12/30/22 12/30/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> god ge me this opportunity to be the example for the children and we will have many pelés if it is god's will. amy: arcing the death of the global soccer icon pelé at the age of 82.

we will look at his life and legacy with professor dr. brenda elsey. work were democrats look likely to to feed democratic governor kathy hochul's nomination chief judge after his conservative judicial record punted opposition from progressives because of his antiabortion, anti-labor, and anti-bail reform position. >> this nomination was baffling to me that the governor would attempt to cement a conservative majority on our highest court up until 2030 with a judge with a record of making antiabortion decisions. amy: as 2022 comes to a close, we look at one of the most alarming developments this year. how more jails in the united states have become debt traps. then to the new documentary

"angola do you hear us? voices from a plantation prison." it has just been shortlisted for an academy award. we will speak with the director and film subject actress and playwright liza jessie peterson. e needelp. is inew was hisrical be on a prison plaation no just -- amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. israel has sworn in the most far-right government in its 74-year history, led by benjamin netanyahu, who begins an unprecedented sixth term as prime minister. the new government includes ultranationalist and ultraorthodox parties that are

calling openly for the annexation of the west bank. a document listing the new government's policies includes a pledge to build settlements in occupied palestinian lands. it reads -- "the jewish people has an exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the land of israel." in the west bank, the palestinian authority said israel's new government poses an existential threat to the palestinian people. this is palestinian pre minister mohammad shtayyeh. >> we passed through many extremist governments, but this government is the most extremist. this government is the most threatening. this government is the most insolent stop i know for a fact the international community will not deal with many members of this government, therefore, to us, we are against all the governments that practice killing and oppression on our people. amy: president biden has congratulated benjamin netanyahu on his return to power, saying he looks forward to working with

israel's new government. in a statement released thursday, biden referred to netanyahu as his friend for decades, adding "the united states will continue to support the two state solution and to oppose policies that endanger its viability or contradict our mutual interests and values." biden's statement did not mention israel's illegal settlements and ignored concerns over the new government's far-right ultra-religious and ultranationalist members. the united nations has halted some of its humanitarian aid operations in afghanistan after the taliban imposed a ban on female workers at nongovernmental organizations. the u.n.'s humanitarian aid coordinator in afghanistan ramiz alakbarov said thursday the ban has immediate life-threatening consequences for all afghans. >> the needs of the people are absolutely enormous and it is important we continue -- it is equally important that the rights of the women and girls, which we are so much talking these days, are absolutely

preserved and attracted. amy: ukraine's military says it shot down a swarm of 16 drones launched by russia overnight against targets in kyiv. the latest attack on ukraine's capital came after russia launched one of its heaviest waves of missile strikes of the 10-month-old war. this is a 79-year-old kyiv resident who narrowly escaped injury after his home was destroyed thursday. >> i have no words for what to call it. as they say, war is war, things happen. but this is not war, it is a crime against humanity. amy: in moscow, russian foreign minister sergey lavrov said military leaders were looking at attacking railway lines, bridges, and tunnels across ukraine in an effort to cut off the flow of weapons and ammunition sent by ukrai's allies. this comes as belarus summoned the ukrainian ambassador on thursday and demanded kyiv carry out a full investigation after a ukrainian air defense missile crashed in a field in belarus. belarus is ataunch ally of russia and has allowed its

territory to be used as a staging ground for russian attacks. the incident has heightened fears that belarus could be drawn into a direct conflict with ukraine. meanwhile, russian president vladimir putin said he expects chinese president xi jinping to visit moscow in the spring during a video conference today between the two heads of state. in italy, the far-right government of prime minister giorgia meloni is cracking down on charity vessels that rescue asylum seekers at sea. among other things, a new decree seeks to prevent the ships from carrying out multiple unplanned rescues during a single mission, charities violati the new rules could be fined and ships impounded. over 100,000 asylum seekers have disembarked in italy over the past year according to government data. brazil's president-elect luiz inacio lula da silva finalized his cabinet appointments thursday ahead of his january 1 inauguration. amazon rainforest defender and goldman prize-winner marina silva was chosen as brazil's environmental minister.

