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The writer and activist Maya Angelou was remembered Saturday at a memorial service in North Carolina. Angelou died last month at the age of 86. Born in the Jim Crow South,
The writer and activist Maya Angelou was remembered Saturday at a memorial service in North Carolina. Angelou died last month at the age of 86. Born in the Jim Crow South, Angelou rose to become one of the world’s most celebrated writers. After becoming an accomplished singer and actress, Angelou was deeply involved in the 1960s civil rights struggle, working with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Encouraged by the author James Baldwin, among others, to focus on her writing, Angelou penned "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," her first of seven autobiographies. The book launched the phenomenal career for which she is known around the world as an award-winning author and poet. First Lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton and media mogul Oprah Winfrey were among the dignitaries to honor Angelou at Winston-Salem’s Wake Forest University, where she taught for three decades. "She showed us that eventually, if we stayed true to who we are, then the world would embrace us," Obama said. "And she did this not just for black women but for all women. For all human beings. She taught us all that it is okay to be your regular old self, whatever that is. Your poor self, your broken self, your brilliant, bold, phenomenal self. That was Maya Angelou’s reach."TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Friends and relatives of Maya Angelou gathered in North Carolina Saturday for a private memorial service to remember one of the world’s most famous writers of the 20th century. First lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey were among the dignitaries who honored Angelou at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, where Maya Angelou taught for three decades. She died on May 28 at her home in North Carolina. She was 86 years old. Born Marguerite [Annie] Johnson in St. Louis, Maya Angelou grew up in Arkansas in the Jim Crow South. At the age of seven or eight, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. He was killed shortly thereafter. As a result of the trauma, she remained virtually silent for five years, speaking only to her brother. She became a mother at age 17. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, short on to become an actress, singer, and dancer. After she fell in love with a South African civil rights activist, they moved to Cairo. She later lived in Ghana, where she met Malcolm X and the two collaborated on developing his organization of Afro-American unity.. She returned to the U.S. to support the effort, but Malcolm X was assassinated shortly after her return. That tragedy and the 1968 assassination of her friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. devastated Angelou. It was in 1969 that she was encouraged by the author James Baldwin among others to focus on her writing. Thus was born "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," her first of seven autobiographies and the phenomenal career for which she’s known around the world. In 1993, Maya Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of the Morning" at Bill Clinton’s inauguration. She was the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961. President Clinton spoke at Saturday’s memorial.
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: I loved Maya. The last time we were together was just a couple of weeks ago at the LBJ Library in Austin. They were having a — Andy was there — they were having a 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act. And they had an all day conference. And I gave my little talk and we went into this lunch, and it was like a political version of the "Antiques Roadshow." Oh, Bill Russell came up and hugged me and reminded me how short I was. And I looked over and there was Maya. I went over to her and hugged her and said, I cannot believe that you have gotten yourself here. And she said, just because I am wheelchair-bound, doesn’t mean I don’t get around. That’s the first thing I want to say, that girl got around. Let me tell you how this all started. I first encountered Maya Angelou as a young man when I read "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." It was written in 1970 about the time I started law school, and shortly after he came out, I read it and I was the one who was struck dumb. I thought, first of all, Stamps, Arkansas it’s set is about 25 miles from where I was born. I got a lot of relatives who live there. I knew the people she was talking about, the problems she was documenting. But the thing that struck me about the book, even more than horrible abuse she endured and the five years of silence that followed, was that this little kid, the whole time this was going on, was paying attention. She may have stopped talking, but she never stopped looking. She was paying attention. And absorbing the people she saw, the patterns of life, the experience, and trying to make sense of it. She had enough experiences for five lifetimes. We could all just show up here and talk about a piece of her life.
Think about that. She moved from being a mute child to being reunited with her mother, to being in a school of dance and drama to being the first African-American woman to be a streetcar director. To having a baby, to having to be a short order cook and other stuff to feed the baby and keep body and soul together. That was all when she was a teenager. She wasn’t even 20 years old and all that had happened to her. Then in her 20’s, she was singing and dancing and acting in the U.S. and Europe. In her thirties she became a member of the Harlem Writers Guild. By 32, she’d moved to Egypt to run a newspaper and by 33 she was living in Ghana. By then she’d had mastered five languages, went through your horrible accident accident with you and how you both would control the rest of your life. And I admire you and I’m grateful to you for the life you have lived. So, thank you for that. And she meets Malcolm X and comes back here to work for him and he gets killed. She goes to work for Martin Luther King, and on her 40th birthday, he gets killed. We could all just be up here talking about how Maya Angelou represented a big piece of America’s history and triumphed over adversity and proved how dumb racism is, but her great gift in her action-packed life was she was always paying attention. And by the time she started writing her books and poetry, what she was basically doing was calling our attention to the things she’d been paying attention to. And she did it with the clarity and power that will wash over people as long as there’s a written and spoken word.
