01/10/23 01/10/23 [captiong made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> therefore i hope this is the moment for us to determine -- this abandonment, this disdain, and this forgetfulness. amy: mexican president ands

manuel lopez obrador has called on the united states to stop treating latin america with disdain. amlo made the comments to president biden, who is visiting mexico for the the north american leaders' summit . pres. biden: we will share our joint security, the plague of fentanyl which has killed hundreds of claim so far. in tackling migration. amy: we will talk about the summit with two guests in mexico city and then look at the hundredth anniversary of the rosewood massacre in florida when an armed white mob attacked predominantly black town in central florida. the mob killed at least six black residents and burned nearly all the buildings to the ground. we will speak to a professor whose grandfather survived the massacre. and we talk to former naacp president ben jealous about his new memoir "never forget our

people were always free: a parable of american healing." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. republicans in the house of representatives have approved a new rules package that will gut the office of congressional ethics. the measure will force out three of the four democrats currently serving on the board of directors and will severely limit the office of his ability to hire new workers. another provision in the new rules package allows single lawmaker to force a vote on ousting house speaker. democrats also warned mccarthy appears to have struck informal agreements with fellow republicans. this is democratic

congressmember jim mcgovern. >> everybody is talking about transparency and openness. it would be nice if there was more transparency and openness from the other side. this is backroom politics. secret deals that no one is going to know anything about until it is too late. amy: in their first order of business, they slashed funding to the irs and a party-line vote . critics say that bill is to protect wealthy individuals and corporate tax cheats. and brazil, at least 1500 people have been detained since sunday's assault on the brazilian congress, supreme court, and presidential palace by supporters of former far-right president jair bolsonaro in the capital brasília. brazil's justice minister flavio dino spoke monday. >> a former president of the republic and all of his followers, for example, frequently target attacks

against the supreme court. that is why i say words have power, especially when they are words of the president of the republic. the president exercises powers but also exercises symbolic powers which include the power of words what we witnessed was the frequent discourse in social media gained legs, arms, bullets , bombs. amy: here in the united states, several democratic lawmakers are urging president biden to expel bolsonaro from the u.s. the far right leader has been staying in orlando, florida, after he fled brazil ahead of the inauguration of president luiz inácio lula da silva last week. bolsonaro faces at least four criminal probes in brazil. he was admitted to a hospital with intestinal pain on monday, one day after his supporters stormed government buildings in brasilia. in peru, at least 17 people were killed monday after peruvian

security forces opened fired at anti-government protesters in the city of juliaca. protesters are demanding the interim president dina boluarte resign. some 40 people have died nationwide since mass mobilizations erupted in peru last month following the ousting and arrest of former leftist president pedro castillo. police in juliaca reportedly opened fired as protesters tried to shield themselves with metal plates. ding my in response to morales' support for pedro castillo.

el's new far-right government has revoked entry permits for palestinian foreign minister riad al-malki and three fatah officials in retaliation for the effort to bring the illegal occupation of palestinian territories to the international court of justice. this is palestinian foreign ministry advisor ahmed al-deek. >> these measures will not stop us and will not stop the foreign minister in the palestinn leadershiprom continuing our political and diplomatic legal efforts to protect the legitimate rights of our people and to uncover the violations and the crimes of the occupation. amy: israel's security cabinet also moved to withhold $39 million in revenues from the palestinian authority and imposed a moratorium on palestinian construction projects in the occupied west bank. meanwhile, israel's national security minister itamar ben-gvir has ordered police to remove palestinian flags from public spaces, calling their

display a "form of supporting terror." palestinian-american author yousef munayyer tweeted in response -- "israel holds an entire stateless nation under military occupation. they got enough nukes to start a regional conflagration. but they fear a piece of cloth." over the weekend, thousands of people demonstrated in tel aviv against the new israeli government and the increasing threats it poses to democracy d human rights. in california, authorities have ordered thousands of people in several counties to evacuate a -- after a winter storm brought atmospheric river of rain and snow to much of the state. hardest-hit monday was california's central coast, where coastal communities faced flash flooding, landslides, and power outages. the death toll from winter storms rose to at least 14 monday after two people were killed by falling trees. some 8 million people in los angeles county were under a