she held the post in lula's previous two terms in office, during which amazon deforestation swed siificantl ôa guajara, indenous la and water fender, s named azil's first-er minisr for ingenous people. lula also nominated black activist, journalist, and educator anielle franco as brazil's new minister of racial equality. she's the sister of marielle franco, a human rights and racial justice activist, member of rio de janeiro's city council before she was assassinated in 2018. ahead of lula's inauguration sunday, the brazilian supreme court temporarily banned registered gun owners from carrying their firearms in the capital brasilia until after the inauguration ceremony. the move comes amid rising concerns of violence from the far-right and supporters of defeated president jair bolsonaro. brazilian police on thursday arrested at least four people

and carried out nationwide raids as they investigated an alleged coup attempt led by backers of bolsonaro who've refused to accept lula's victory. bolsonaro has yet to concede. brazil has begun three days of mourning over the death of the brazilian soccer legend pelé, known as the king of football. pelé died thursday in são paulo due to complications from colon cancer. he was 82 years old. born edson arantes do nascimento, pelé is the only soccer player to have won three world cup tournaments, the first in 1958 when pelé sprang into international fame at the age of 17. brazil declared him a national treasure. pelé also won 10 league titles with his club santos and is credited with popularizing soccer in the united states when he played for the new york cosmos in the 1970's. pelé was born in the brazilian state of minas gerais in 1940. brazil's incoming president luiz inácio lula da silva said on

twitter, "few brazilians took the name of our country as far as he did." we will have more on pelé's life and legacy after headlines. south korea has carried out military drills after it failed to intercept north korean drones that crossed into its airspace monday. this is south korean president yoon suk-yeol. >> the intrusion of north korean drones in our airspace is an intolerable act. and people are concerned. we should let north korea know it is meant by harsh consequences. amy: south korea will require travelers arriving from china to submit a negative covid-19 test amid china's worsening surge. this comes after india, italy, taiwan, and the u.s. also imposed new testing requirements on travelers from china. but health authorities say such measures do little to stop the spread of covid and critics say the travel restrictions are being used as a diplomatic weapon and could further fuel anti-asian hate.

and here in new york, the first legal recreational cannabis dispensary opened its doors to the public on thursday at 4:20 p.m. the housing works cannabis company dispensary in manhattan is run by a nonprofit serving people living with hiv/aids, as well as unhoused, and formerly incarcerated people. chris alexander, the executive director of new york state's newly-formed office of cannabis management, was the dispensary's first-ever customer. >> want of the key priorities -- one of the key priorities, access. access to a plant that is medicine for so many. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. brazil's outgoing president jair bolsonaro has declared three days of national mourning to mark the death of the global soccer icon known as pelé.

he was 82 years old. pelé was an afro-brazilian star in a country where afro-brazilians have long faced discrimination and racism. he grew up poor in the brazilian state of minas gerais where he famously played barefoot soccer with a ball made of rags stuffed into a sock. he was just 17 years old when he led brazil to its first world cup title in 1958, becoming the youngest player to score in a world cup and ultimately won two more titles with brazil. three world cup titles, more than any other player in history. thiss pelé. >> they called me pelé. i got twoays suspended.