"The Caged Bird" was the first manifestation of her great gifts. Otherwise, somebody else would have had to have written that book about that little girl and what happened to her and how she couldn’t talk, and why she didn’t talk. And she just kept calling our attention to things. I often thought of her gigantic figure as like the little fireflies we used to catch in the summertime and put in jars. They just come on at unpredictable times and they’d make you see something that you otherwise would have missed. Something right before your nose you’d been overlooking. Something in your mind you’d been burying. Something in your heart you afraid to face. She called our attention in thousands of ways to her belief that life is a gift, manifest in each new day. She called our attention to the fact that things that really matter — dignity, work, love and kindness — are things we can all share and don’t cost anything. And they matter more than the differences of wealth and power, of strength and beauty, of intellect. All that is nice if you put it to the right use, but nothing is more powerful than giving honor to the things we share.
She also taught us through all those decades of challenges that life is a constant choice. Every day, you got to get up and make a choice. Will you choose light or darkness. Choose to reach out or draw in. Choose to speak out or shut up. Will you be paralyzed by your past and failures, or will you forgive yourself enough to be unchained? History, despite its wrenching pain, need not be lived again. That’s what she taught me and millions of others. Here is why I think she died when she did. It was her voice. She was without a voice for five years, and then she developed the greatest voice on the planet. God loaned her his voice. She had the voice of God. And he decided he wanted back for a while. So, my friend, we thank you for calling our attention to the things you paid attention to. We thank you for helping to organize our scale so that we give heavy weight to the most important things. We thank you for reminding us that on each new day, we can give birth again to the dream. And that every day we should look into our sister’s eyes and our brothers face, to all our nation and say, good morning. As long as we have time, we should keep the courage to begin again. That is what you did. And how blessed we are because of it.
AMY GOODMAN: Former President Bill Clinton speaking Saturday at the memorial service for Maya Angelou, who died on May 28 at the age of 86. After break, we’ll hear from first lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey. Back in a minute.
[Break]
AMY GOODMAN: That was a clip by Oprah’s OWN TV of Maya Angelou singing "Run Joe," in the 1957 film, "Calypso Heatwave." This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace report. The writer, the poet, the performer, Maya Angelou, was also remembered Saturday at the memorial in North Carolina at Wake Forrest where she taught for three decades. Maya Angelou died last month at the age of 86. Speakers included first lady Michelle Obama.
MICHELLE OBAMA: To the family, Guy, to all of you, to the friends, President Clinton, Oprah, my mother Sicily Tyson, Ambassador Young, let me just share something with you. My mother, Marian Robinson, never cares about anything I do. But when Dr. Maya Angelou passed, she said, you’re going, aren’t you? I said, mom, I’m not really sure, have to check with my schedule. She said, you are going, right? I said, well I’m going to get back to you, but I’m going to have to check with the people and figure it out. I came back up to her room and I found out that I was scheduled to go and she said, that’s good, now I’m happy. It is such a profound honor, truly a profound honor to be here today on behalf of of myself and my husband as we celebrate one of the greatest spirits our world has ever known, our dear friend Dr. Maya Angelou. In the Book of Psalms, it reads "I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth." What a perfect description of Maya Angelou and the gift she gave to her family and to all who loved her. She taught us that we are each wonderfully made, intricately woven, and put on this earth for purpose far greater than we could ever imagine. And when I think about Maya Angelou, I think about the affirming power of her words. The first time I read "Phenomenal Woman," I was struck by how she celebrated black women’s beauty like no one had ever dared to before. Our curves, our stride, our strength, our grace. Her words were clever and sassy, they were powerful and sexual and boastful. And in that one singular poem, Maya Angelou spoke to the essence of black women, but she also graced us with an anthem for all women, a call for all of us to embrace our God-given beauty. And oh, show desperately black girls needed that message. As a young woman, I needed that message.