flash flood warning. meanwhile, parts of santa barbara county received more than seven inches of rain over a span of just 12 hours. more real list rain is predicted to hit california in the coming weeks -- more relentless rain is pred s said a small number of thdocuments were discovered in a locked closet as they were closing the penn biden center for diplomacy and global engagement. it's not clear what the cords the next day. in 2018, then-president trump signed a bill making it a felony rather than a misdemeanor to knowingly remove classified materials with the intent to retain them at an unauthorized location. for allegedly mishandling at least 325 classified documents

seized by the fbi at mar-a-lago last august. after the 2020 election. that's according to multiple news reports citing an unnamed $250 million off trump supporters on the false claim the 2020 election results were fraudulent. it's not clear how much of the money trump's lawyers received, but one witness told the house january 6 committee that giuliani ask to be paid $20,000 a da in georgia, a special grand jury has wrapped up its probe of efforts by former president trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election. the decision whether to seek an indictment is now in the hands of fulton county district attorney fani willis. since june, the grand jury has

heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, including rudy giuliani and south carolina republican senator lindsey graham. in january 2021, trump told george secretary of state brad raffensperger, "i just want to find 11,780 votes" -- the margin he would have needed to defeat joe biden in georgia. meanwhile, a federal judge in new york has delayed the unsealing of a deposition given by trump in a lawsuit accusing him of defamation. former magazine columnist e. jean carroll has accused trump of raping her in the 1990's. which the former has denied. the lawsuit will be heard today by the u.s. court of appeals for the district of columbia, where trump's lawyers will argue presidents can't be personally sued for statements made while in office. in california, community advocates are demanding justice

keenan anderson, a black father and high school english teacher, who was killed by los angeles police on january 3. anderson was tased, tackled to the pavement, held down and restraint at the ankles. anderson was then taken to the hospital where he died of a cardiac arrest. patrisse cullors, author and co-founder of black lives matter, said on instagram that anderson was her cousin. she wrote monday, "keenan deserves to be alive right now, his child deserves to be raised by his father." lapd officers have killed at least three people so far in 2023. data by the group mapping police violence shows 2022 was the deadliest year on record for police violence as law enforcement killed at least 1100 76 people across the united states.

-- 1176 people across united states. here in new york, over 7000 nurses at mount sinai hospital and montefiore medical center have entered a second day of strike demanding higher wages, stable benefits, and more staffing support to cope with a growing number of patients. this is new york state nurses association president nancy hagans speaking from the picket line monday. >> we would rather be inside taking care of our patients. not the conditions they have us working. enough is enough. enough is enough! amy: and those are some of the headlines this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzález in chicago. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: we're going to begin today in mexico. president biden is meeting with the presidents of mexico and canada today for the north american leaders' summit in mexico city.

key issues on the table include migration, the economy, trade and security. on monday, mexican president andres manuel lopez obrador welcomed biden to the national palace in mexico city. amlo called on biden to invest more in latin america and put an end to what he described as decades of "disdain" by the u.s. towards the region. >> therefore, i hold that this is the moment for us to determine, to do away with this abandonment and this disdain and this forgetfulness for latin america and caribbean, which is opposed to the policy of good neighborhood, of the titans of freedom and liberty was built. in starting with -- there would

be no other leader. that could implement this enterprise beginning with y pred the people of the continent ask of respect and mutual aid and help and assistance. president biden, you hold the key in your hand to open and substantially improve the relationship among all the countries of the american continent. amy: during his meeting with the mexican president, president biden vowed to discuss ways to strengthen u.s. relations with mexico. pres. biden: today we're going to discuss how we can further deepen our relationship not only mexico but the western

hemisphere. this includes strengthening our supply chains to make us even more competitive and also we will discuss our shared security, including our joint action to address the plague of fentanyl, which has killed 100,000 american so far and how we can tackle the irregular migration which i think we are well on our way to doing. above all, committed to pursuing a better future, one grounded on peace and prosperity for all of our people. amy: the north american leader'' summit comes just days after biden announced the united states will start to block migrants from haiti, nicaragua, venezuela, and cuba from applying for asylum if they're apprehended crossing the u.s.-mico border. the move is an expansion of the contested trump-era title 42 pandemic policy. the summit is also taking place less than a week after mexico carried out a major military operation to arrest ovidio guzman, the son of the imprisoned mexican drug lord el