now i love it. short name, easy to pronounce. easy to remember pelé. my name is hard to remember. amy: pelé was seen as a symbol of brazil. he played for 20 years in the country before retiring. he then toured the world to popularize soccer. pelé was also known for embodying the commercialization of soccer. he faced criticism for being seen as complying with brazil's repressive dictatorship. the nation's miguel salazar wrote -- "pelé kept his mouth shut, and the dictatorship allowed him to play as he pleased. eventually, pelé crossed a line: he agreed to a formal meeting ahead of the 1970 world cup with emílio garrastazu médici, one of the most ruthless members of the authoritarian regime." pelé later became a cabinet

member in the brazilian government in the early 1990's. for more on pelé's life and legacy, we are joined by dr. brenda elsey, professor at hofstra university where she co-directs the latin american and caribbean studies program. also co-host at the feminist sports podcast "burn it all down" and co-author of "futbolera: women, sports, and sexuality in latin america," and editor of the book "football and the boundaries of history." welcome to democracy now! three days of mourning have been declared in brazil. pelé is a global sports figure, soccer icon. talk about his history, where he was born. talk about where he grew up and his significance. >> it is going to be very -- it is very difficult to imagine soccer or football without pelé. it is very difficult to think about brazil's image in the way it is projected to the world.

became iconic mid 20th century. he has been identified so closely with this board. he grew up in a very poor family as an afro brazilian and also faced a lot of racism throughout his life. he is emblematic of an afro brazilian soccer tradition that u know today "the beautiful game." he has this sort of amazing, energetic, dynamic, graceful, intelligent game that excited the passion of so many people. what he meant to brazil, as you said, very contradictory. sometimes politically. really complicated person to be that famous for so long and to embody that much of a national entity comes with these kinds of sometimes painful

contradictions. amy: and the significance of an afro brazilian in the 1960's becoming a global superstar, what this meant for bzil's most marginalized? >> i mean, it was incredibly important that the person that was identified with absolute excellence -- both on the field but also became a metaphor for being the best ever, largely than just soccer. to say soccer in brazil feels weird. he became important to symbolize being the best at something, to say you are ever 10, to say you are the pelé, and that was a black man was incredibly important. that was solidified for him by 1958. it wasn't not just import for brazil, but when he toured africa in the late 1960's, nigeria, mozambique.

it was important fostering his sense of transnational black excellence. amy: when he was just 17 years old, he was the youngest in so many ways. talk about the racism he faced. >> you just look at the -- spoke at the top of the show about the first ever cabinet position of racial equality. you can see the ongoing legacy of racism in brazil is far from being resolved. in 1958, though there was not a formal segregation as i was in baseball in the united states, for example, there was informal segregation and deep racism that created huge economic inequalities and screw nation. pelé would face all of that. would you said he was identified as a national treasure, he was legally given a special category

that made it impossible for him to play abroad. he was sort of codified as a heritage onational pastime by the government decree. this would not have happened with a white player. he prevented pelé's ability to move in terms of labor. he faced a number of appointed discrimination in his career that are impossible to ignore, despite, as you said, being the face of the commercialization and commodification of soccer. amy: the relationship with the dictatorship, 1964 coup and beyond? >> i mean, he has a number of really, as i said, contradictory positions throughout his life. it is hard because he spoke of comes up a must in the third person a lot of times. when i met him in 2013, he came to conference at hofstra and was

very critical of the world cup in 2014 in which we discussed the military dictatorship and the way in which the national football teams, the national soccer team had supported or had a relationship. his response was that he was against authoritarianism and the military in very broad terms. he did support the movement of some of the brazilian soccer players to have the vote comeback in the mid-1980's. but of course, people were disappointed and will continue to be, particularly in the early years, to express his opposition to the brazilian dictatorship. that will be part of i think the way he is remembered and something that was painful for a lot of people that hold differently. amy: you have three days of mourning, leading into the inauguration once again of lula

and the relationship between lula and pelé? >> in the last 20, 25 years, pelé spoke in very general terms -- again, people be disappointed he did not say more about bolsonaro and the far right and the growth of the far right in brazil. so very generally, he would talk about love and peace and call for love and peace, but there wasn't much specifically that people were looking for in terms of being against bolsonaro. he is a uniting figure in brazil in a lot of ways, one that th the right and left embraced as standing in for something about the brazilian identity. i will say that his image and