As a child, my first doll was Malibu Barbie. That was the standard for perfection. That was what the world told me to aspire to. But then I discovered Maya Angelou, and her words lifted me right out of my own little head. Her message was very simple. She told us that our worth has nothing to do with what the world might say. Instead, she said each of us comes from the creator, trailing wisps of glory. She reminded us that we must each find our own voice, decide our own value, and then announce it to the world with all the pride and joy that is our birthright as members of the human race. Dr. Angelou’s words sustained me on every step of my journey, through lonely moments in ivy-covered classrooms and colorless skyscrapers, through blissful moments mothering two splendid baby girls, through long years on the campaign trail where, at times, my very womanhood was dissected and questioned. For me, that was the power of Maya Angelou’s words. Words so powerful that they carried a little black girl from the south side of Chicago all the way to the White House.
And today, as first lady, whenever the term "authentic" is used to describe me, I take it as a tremendous compliment because I know that I am following in the footsteps of great women like Maya Angelou. But really, I am just a beginner. I am baby authentic. Maya Angelou, now, she was the original. She was the master. For at a time when there were such stifling constraints on how black women could exist in the world, she serenely disregarded all of the rules with fiercely, passionate, unapologetic self. She was comfortable in every last inch of her glorious brown skin. But for Dr. Angelou, her own transition was never enough. You see, she didn’t just want to be phenomenal herself, she wanted all of us to be phenomenal right alongside her. So that is what she did throughout her lifetime. She gathered so many of us under her wing. I wish I was her daughter, but I was right under that wing. Sharing her wisdom, her genius, and her boundless love.
I first came into her presence in 2008 when she spoke at a campaign rally here in North Carolina. At that point, she was in a wheelchair hooked up to an oxygen tank to help her breathe. But, let me tell you, she rolled up like she owned the place. She took the stage, as she always did, like she had been born there. And I was so completely awed and overwhelmed by her presence, I could barely concentrate on what she was saying to me. But, while I don’t remember her exact words, I do remember exactly how she made me feel. She made me feel like I owned the place, too. She made me feel like I had been born on that stage right next to her. And I remember thinking to myself, Maya Angelou knows who I am, and she is rooting for me. So now, I’m good. I can do this. I can do this. And that’s really true for us all. Because in so many ways, Maya Angelou knew us. She knew our hope, our pain, our ambition, our fear, our anger, our shame. And she assured us that despite it all — in fact, because of it all, we were good. And in doing so, she paved the way for me and Oprah and so many others just to be our good old black woman selves. She showed us that eventually, if we stayed true to who we are, then the world would embrace us. And she did this not just for black women, but for all women, for all human beings. She taught us all that it is OK to be your regular old self, whatever that is. Your poor self, your broken self, you’re brilliant, bold, phenomenal self. That was Maya Angelou’s reach.
She touched me, she touched all of you, she touched people all across the globe, including a young white woman from Kansas who named her daughter after Maya and raised her son to be the first black president of the United States. So when I heard that Dr. Angelou had passed, well, I felt a deep sense of loss. I also felt a profound sense of peace, because there is no question that Maya Angelou will always be with us because there was something truly divine about Maya. I know that now as always, she is right where she belongs. May her memory be a blessing to us all. Thank you. God bless.
AMY GOODMAN: First Lady Michelle Obama speaking at Saturday’s memorial service for Maya Angelou at Wake Forest University, where Maya Angelou taught for over 30 years. Oprah Winfrey also spoke.
OPRAH WINFREY: I remember the first time I heard that phrase, "God put a rainbow in the clouds." I was in utter despair and distraught and had called Maya. I remember being locked in the bathroom with the door closed, sitting on the toilet seat. I was crying so hard she could barely understand what I was saying. And I had — I was upset about something that I can’t even remember now what it was. Isn’t that how life works? And I called for long-distance cry on her shoulder, but she wasn’t having it. She said, as you all know she could, stop it! Stop it now. And I’d say, what? What? What did you say? And she said, stop your crying now. And I continued to sniffle and she said, did you hear me? And I said, yes, ma’am. Only she could level me to my seven year old self in an instant. And she said, I said why do you want me to stop crying, I’m trying to explain to you what happened. And she said, I want you to stop and say thank you, because whatever it is, you have the faith to know that God has put a rainbow in the clouds. And you are going to come out on the other side of whatever it is the better for it. She was in all ways, no matter the time of day or night or the situation, she was always there for me to be the rainbow.