chapo, joaquin guzman. the operation involved over 3500 troops and led do the deaths of 29 people, including 10 mexican soldiers and 19 suspected drug cartel members. to talk about the u.s.-mexico relations and the north american leaders' summit, we are joined by two guests in mexico city. elías camhaji is a mexican journalist and reporter with the spanish newspaper el país. he won mexico's national journalism award in 2021. and erika guevara-rosas is a human rights lawyer and americas director for amnesty international. we welcome you both to democracy now! erika, can you talk about the significance of this summit and particularly the amnesty report that you just put out, president biden came from the border, el paso, first visit he has made as president to the border and made his way to mexico city. talk about what happened along

the border and what amnesty international feels eds to happen >> this summit is extremely important, particularly in the americas with the continent is experiencing some of the most complex migrant crisis. the america is the home of many countries that are expressing human rights violations. and there are many people seeking the sun precisely of the condition of the countries of origin. unfortunately, these three governments, the north american governments, have plemented shared immigration policies aiming at deterring migration -- though seeking asylum. presidt bid [indiscernible] a couple of days after he

expanded some of the policies. some of these policies that are implemented by the trump administration, including what is called a state and mexico policy. migrant protection protocol that is a shared policy wit the mexican government that is preparing -- keeping people from seeking asylum. forcing mexico to militarize borders and viola the human rights of the people trying to cross the mexico-u.s. border by forcing them to escapend very ngerous mmunits at the border on thmexico side, putting them at risk and at the hands of the organized crime that unfortunately continues to abuse human rights of those people seeking asylum. juan: erika guevara-rosas, president juan when he came into

office -- president andres manuel lopez obrador when he came into office, mexico's continue to militarize and not be as hospitable as his rhetoric would suggest. can you talk about how the situation in mexico in terms of migrants has developed since amlo came toffice? >> when president andres manuel lopez obrador continued with is narrative about policies cash unfortunately, we are seeing aistance from that narrative, from that discourse. we have militarization at the border, the continuation of these shared policies that are violing the rights of people. the treatment that many of these people are receiving at the border, includingetween mexico and guatemala, amnesty internationahas documented people in need of international

protection, including haitian, central americans, venezuelans, cubans. people have been detained in immigration detention facilities that have terrible conditions, including the pandemic of covid-19. people are not accessing the right to seek asylum in mexico because information is not available simply because the institution that is created to provide international protections does't have the capacity, doesn't havehe funding to be able to respond to theemands of people seeking asylum. unfortunately, we arseeing a coinuation of policies of government but also continuation of those violating the rights of people. juan: i would like to bring into the conversation as well,.

talk about the main issues that will bdiscussed by the three presents. >> can migrant crisis of course, the war on drugs, and the economic separation. we have seen the highly anticipated summit but we're still waiting for the complete agreement on this issue like these announcements of 30,000 people to the us from haiti, nicaragua, cuba. this has a direct impact on the others of the border. we need to come out with complete actions on the field to avoid this humanitarian crisis to be bigger, right? this tuesday is a crucial taper the summit in order -- crucial

day of the summit in order to have a complete tie rum of what can be expected on our shared border. sometimes the priorities and the impacts are very different on each side of the border. for us as mexicans, we are expecting what is going be the impact of the people who are not accepted to enter into the u.s. and to see what are we going to do because they are going to be staying in some of the most dangerous parts of the country, right? we need to have more to do with outcomes of the summit, especially in the upcoming hours. amy:elias, you are an award-winning journalist in mexico. mexico is one of the deadliest

places to practice journalism in the world. can you talk about why you think that is, what these leaders can do, and also included in that of course, the context of the so-called war on drugs and how it is fueled drug lords in mexico? >> of course. situation here in mexico is very problematic, unfortunately. president biden should have a more intense role than denouncing the situation living here in mexico. on the ste level, the national level, the priority is very important, right? also comes into play. but also there is an individual

component. there needs to be a chemistry between lopez obrador and biden translate this agreement to protections on the field, right? we see how the white house's policies have a direct impact, for example, on the border but other national authorities at the field level have to be taken into account as well because there needs to be a conjunction of interests and conditions for these people to have a more humane stay in mexico. so what we saw, forxample, last week regarding security with the capture of el chapo's son, we saw gunshots, 29 people

died as you said. there needs to be a discourse that justifies why these actions were taken and how this is going to benefit communities living in the areas of the countries that are mostly controlled by the drug cartels, right? so in the u.s., for example, the opioid crisis is mainly a public health issue, right? but here on the others out of the border, we need to have also -- carrying the heaviest burden in this war against drugs. that is what i can tell you right now. juan: i would like to go back to erika guevara-rosas.