the image of brazilian football has not been entirely captured by the right, but that is a struggle. it is a struggle for people every day. amy: finally, just before we leave you, as a sports expert that you are, can you talk about roberto clemente and his significance to the world of sports? tomorrow will be the 50th anniversary of his tragic death in a crash, a plane crash on the way to nicaragua to deliver supplies there in 1972. >> roberto clemente really is an emblem -- everything that you indicated that people were disappointed with in terms of pelé, you might find in roberto clemente who was very active in civil rights, very active in puerto rican rights, and solidarity with central america -- particularly after the earthquake, as you mentioned, in

nicaragua. both of these, though, both of these men are very important icons, very important to mobilize people into thinking about sports as a platform for racial justice. amy: we want to thank you so much, dr. keri blakinger --brenda elsey dr.. next up to new york, where democrats looked likely to defeat the democratic governors nomination of the next chief judge to the state's highest court. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn to a remarkable development here in new york

where for the first time democrats looked likely to defeat the democratic governor kathy hochul's nomination of the next chief judge to the state's highest court if confirmed, hector lasalle would be the first latino chief judge of the court of appeals, but his conservative judicial record has been opposed from progressives because of his anti-abortion, anti-labor, and anti-bail reform positions. on thursday, two more senators came forward to oppose lasalle's nomination, bringing the total on record to 12. meaning he can't be approved without republican support, which makes it unlikely democrats will bring his nomination to a vote. those opposed down click dissident deputy leader democrat my generics. on wednesday, democracy now!'s juan gonzález and i spoke to one of the first state senators to oppose lasalle's nomination. jabari brisport is a new york state senator in brooklyn who is a democratic socialist. i asked him to describe how the governor chooses who to nominate

the chief justice and why he opposes lasalle. >> thank you for having me. it is always a pleasure to be here. the process of new york works like this. there is a process of judicial nomination. they take recommendations, applications over a several week period whenever they have an opening, and then they make a short list that they get to the governor who picks one to send to the senate for confirmation. in the short list of seven, i would say there were three outstanding and three and acceptable candidates. one being hector lasalle was unacceptable for the reason you listed previously, making anti-labor decisions, antiabortion decisions, and honestly, granting not even a conservative judge but a conservative activist judge, going out of his way to make these decisions. an: could you be more specific on some of those decisions he made, draw the ire and concern of the progressives?

>> and his antiabortion decision, there was a crisis pregnancy center in new york city that was misleading women seeking abortions and went under investigation for illegally practicing medicine. during their investigation, hector lasalle helped a decision that shielded them from a ful investigation by the attorney general. he made the case they did not need to give or share with her marketing material were, the thin they're usi. he said sharing those marketing materials would be a violation ofheir first amendment rights somehow. in terms of anti-labor decisions, there was a case where an lawyer was suing. hector lasalle went out of his way to say even if the employer could not sue them as a leader, he good as an individual. a loophole to sue labor leaders. that is why five labor unions have come out against hector lasalle in addition to the 10

senators. juan: in terms of his confirmation process, democrats have a majority in the state senate. what would it take to block his confirmation? >> he would need 32 yes votes to be confirmed the state senate. currently there are 10 of the 42 democratic senators who have come out opposing him. if one oppose -- one more opposes, he will not have enough to be confirmed. amy: what will happen now? talk about -- i mean, it is a very close race between lee zeldin and governor hochul. one of their main differences was reproductive rights, was the issue of abortion. he was fiercely antiabortion and she said she was extremely pro-choice. can you talk about what that

means when a chief justice has the position that he has, what kind of cases he presides over? and did this nomination surprise you? >> this nomination was efflandt to me that thgovernor would attempt to cement a conservative majority on our highest court. up until 2030 with a judge was a record of making antiabortion decisions. going out of his way. when you have someone willfully misinterpreting the constitution , antiabortion crisis permits the center does not need to share line and deceitful marketing materials they are using, that is a problem for me. we have a situation here in new york where we have an opportunity to shift the highest court in progressive