I marvel at God. I am just in awe that I, a little colored then Negro girl, growing up in Mississippi, having read "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," and for the first time, reading a story about someone who was like me. I marveled that from the first page, what you looking at me for, didn’t come to stay, only came to say happy Easter day. I was that girl who had done Easter pieces and Christmas pieces. I was that girl who loved to read. I was that girl who was raised by my southern grandmother. I was that girl who was raped at nine. So, when I first met Maya Angelou the late 1970’s in Baltimore as a young news reporter and begged her to do interview with me. And I said, I promise, I promise, I promise, if you just give me your time, I promise it would only be five minutes. At the end of four minutes and 58 seconds, I told the cameramen, done. And Maya Angelou looked at me and said, who are you, girl? First we became friendly and then sister friends and the first time she told me I was her daughter, I knew I had found home.
Sitting at her kitchen table on Valley Road, she was reading Paul Lawrence Dunbar, "little brown baby with sparkling eyes." That was my favorite place to be, at the kitchen table, or sitting at her feet, leaning over her lap, laughing out loud for real. Soaking up all the knowledge, all the things that she had to teach, the grace, the love, all of it, my heart was full. Rarely did we ever have a phone conversation where I wasn’t taking notes. She was always teaching. When you learn, teach. When you get, give. I was a devoted student of Maya Angelou’s. Learning up to our very last conversation, the Sunday before she died. It has been difficult for me to try to put into words what it means to lose, as Sicily said, our rock. She was my anchor. So it is hard to describe to you what it means when you’re anchor shifts. But, I realized this morning, I really don’t have to put it into words. What I have to do is live it. Because that is what she would want. She would want me, you, us to live her legacy.
I remember when I opened my school in South Africa and I said to her, oh, Maya, this is going to be my greatest legacy. And she said, not so fast. Your legacy, she said, is every woman who ever watched your show and decided to go back to school. Your legacy is every man who decided to forgive his father. It is every gay person who decided to come out because they saw a show of yours. Your legacy is every person you ever touched. Your legacy is how you lived and what you did and what you said every day. So true, sister Maya. I want to live your legacy. We want to live your legacy as you touched us all. Each of us who knew her, those only touched by her words or those who were able to be blessed to sit at the kitchen table, we are next in line to be a Maya Angelou to someone else. It’s a challenge that I embrace with my whole heart. I cannot fill her shoes, but I can walk in her footsteps. To carry and pass on to the next generation. What she knew so well, what she tried to teach all of us. We are more alike than we are different. When I see you, I’m really just looking at myself in a different costume. I am human, and therefore, nothing human is alien to me, she used to teach. So, we must carry on and pass on, lifting humanity up, helping people to live lives of purpose and dignity to pass on. The poetry of courage and respect. That is what she would want. That is what we will do. And I know I will do it in a way that she most would want. In my last conversation with her, I was telling her about going to film the movie "Selma." And she said to me, as she always said when I was doing any kind of job, she said "Baby, I want you to do it and I want you to take it, take it all the way!"
AMY GOODMAN: Oprah Winfrey, speaking Saturday at the memorial service for the poet, for the performer, for the author, for the writer, playwright, activist Maya Angelou. She died May 28 at the age of 86.
Freed From Prison, Bahraini Activist Nabeel Rajab Urges U.S. to Stop Backing Regime’s Crackdown
Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, joins us after nearly two years behind bars for his role in pro-democracy protests. With the critical backing of the U.S. and neighboring Gulf states, the Bahraini government has waged a crackdown on opposition protesters since an uprising broke out in February 2011. "We have been abandoned by the American government, we have been ignored completely," Rajab says. "They support a dictatorship here... no one can change their policy except the American people." We are also joined by Human Rights Watch’s Josh Colangelo, author of a new report that finds Bahrain’s courts have played a key role in maintaining the country’s highly repressive political order, routinely sentencing peaceful protesters to lengthy prison terms.TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We turn to the Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain where a leading human rights activist has been released after nearly two years in prison for his role in pro-democracy protests. Speaking after his release, Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, vowed to continue the struggle for democracy under the U.S.-backed monarchy.
NABEEL RAJAB: [Translated] With great regret I was in imprisoned for giving speeches. My participation in defending the human rights in Bahrain, but really, these two years have changed me to be much stronger. Prison for me was like a school. And I will continue to fight for the people and human rights and with the political societies until we achieve our goals that we started on February 14.