what do you say to those people in the united states who would say that the more the united states opens its doors to asylum-seekers and refugees and those crossing the border, the more people will come from latin america, given the enormous disparities in economic standard of living as well as the political probms in latin america? what would you say to those folks? >> well, migration levels are breaking records according not only the u.smexico bder but across the continent. all of these immigration policies aimed at deterring migration -- we are seeing that. people are taking more dangerous routes. there putting themselves at risk for cicely because of immigration policies are preventing them -- precisely

because of the immigration policies are preventing that from coming in a secure way. these policies are violating the rights of people. not only are they not able to access the right to seek asylum but people have been deported to the countries of origin when they are experiencing massive human rights violations a this is against international law that the united states and many other governments are obliged to follow. it is imptantor people in the united states to understand the implicationsf the was policy in many of these countries that is exacbating the situation that are forcing these people to leave their community's, to leave their countries, to cross the border, and to seek safety for themselves and for their families. humane policies, policies that protect the human rights of these people will benefit not only these people seeking asylum

but also the communities of protection we have seen it all er the world. we are seeing it in the continent. i have seen in colombia, welcoming venezuelan refugees, for example, recognizing their situation,roviding thewith the situation to exerse their rights -- improving their lives but also the conditions of the communities of protection. it is important for people to understand that respecting the rights of people are also benefiting the communities that are welcomg these people, but also more important to understand, the immigration policies are violating the human rights of people and are violating the obligation of the united states to honor its commitments on human rights. amy: erika, i want to ask about the context in which this meeting of the three leaderss taking place further south, brazil. there january 8, perhaps worse than what happened in the united

states january, the insurrection in brasília, that attacked three houses of government -- presidential palace, the congress, the supreme court. president biden spoke with president lula of brazil on monday after the violence and invited him to the united states, which -- for early next month. can you talk about what you want to see both canadian prime minister trudeau, president biden and amlo, the mexican president, say about authoritarianism and the far right to mystic violence from -- domestic violence from brazil to the united states? what do you want them to say? >> iis very symptomatic of the state of the world and the state of our region. the radicalization of democratic groups, movements that have been encouraged by political leaders

to have this violent suppression. so the images that came from brasília were very,ery shking and concerning because these are images th remind us of the assaultn the capitol in the u.s. they are reminding us of many other incidents that are happening in many other countries across the continent. it is important that north american leadersommit themselves to democratic values, to commit themselves to human rights at the center for policies that really welcome, u know, the position of people to the election process and to really support demratic values in those countries where, unfortunately, are struggling because people don't have options. juan: elías camhaji, in a couple of moments we have left, i want to ask about the third topic of the summit, the one that has not got much attention, which is

trade policy and economic integration. president lopez obrador has made it a point of his administration to reestablish national sovereignty by mexico over its wheel industry. this has american business upset. and also the second version of nafta, which was approved under president trump come had all kinds of new regulations about production of automobiles, a portion of which had to be in the united states. that also has been a bone of contention. could you talk about these two issues and what to might expect -- what you might expect to come out of it? >> in terms of lopez obrador, in terms of his energy policies, he defends this policy by saying unnecessary to have economic growth and development.

what they're trying to do is combine the trsition to clean energies witeconomic inteation. there is a plan between arizona and the other side of the border to increase the supply chain of semi conductors, for example. the minerals that are key will be extracted from mexico and taken to arizona to have more jobs and substantial benefits, complete and if it's onhe economic side. here in mexico, it is expected -- sorry, prime minister trudeau will pressure that because climate change and climate worries are a priority for the u.s. and canada, but not as much for mexican government.

so they are trying to combine these two factors under nafta, under this umbrella of nafta to have a positive output and to have a more complete benefit for the vast majority of the pulation that is how president lopez obrador has justified his unwillingness to bet on clean energy, for example. amy: elías camhaji, 90 for being with us, mexican journalist for el país. and erika guevara-rosas, americas director for amnesty international, both speaking to us from mexico city. 100 years ago this week in, the rosewood massacre in florida to lace. and armed white mob attacked the predominantly black town in central florida. we will talk with the grandchild of a survivor.