direction and the governor is completely fumbling that opportunity. amy: can you talk about bail reform? >> in 2019, new york state enacted changes to the bail laws that allows for less restrictive measures to allow more people to wait at home for the trial rather than waiting at our detention facility in new york city rikers in pretrial detention. it was a strong success in terms of more equality, of people staying at home and waiting for their fair trial. but due to conservative backlash and claiming everything under the sun on the laws is suffered rollbacks immediately after in 2020 and again this year in 2022. conservatives continue to weaponize it and live out the facts in order to get rollbacks and force more people to be incarcerated. juan: what a sure sense of why governor hochul to this

decision, what pressure she was under? after all, if she wanted to name the first latino to the chief justice, she could have named jenny rivera who came out of the puerto rican legal defense education fund that is already on the court. but she chose instead this far more conservative pick. >> two things. what is the outspoken identity politicsngle of confirming the first latino. in terms of jenny rivera, she is fantastic, however, she was not on the seven-person short list provided by the commission on judicial nominations so she was not an option for the governor to choose. the unspoken one, aside from the identity polits, the goverr consistently shies away from making bold, progressive decisions. that is also why she did so poorly against an election denying trump supported fascist

running against her for the governorship just a few weeks ago, that she refused to make -- distinguish herself with strong progressive tactics. amy: hector lasalle was a prosecutor in suffolk county, new york. he tweeted -- till" it is indefensible to ask for black votes and then work to incarcerate us. no on lasalle." explain. >> there are zero judges with that background on the courts and that was -- i voted no on troutman earlier this year. we have an extremely lopsided court of appeals is dominated by prosecutors and people that issue pro-landlord decisions and pro-business decisions. nominating yet another prosecutor to our highest court would maintain that imbalance. amy: jabari brisport, new york

state senator democratic , socialist. voting against hector lasalle. unlike the democrats will bring his nomination to a vote, challenging the choice of the democratic governor of new york kathy hochul. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as 20 comes to a close, we look now at one of the most alarming developments this year, how more jails in the united states are becoming death traps, where people face inhumane conditions in overcrowded facilities. new data shows new york city jails are the deadliest in more than a quarter of a century. 19 people died in city custody or shortly after being released in a severe understaffing at the torious rikers island jails has been linked to several

suicides as officials are now predicting the population to balloon in coming years even as the city faces a mandate to shut rikers down by 2027. in to cap georgia, two people died from a hanging this week and less than 24 hours, making this the deadliest year in the jails history. in houston, texas, the harris county jail has seen a record 27 deaths this year. it is been under a noncompliant status since september. that is where we begin now, to look at this underreported crisis. for more we are joined by krish gundu. also with this, keri blakinger blakinger.

krish, why are in-custody deaths surging in texas jails? let's be very clear, jail is where people go were often than not before they have been convicted of anything, and they are dying in jail either by suicide or by maltreatment. tell us what is happening. >> good morning, amy. you are absolutely right most jails e placeshere people areeld pretrial, have not been convicted. they are legally innocent and it is a death sentence for a lot of folks. as of yesterday, whad 161 custody deaths in jails,. in harris county jail, that number is officially 27 but we

know there were 28 deaths because people are given apr on as th're dying in the hospital so they don't have to be counted. we had 28 deaths we ow about most of the reason for that is severe overcrowdg the overcrowding is been determined by a small gup of prosecutor anlocal judges who handle the cases which is in stark contrast [indiscernible] the officials responsible fo feloes have overwhelming it is extend pretrial releases and pursue policies of greater pretrial detention, which is what we're seeing stem collapsing und its own weight. we hear about a sysm, medical neglec medical abuse -- a whole system is collapsing under its own weight. amy; so even as we speak overnight, you been getting more

information. describe the situation of people who have died in jail. close to giving idea some of the tragic and completely preventable deaths, that is one thing i would like to underscore, these people -- these are eventable deaths. 24-year-old young man went to jail and he td the staff he was diabetic and needed insulin. four days later,e is dead because of diabetic ketoacidosis because he did not get his insulin. the fit death was simon peter douglas, acute psychiatric crisis,ried thang himself and they put him in a padded cell. heanaged to beat head so violeny against the wall of the mental great on the wall, that eventually died.