AMY GOODMAN: The Bahraini government has waged a crack down on opposition protesters since an uprising broke out in February 2011. Last month, thousands marched at the funeral of a 14 old boy who activists say was killed by shotgun pellets fired by police. Meanwhile, a recent report by Human Rights Watch has found Bahrain’s courts play a key role in maintaining the countries highly repressive political order, routinely sentencing peaceful protesters to lengthy prison terms. The report is called "Criminalizing Dissent, Entrenching Impunity". For more, though, we go first to the capital city of Manama in Bahrain, where we’re joined by Democracy Now! video stream, Nabeel Rajab, Director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights. Welcome to Democracy Now! And congratulations on your freedom. How does it feel to be out of prison, Nabeel?
NABEEL RAJAB: Well, first of all, thank you very much, and I am happy to talk to you after doing more than two years, and please, before I start, I would ask you and I would urge you, please to continue covering Bahrain as Bahrain is being ignored and neglected by most of the TV stations and the media because as they owned ruling family in the region here. So, I urge you to continue covering Bahrain. Regarding my two years, there’s a saying that says, that does not kill you, it makes you stronger. That is what happened to me. I am stronger now than before. I am more determined to fight for freedom and democracy in my country. I know the struggle, and as I told you, more than two years ago, struggle for democracy in this part of the world is not an easy thing. It’s a difficult thing. You are dealing with a ruling family that came outside and ruled this country 200 years ago, treated people like slaves. Now we want to change the situation to more democratic environment. It is not an easy thing. It has a cost. And there will be more costs. We’ve paid a lot of lives. Thousands of people behind bars, hundreds of human rights and political activists behind bars. I mean, at least five percent of the Bahraini population were in and out of jail the past three and four years. So, it’s very costly. We pay the high cost. We did not yet achieve. But, the struggle still goes on. And I think we are from February 14, 2011, we started a revolution, a peaceful revolution, calling for democracy. Since that day, we have started one-way ticket and we are not going to go back until we achieve our democracy. We know it’s difficult —
AMY GOODMAN: Nabeel, on what charges were you re-convicted and sent to prison for two years?
NABEEL RAJAB: Well, first, it was two charges against me, [Indiscernible] once I was criticizing the Prime Minister and the other one [Indiscernible]. And both of them from the same ruling family. Then, again, I was charged with taking part in an illegal protest which did not take permission, and for those I got I got two years, for taking part in a protest —- peaceful protest calling for democracy and respect for human rights. And I -—
AMY GOODMAN: How were you treated in prison?
NABEEL RAJAB: Well, I was the only one, among thousands of political prisoners, isolated from the other prisoners. I was kept in a separate cell in a separate building. I don’t communicate, I don’t mix with the other hundreds and thousands of political prisoners. I was with two or three, sometimes four people, most of them are charged with criminal charges far away from my charges. They disconnected me from the outside world. I don’t know what is happening outside. I was not allowed to talk on the telephone with my family about what is happening outside. So, I was not aware in what is happening in the country.
AMY GOODMAN: Nabeel Rajab, you’re speaking to people all over the United States, as well as around the world. What was the role of the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, the significance, or what kind of power does the U.S. have in relation to the Bahraini monarchy?
NABEEL RAJAB: Well, Bahrain, is maybe other than other country. The Navy plays a big role, the American Navy more than the American State Department. And for them the priority is their presence, priority is their interests with Bahrain, priority is the arms sale and all that. So, we have been ignored completely by American government and Western powers. Very disappointing. And I always say, ignoring the struggle of people and supporting dictators, that push people toward extremism. We have been abandoned by the American government. We have been ignored completely. People are dying. People are — villages are being attacked on daily basis. Most were demolished. We were one of the worst countries in the human rights report in the past few years. But you don’t see any action taken by the American government. Instead of that, you see officials going and coming as if nothing is happening. They support the dictatorship here. And I don’t know, maybe they don’t think democracy will serve their interest, so that is why they completely — so, I urge the American people —- nobody can change that situation. Nobody one can change the American policy except the American people. I urge American people to pressure the American government, through your member of parliament, through your congressman to change the situation, to ask the American government not to support dictators. They’re supporting dictators. They are against the struggle of people who are fighting for democracy in this part of -—
AMY GOODMAN: Nabeel Rajab, we’re also joined here in New York by Josh Colangelo, who is the consultant to Human Rights Watch and an attorney who wrote the report, "Criminalizing Dissent, Entrenching Impunity: Persistent Failure of the Bahraini Justice System." Can you talk about the situation Nabeel Rajab has been in and so many others?