and then afterwards, ben jealous has a new memoir and we will speak with him. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. he turned to look at the rosewood massacre. 100 years ago this weekend, a white mob attacked and burned on the black town of rosewood and a central florida. the racist mob murdered at least

six black residents and forced the rest of the town to flee. and i witnesses had the true death toll was far higher. the violence began after a white woman falsely accused a black man of assault nearby. by the time the massacre in it come every building in rosewood except one had burned down. no law enforcement agency investigated the massacre and no one was ever charged with the crime. in 1994, the florida legislature approved $2 million in compensation for nine survivors and dozens of descendants of the attack. according to the southern poverty law center, they were the only government reparations ever paid to victims of this anti-black racial violence in the u.s. in a moment, we will be joined by a professor whose grandfather survived the rosewood massacre. at first, this is an excerpt from the trailer to director john singleton's acclaimed 1997 film "rosewood," which helped bring greater attention to the massacre.

>>923, the black town of rosewood was the land of opportunity. >> help me! >> until the day one woman's false accusation -- >> tell me the truth. >> unleashed the fury against their town. >> you know what to do. >> know in the world one man -- >> the search for the guilty became a hunt for the innocent. there comes a time you have to

stand up and defend your rights. >> were going to make it. trust me. amy: the trailer to john singleton's 1997 film "rosewood." we go now to gainesville, florida, about 45 miles from rosewood, where we are joined by jonathan barry-blocker. he is a visiting professor at the university of florida law school and former staff attorney with the southern poverty law center. his grandfather, the late reverend ernest blocker, survived the 1923 rosewood massacre. it is great to have you with us, professor. welcome to democracy now! tell us about how you learned about the massacre and what happened with your grandfather. >> sure. i learned about the massacre when i was 13 but in a very disconnected way. my dad sat me down and said,

hey, there's a meeting coming out and people may have questions of you about it. your grandfather was involved but he is not going to answer question so don't ask him. that was pretty much the end of the conversation. i did not initiate any communication. my dad has indicated as some point he forced my grandfather to try to talk to us about it but i am sure that lasted all of five minutes. he was sparse on details. it wasn't until college when i actually watched the movie rosewood," because -- i came to appreciate exactly what happened or at least the gist of what happened. i don't know my grandfather's role or where he was during the violence and mayhem, i just know he and his family left after it and never talked about it again. amy: what was your reaction, jonathan barry-blocker, when you saw this film in college, not having known the story your entire growing up?

>> i was irate. i was very upset. to see itepicted -- the terror, the flee, confusion, displacement. i did not leave the campus for the entire weekend. juan: from what you know, how are the facts documented in a cover that led to flow to lawmakers approving first time compensation or reparations to survivors here? >> as i understand, journalist gary moore broke the story in the 1980's and one of the descendants advocated for reparations and mobilize a lot of flow -- a lot of folks to support him in that effort and that is what led to the study and eventually the compensation package or what some may call reparations, for some of the descendants and survivors. amy: let me turn to a clip.

this is historian robin dg kelly of ucla. in 2020, he appeared on democracy now! to talk about the history of race massacres in the united states. >> look at the history of race rights in america, most of the so-called race riots going back to cincinnati in 1839, 18 41, going back to a whole range of so-called race riots in philadelphia, you mentioned tulsa and opening of the show. tulsa,,, the kind of looting -- not kind of, but you're talking about destroying 35 blocks of black owned property, businesses , where millions -- worth millions of dollars. white people going to homes with the support of police taking

black people stuff, destroying and taking staff. tua, oklahoma, east st. louis in 1917, rosewood in 1923, so many examples, 1908. some of that looting is also about taking political power. amy: professor jonathan barry-blocker, if you can comment on what robin dg kelly had to say and also as someone who has worked on poverty and race relations and violation of human and voting rights and it is country at southern poverty law center, what about this discussion of reparations? two lane dollars to the legislature approved is a pittance when you're talking about the loss of human life -- $2 million the legislation approved is a pittance when you're talking by the loss of human life. >> we have two questions so i

will try to remember each and remind me if i forget any part of one. i want to be upfront. mass violence is not my research area but i do inc. into my lessons. it is widespread -- i do inc. into my lessons. it is widespread. it happened to blacks, indigenous communities come happened to filipino and other asian american communities on the west coast as well as hispanic communities during the 19th and 20 century. it is prevalent in the history of the annals of american history. i would encourage everyone to read up and discover more of what was going on and not just their bloodlines but their communities, home states, their homelands.