absent medicaleglect. ese werereventab deaths. another death, a 38-year-old woman with diabetes died because of complications from an infection. these re preventable deaths. three were suices, four or people with severe mental illness who were found incompetent to stand trial. these are custodial deaths. these people are und the direct supervision, surveillance, and care of the staff. so they are responsible for their life and death. when people die under direct surveillancend supervision, it erodes the public's trust. if ian't trusthe shift key people in his n custody safe, how can we expect them to keep people in the community safe? amy: we're talking about the harris county jail where houston is. what about mental illness? nearly 80% are reported likely

to be suffering from a mental illness according to the jails own data? >> you are right. here scotty e is the large confinare a people with mental illness in the state of texas. --he harris county jail the largest confinor of people with been to illness in the state of texas. it tells us something about where we are investing our resources. this is a trend across the state and meaning of the county jails. gring number of the population has mental illness. over 80%. you add this overcrowding issue to the fact we are also having this decade-long mental health crisis in the state where we have underfunded the mental health system so we have over 2500 people awaiting competency restoration. they are found incompetent to

stand trial, they are waiting competency -- four of the people who died this year in harris county jail were severely mently ill and found competent to stand trial. they were one of the most vulnerable folks in the jail. amy: how is the overcrowding in the jails linked to the backlash against bill reform in a vote that was just taken in harris county? >> i think it is directly relate the reason why we arhere today in verse county and in the sta of texas, completely selfnflicted crisis. when harris couy went to misdemeanor bill reform, wch was huly successful, the latest report that came out is clear about how successful the reform was. buhere was a backlashgainst e misdemeanor billeform that did not want it for the rest of the state. combine that with the beginning

of covid, there was huge ask from public health experts -- as we know from all thevidence out there, communits with big jails was wherthe most covid spre was happening there was this ask for de-populatg jails and the respse by goveor abbott -- limited [iiscernib] they cld not be gen pr bonds anymore. the george floyd protests and people were getting bailed out and between that and the ask for depopulationwe had sb 6 past which is basically the codifying of -- what he did is there was a blanket denial of people -- to gi pr bonds people on wide arges. it was sold as bail reform but

it really wasn't because what it did was it further entrenched cash bail. so for charges you might hav gotten cash bail for, apr bond, now you d to payasto get out. people were unable to pay cash are stuck in jail and those are mostly poor folk and black and brown folks mostly. that led directlto skyrocketing pretrial cases across the sta. y: krish gundu, thank you for being with us. we turn to keri blakinger, an investigative reporter based in texas, covering jails and prisons for the marshall project. she is the organization's first formerly incarcerated reporter. she's also the author of the memoir "corrections in ink," which details her experience serving time in prison in upstate new york. her most recent piece for the marshall project is headlined "why would prisons ban my book?

absurdities rule the system," after the state of florida banned her memoir from prisons. it is great to have you back. if you can talk about this larger -- putting texas into the larger picture from rikers to texas to where you're headed to work at "the los angeles times" what is happening in los angeles as well? >> we're seeing a lot of the same things across the country. talking about texas previously, the thing everyone is so well aware of. so much of the media focus is often on rikers island because of the concentration of reporters. anyone who falls it is aware there's been this huge spike in debt in rikers and we heard about how that is true in harris county as well. but we are same sort of thing happening in jails across the

