenge detroit' racism, and traveling the country taking part in the black car convention in philadelphia. she's on staff at the national blackonvention in gary. at whaofhe fir inngs of a repations grp. sh is doing wk aroundouth afcan divement. at i wasertain ierviews fothe bo,ntervied a lot of peoplthat word with her in detroit in these years and over and over people would say she was everywhere. they would say, i would go there be surprise, here is rose again. over and over again at 70 different litical group rallies, marches, mobilizations. she was there. amy: i went to go back to this remarkable film "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." i went to look at how being a woman shaped her participation in the civil rights struggle. this clip teachers mary frances

berry and erika huggins of the black panther party. john watson and rosa parks and her own words. again, read from her letters by actress lisa gay hamilton. 1963,reat occion was to n wereot aowed to ay muchf a le. >> t march owashingt is onxamp of how black women areften marnalize if y look at tse whopoke wi the eeption of isy tes who lypo for a f minute the ente progra was donateby men. there was aribute twomen whi a phip ranlph inoducedome the women w havearticipad in the struggle and i s one ofhem. >> they uld ha her sta up

anwave ateopl the'rosa par! she t down o t bus wave at them. they nev saishe did ything beyond tt. >> wn i was in t march o washingt, i std there awe ofhe peoplwho had ghere i remberelena horne movg swtly to t front othe ste, pied up micropho, andung. "fedom." ey linrein the a. a blankeof sence. >> lena was taking rosparks to ropean satellite stations and ying, th is the man that started ntgomery wh i saw heroing tha i join her. na was dermined tt rosa

rks wasecognid. >> so much priary builinto thmovement ke in some instutions. women raise most the ney to must the orgazi, but en you g back and s those labeled psident or dectors othe lears, grand poobah. amy: as you refer to her as mrs. parks, talk about your use, even in the title, t significance of that honorific for mrs. parks . >> i have to defer to jeanne around that, but i know as -- all remember is as soon as we started working on this film, we started referring to her as mrs. parks. i think that was a jeanne directive. >> certainly, if you talked to

anybody who knew mrs. parks, they referred to her as mrs. parks. and certainly, i remember as we started to do interviews i was like, people are not -- they're always going to say it so we always have to say it. i think mrs. does a couple of things. it is an honorific that black women, particularly black women of rosa parksressed for generation, did not get. it is not surprising then that everyone who talks about mrs. parks, who knew her, are fastidious about using it because it is giving her a kind of honorific that she was often denied. i think there's a second reason i use it in the book, which is that i think rosa parks rolls off the tongue, we did wknow her. i think part of putting the mrs. there was to stop us, to make is have to both take a step back that she is not ours, that we

don't just get to use her however we want, but also we might not know her. so i really fought to have mrs. in the title. i think the cadence is really lovely. i basically, this is how anne who referred -- knew her referred to her and i think it makes us have to come to her and learned about her in a different way. amy: go ahead. >> i also love how joann watson refers to her as mother parks as well. amy: we want to end with one more clip from "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." this is about the assassination of martin luther king jr. beginning with sam cook and we hear from rosparksniec >> ♪ i was borby the rer in

little ten♪ ♪ it is be a lon long ti coming but i know -- ♪ >> it was like medicine to the soul. speaking directly to me. >> i rary saw he show otion but when dr. kingas sassinat, i saw her rht at s funal -- saw r cry at his funel. >> ias losg the pele i livebest. myusband and bther were all sick. the was time i w trali to threeifferentospitals i douit workg full te to work onl pt-time

>> ty love ehther. as unc par'heal deteriated, nooving washe wod take ce of him, they were so closy joid tether. >> pks die in 1977 whehe was 74 afte a fe-year strule again cancer. myrother svester dd the mohs after that, alsof cancer. mama w ill wh caer, too. cared r her atome unl she died at the age of 91. amy: that from "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." as we begin to wrap up, yuba richen, if you can talk about what rosa parks life means for today, the idea that rights not

fully achieved, not in the film but very interesting as her fears opposition to clarence thomas becoming a supreme court justice, saying it would not represent a step forward in the road to racial progress but a u-turn on that road, like a statement on brown view board of education and even on roe v. wade. talk about this. >> it is quite remarkable that her speaking out against his nomination and what we are through today. i mean, granted, when he was nominated, was not a positive thing for our civil rights. she as somebody, you kw, who was obviolyell own and consider the motr of e vement herpeakin out ainst hiwas ve importa. oseords rin trutoday.

we a seeing a tot retrenment of man rhts, from wen'ight tcivil rights, gun rights -- i'm sorry, gun control, a bunch of other cases that are on the docket that are in danger of taking away otherigs. so mrs. rks sat on -- i think of how she sat with her grandfather in the early 1900s, facing the kkk and him defending his house and where we are today and that she never stopped fighting for that justice and knew we were not there even at the end of her life. i was the, we are still not now but gives me some inspiration and hope that you have to keep

on keeping on. i think mrs. parks knew that. amy: yoruba richen, codirector with jeanne theoharis of the new peacock documentary of "the rebellious life of mrs. rosa parks." that premieres wednesday. she is the director of the documentary program at the graduate school of journalism at cuny. the film is based on the book written by jeanne theoharis. democracy now! is currently accepting applications for a video news production fellowship and a people and culture manager. learn more and apply at democracynow.org. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

allergen-free insects through genome editing. ♪ hello and welcome back to nhk "newsline." i'm takao minori in new york. residents of kyiv and other cities across ukraine were alerted it to the it dangers by sounds overhead. some were getting ready for work when they heard the buzzing. they saw drones fly over, then attack. eight people were killed. ukrainians have been hit with repeated missile strikes, the

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