with regard to your second question, having worked in poverty work and civil-rights work, the call for reparations, i think the government has failed to protect sometimes it's citizens or has aided in harmony to citizens. there does need to be talked about how to repair those harms, especially if they are long-standing and long-lasting. our legal system -- someone brought me this question wasn't whether or not reparations are proper or valid -- question whether or not reparations are proper or valid. you should receive some type of money or repair, financial repair for harm suffered your property, your person, or marriage, or motions, or family, your prospects. the law goes a great deal -- tort law, to repair harm. so i think reparations could be part of that consideration. juan: professor, to what extent,

to your knowledge, has the black community of rosewood rebounded and what is the status of the community now? obviously, a lot of people were driven out back in 1923. what is your sense of the situation today? >> if you talk to some of the scholars who have made rosewood their primary focus, you will learn there was a mass exodus of black residents both in rosewood and surrounding towns. cedar key, nine miles away, had a population of roughly 37% black proctor the violence and afterwards they all but disappeared. when you go there now, the times i visited, i've got encounter too many black folk in cedar key and i've only been to rosewood twice. it is pretty rural now. there isn't any large or robust black presence. most people have moved on to other communities.

amy: jonathan barry-blocker, and you for being with us visiting professor at the , university of florida law school. his grandfather, the late reverend ernest blocker, is a survivor of the 1923 rosewood massacre. 100 years ago this month. next up, we speak with the former head of the naacp ben jealous. he has a memoir out, "never forget our people were always free: a parable of american healing." stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: from the soundtrack of "rosewood." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we turn from the 100th anniversary of the rosewood massacre in florida to ben jealous, former head of the

naacp for years, then head of the people for the american way, and soon to be head of the sierra club. he has just written a new memoir that is out today, "never forget our people were always free: a parable of american healin" welcome back to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. congratulations on the publication of your memoir. i want to go back to your grandmother and her grandfather who was born into slavery. you are the descendant of enslaved people and confederate generals. >> yes. my grandmother's grandfather grew up enslaved in virginia, knowing his owner was an uncle,

knowing that robert e. lee was his cousin. on the other side of slavery, built a populist movement in the gap between the end of reconstruction and the start of jim crow. together they saved the free public schools of the state. that was there because. he also built virginia tech and crated the first public black colleges south of the mississippi. a testament to what can happen when we come together. there you have it, amy. we were never taught there was a time when form confederates and former slaves came together, let alone pro civil rights, propublica education, pro-worker's rights. juan: could you talk about your mother as well? she co-authored the book about racism and went in depth in that book, 50 white people whose

lives were deeply affected by racism in america? >> it is a book about how racism gets blocked towards white people. i grip on a bridge between black and white, north and south, even the old world of the east coast and the cutting edge of california. parents build that bridge for kids trying to show safe we could be one country. -- to show as we could be one country. her book was motivated in part by being married to a man who loved his grandfather yet was disowned by his grandfather. his brother stood by him and his grandfather disowned him, disinherited them. said my father into poverty. -- sent my father into poverty. watching a white man be attacked by zone grandfather because he loved a woman of a different hue really made her realize what dr. king said was real, that we are all inextricably linked.

there is no hurting one member of the human family and not hurting yourself. amy: as juan raised, your mother, and asked about your grandmother, i want to put the three of you together. in 2009 when you were head of the naac you went to a storycorps booth and talked with your mother ann todd jealous and your grandmother mamie todd about how they responded to some of the racism they experienced in their lifetimes. this aired on npr's morning edition and starts with your grandmother describing how she taught at an all-black school in virginia, where students lacked pencils and paper or books or a working chalkboard. this is what happened when she went to demand changes from the white superintendent of schools. >> i went up to the secretary's desk and said, "i have an appointment." and she says, "well, colored teachers come around the back." i said, "beg your pardon?" she said, "colored teachers come

around the back." i said, "well there's his desk right there, and here's a -- and so i walked on through it and went to his desk. he was sitting there, he didn't stand up and there was a chair in front of his desk, so i sat there. and he and i had a conversation. and i just told him how i felt, how i really felt about it. and he was a human being. i knew we had that much in common. and i wasn't afraid of him. and i -- >> were you ever afraid of anybody? >> i don't know. i have to think about it. i have to think about it. anyway, the next day a pick-up truck laden with materials, i mean blackboards hanging over the sides. i had everything i could think of that i told him that school needed. >> well, we're talking about protests. mom, tell me about desegregating your high school. >> when i first went there, i remember being assigned a seat, and there was this other girl sitting in my seat.