country and we have other layers of concerns like so many are deteriorating in a very extreme way and yet the physical facilities are in bad shape and then you also have the overcrowding that ksh mentioned and some of that is a rebound we are saying after covid as various states rescinded the measures in place they had to reduce populations during covid. krish talked about how that work in texas but in california, the bill order has been -- when that was rescinded, you neatly saw an increase in joe populations, particularly in los angeles -- which has something like their teen thousand people in their jails at this point. their jails have been an bad shape. they have been under the dissent decreases the 1970's and are not meant to comply adequately in

timeframe and you have covid and the aftereffects of covid and that is a very dire situation right now. amy: i want to ask you about your book "corrections in ink," which we did an interview with you on. for that into the marshall project's release of this database of books that have been banned from prison, spending at least -- spanning at least 18 states. >> about a year ago, i started looking into this and started collecting these banned book list from every state that maintains a van book list for prison systems. it turns out about half the states do. but of those, only 18 sent as usable lists.

out of the 18 that we've got, 54,000 titles total, we sorted some of the magazine so that is just looking at books. there is some absurd and concerning patterns you see within that 54,000. one of the big patterns it's a lot of the reasons books are banned for things like nudity when prisons have forced nudity. they have regular strip searches ofn in groups. sometimes nudity of cartoon characters are banned. there are many other reasons that are absurd when you look at them but one of the big takeaways is there often applied in a manner that is pretty racially biased. not every state, but definitely some. one of the examples that stands out to me is texas where mein kampf is not but i to be wells is -- ida b. wells is for racial content.

many ban like abolition -- black abolition iters. it is concerning to say the least but fund the reasons we see these books banned sort of speak to their absurdity. especially in this day and age when so many people behind bars have contraband -- banned books are you're doing is keeping the well-behaved people from reading what they want because people who are already breaking the rules can get those materials through the contraband. amy: i want to thank you, keri blakinger, for joining us investigative reporter based in , texas, covering jails and prisons for the marshall project as the organization's first formerly incarcerated reporter. we will link to your article "why would prisons ban my book? absurdities rule the system." your book, "corrections in ink." next up, we looked at "angola do you hear us? voices from a plantation prison." it has just been shortlisted for an oscar. back in 30 seconds.

♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we look at the remarkable new short documentary that has been shortlisted for an academy award. it is called "angola do you hear us? voices from a plantation prison." >> angolwas the pntation. >> just beuse you e pson --hat do you s -- >> questioninghy do we send people t priso got atory to ll. ite th down. i just put the ragon the page. i had do something. >>e need hp

i ew thiwas histocal. everybodclung onto to every word tt she sa. >>hat ple erupted. amy: for more we are joined by liza jessie peterson, the actor and playwright featured in "angola do you hear us? voices from a plantation prison." it was produced by mtv documentary films and cinque northern, artist, film maker, and director of the academy award shortlisted documentary we're talking about today. congratulations to both of you on this honor. cinque, why did you choose to make this film and focus on angola -- a prison we have talked about for so long, for example, where albert woodfox

was incarcerated for so any decades? >> thank you, amy. thank you for having us today. you know, i've been following liza's work since she was working at rikers and wanted to do something to elevate the work she was doing with incarcerated populations as an artist. obviously, when the opportunity came for liza to go to angola, it became so much bigger. initially i had gone down there really just to shoot performance, liza's performance. it was more of a shoot than a film at that point. but once what happened in that room happened, then it became a much bigger story and we saw angola as a way of telling this singular story about the singular artist would have a way to really just be an example,

you know, what is going. . on really throughout the country amy: specifically angola is the title of your film, part of it is this plantation prison, its history, from its name to who was held there? >> yeah, so a lot of people -- i learned in the process of going there that the reason it is called angola it was formally a plantation and a lot of the enslaved people there were from angola. and so would it became a prison -- this is 18,000 acres of farmland. when it became a prison, it kept the nickname angola. so the link of that history i think is very telling. amy: so let's go back to your film" angola do you hear us?" we hear men from angola being read