so i went up to say to her, you know, "you're in my seat." and she fell onto the floor, she was so terrified. and then i remember -- [laughter] >> you're really not very scary, mom. >> i was not a very scary girl, and rumor was that we all the carried knives, and she was afraid that i would stick a knife in her for sitting in my seat. and actually, i was asking her to move because i was afraid of the teacher, you know, being upset. >> mimi, what was it like for you to watch her go through this. >> it was very difficult, but she kept a lot of it to herself. >> i did not want to burden them. i was an only child, and my parents talked a lot. and i grew up with their stories, and so i was very, very conscious of a great deal that they carried as a consequence of racism. so i kept as much as i could to myself. >> wow. thanks, mom. >> you're welcome, ben. thanks for being interested. >> yeah. >> thanks for asking. >> thanks, mimi. >> good luck to you, darling. there's a lot to be done. >> yeah, that's right. >> there's a lot left to be

done. amy: dare you have ben jealous speaking -- there you have ben jealous speaking with his mother and grandmother. as you come out your memoir, you are the son of a white father and a black mother who left baltimore after they married, interracial marriage then was illegal. you write about being a cousin to both thomas jefferson and robert e. lee and you found out your distantly related to dick cheney. >> [laughter] amy: talk about the writing of this memoir, what you discovered, and why you feel it is important as really a memoir, narrative of this entire country. >> virginia is the cradle of our country. i did not know most of this -- as your guest said about rosewood. our elders really don't speak about the painful parts. i grandmother, you heard her

when she went into that office, part of the reason she insisted on going to the front door was her father's name was over the front door. her grandfather's name because he saved the free schools. i wasn't taught this history. the moment i realized that robert e. lee and dick cheney are both my cousins? in a way, -- the moment i figured out my grandmother's gloved grandfather, his political partner was former confederate journal and a man who was a war criminal, massacred an entire black regimen that surrendered and here they were 15 years after the work my five years into the reign of the terror of the ku klux klan, an old were criminal pretty good alibi. together they took over the

entire virginia state governor. -- virginia state government. would ultimately be put down by violent white supremacists and disinformation campaigns. what is remarkable is they planted the seeds for fdr's coalition in that state. it was the old lieutenants -- their young lieutenants would be his old lieutenants in the state and demonstrated again a magnetism between the working people of this country across all the lines used to divide us, wanted to come together because our kids need has to. every time i see virginia tech or virginia stater a public school in virginia, i am reminded these exist the way we know them because former confederate soldiers, formerly enslaved men him together and build a third party, took over the state, and asserted their rights and those of their children. juan: in terms of the lessons for today, especially in the

aftermath of the january six bait insurrection and the continued rise in consolidation of the right wing you fascist movement in this country, talk to us about what lessons you draw that today's generation of activists could learn from. >> we have more in common then we don't. that has always been the case and always will be the case. one of the mteries my grandmother gave me, never forget before there were slave rebellions, there were colonial rebellions. the co-author of "lack power" he said the exact same thing -- " black power" at that exact same thing. something in motion will return to its original state. as americans we must remember our original state because we only focus on movies and tv shows that show slavery near the

end. in the beginning, slave rebellionstheir work colonial rebellions. there were whi indentured slaves rising together. he said if you go back, you will understand that is where we are headed. we're going to come together. he believed that. i believe that. easy evidence of it all around. it is the 24-hour news that profit by keeping is divided but in our hearts people of this country want to come together. they know our kids will do better if we do. amy: we're going to do part two and posted online at democracynow.org. i think i met you years ago on the grounds of the prison in jackson, georgia where troy anthony davis was executed and you were protesting outside. we will talk about as incarceration, the death penalty, and 70 other issues with ben jealous, former president of the naacp and the people for the american way,

and coming up, the sierra club. he is the grandson of mamie todd who died last year at the age of 105. she was an outspoken civil rights activist who worked as a social worker, led to marilyn's child protective service agency. o;o;ó7ó7

start hello, to nhk newsline. ukrainian president zelenskyy says his allies have everything necessary to stop russian aggression. he pushed them again to provide him with more weapons, what he called a new level of modern military equipment.