by others to protect their identity. >> [indiscernible] they would takcare of horse fore thewould ke carof us. sin knows wt correctiona ofcers on horseback wi riflesit loo like sothing tf -south. the majity is a black u had 10hite boy ou knowe' got over 60 pele. they are warehousing thi --s. >> -- amy: an excerpt of "angola do you hear us? voices from a plantation prison." we also hear liza jessie peterson. li, tell us your story, that is told so beautifully in this

film, how you went to angola and what happened. >> thank you for having me. i had the opportunity to lead north henderson, also featured in the documentary, and he and i are both grantees with art for justice. they had a meeting where we were working on ending mass incarceration. we all met. noris, formally incarcerated at angola, took us on a field trip, basically. we got on a bus and he took about 20 of us to visit angola. when he mentioned there was a drama club at angola, i got excited because i wanted to perform my play at angola.

that is how i met noris. there was no way i could have ever met noris in new orleans in 2019 would lead to what happened in 2020 in the chapel at angola. amy: what happened? >> oh. [laughter] it was pretty stunning. noris has an amazing elation ship with the administration at angola because he served over 27 years before he was released. he still does reinjury work at the prison. he was able to facilitate with the administration permission for me to not only come to perform for the population, but also film the production of a book secured patriot." we had permission, literally 15

minutes before i was to go on stage, they told our film crew that we could not film, that we had to shut our cameras down. we had no idea what the cause was. i went on and performed without filming it. halfway through the show when i go backstage to get ready for the next scene, noris is backstage with a correctional officer standing behind him and he tells me that there has been an emergency and in the chapel and we have to end the show. i knew axing tivoli -- instinctively, yeah, there's something else going on. amy: let's be clear, it is not just people were personally watching you and they canceled it for them, but this was on closed-circuit tv throughout angola. how many people were watching at that point it was shut down and why you think it was? >> what is interesting, angola

has her own radio station, they have their own closed-circuit tv station, so they have the incarcerated men who run the television station film the play so it could be live-streamed through the entire prison. i think approximately 6000 or 7000 men are incarcerated. so in the chapel, there was physically abo 700 menr more packed io the chel to wah it. d thent was li-streame roughouthe entirprison. so ty wereble to s everytng. theyere evenble tsethe shdown, ev though r cames were n allowed the men in e housinareas, ey got to e the mont it s shut wn and theucous

reacti that hapnethat llowed aerwards. i woulday -i was ld by th mewho coactedafter the performance through contraband phones for whatever means they had available that the housing areas, the day rooms were packed, that men were crowded around the television watching the performance. amy: this as been amazing for you, cinque northern, as you film this performance. watching this short documentary, hope there are no flies in the room when anyone watches because your job dropped -- jaw dropped. maybe when you sell your self, the film, shortlisted for an oscar. what are you hoping to do with this over the coming weeks? >> we want as many people to see it as possible.

we always had an idea that this film would create empathy. just to add what liza said about what happened in that room, before it got shut down, those men were laughing, they were crying, they were so captivated by these characters that liza had created. liza wasn't just in there giving statistics, she really embodied these characters. i think the interruption to that created this momentum that kept going. but as far as the film, you're hoping to get nominated. that would bring so much awareness, so much more awareness to this -- and really i hope with -- have people be unsettled with this reality and look further into it. amy: and how people are able to watch this now all over? >> you can watch it now streaming on paramount+. amy: liza jessie peterson, as we

wrap up, what you want people to take away with? you're the last guest at our year here at democracy now! >> that is quite an honor. i really hope people will take away the humanity of people who are incarcerated and to not just know them as numbers or see the statistics, but know that for every number there is a human being connected to that number and there is a family and family members. i hope this film will inspire and ignite compassion, empathy, and healing. and most important, reimagining how we deal with mass incarceration and to envision something different than what we have now. amy: liza jessie peterson, actor, playwright, and cinque

northern, director of the short documentary "angola do you hear us? voices from a plantation prison." it has just been shortlisted for an academy award. you can watch it at paramount straining.