JOSH COLANGELO: We have seen since 2011 when massive pro-democracy protests began, that Bahraini courts have consistently convicted people and sentenced them to long terms, essentially for expressing opposition to the political system in Bahrain. If you call for the establishment of a Republic in Bahrain, that can get your life term. If you call for the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, that can get you sent to jail. So, this is a pattern that we have seen military courts that were created during the unrest in 2011 and it continues now in civilian courts as well.
AMY GOODMAN: What are the main findings now and recommendations of this report?
JOSH COLANGELO: So, we found that Bahraini courts, by their own words, meaning if you simply read their verdicts, are sending people away because the people have said we want a more democratic form of government here. We also looked at cases in which security personnel have been charged with human rights abuses, including killings. What we found there is even when courts concluded that security personnel had committed fairly heinous crimes — beating detainees to death, shooting them at very close range — people would get sentences of six months, for example, which you compare to Nabeel Rajab’s two-year sentence for being at a peaceful protest, really tells you probably everything you need to know about the justice system.
AMY GOODMAN: And the role of U.S. military sales and the United States?
JOSH COLANGELO: What we have seen is that quiet diplomacy, if that is in fact happening, does not appear to have much effect. What is interesting to note is in 2011 after months of a severe crackdown, the King of Bahrain appointed an independent commission to investigate human rights abuses that had taken place. Which was, in all honesty, a commendable step. That happened shortly after President Obama openly spoke in critical terms about the situation in Bahrain, which certainly suggests even public words by the U.S. government can have an effect there. We have not heard this public words in a very long time.
AMY GOODMAN: And how — the story of the the al-Khawajas right now. In fact, I wanted to ask you, Nabeel Rajab, another of the many people who have been imprisoned is Abdulhadi al-Khawaja who also was the Director for the Gulf Center for Human Rights, as you were before you were imprisoned, and are now. What is happening with him?
NABEEL RAJAB: Well, it’s sad and funny that between me and Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a few meters and I could not see him for the past three years. I was in a separate building. My uncle was also there, he’s 67 years of age, and he’s a few meters from me but I could not see him. Unfortunately, those people are facing the same circumstances that I have faced, except they are together. They were not isolated like me, but they kept three or four of them together. But, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja present this issue of how human rights defendants are treated in this country. Other than him you have Naji Fateen [sp], you have many people. If they are not in jail, they are out of the country, they run away from the situation because except me, I don’t think there are much human rights activists out of jail now. Even me —
AMY GOODMAN: Are you going to continue to speak out, Nabeel?
NABEEL RAJAB: Yes, I’m going to continue. In fact, in the past few days, the newspaper were talking about me and telling me that soon I’m going to go back to jail because I did not keep quiet as they though, or as they expected. But, again, somebody has to pay the price to achieve democracy and freedom.
AMY GOODMAN: And Josh Colangelo, what the U.S. could do to change the situation, the significance of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet there?
JOSH COLANGELO: Well, some people say that because we want to have this naval base that the U.S. is without leverage. In other words, it has to be committed to the current system as it exists. What we know, though, is that the Bahrainis, in their view, are very much reliant on the U.S. for their own security. So certainly that is a two-way street. And whatever quiet efforts that may been going on, again, they don’t seem to be bearing fruit so it’s time to change tack.
AMY GOODMAN: Josh Colangelo and Nabeel Rajab, we want to thank you for being with us. Josh Colangelo attorney and consultant for Human Rights Watch. We’ll link to the report, "Criminalizing Dissent, Entrenching Impunity". And thank you again, Nabeel Rajab, for joining us now, back as Director for the Gulf Center for Human Rights, just released after nearly two years in prison for his role in pro-democracy protests in the island kingdom of Bahrain. He was joining us from Manama, Bahrain.
Headlines:
•Pakistani Taliban Claim Responsibility for Deadly Airport Attack
At least 29 people are dead after a militant attack on Pakistan’s main international airport in Karachi. Gunmen disguised as state forces made it past a security checkpoint to attack a terminal used by government officials. Pakistani forces regained control of the terminal after an overnight gun battle. Ten airport guards were killed along with ten militants. The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility, claiming it was avenging the treatment of its prisoners and a U.S. drone strike that killed its leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, late last year. The Pakistani government moved toward peace talks with the Taliban earlier this year, but the process has faltered with a split inside the Taliban over whether to take part.
•Ex-Military Leader Sisi Sworn-In as Egyptian President
Egyptian military leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has been sworn in as the country’s new President following his landslide election win last month. Sisi took over 96 percent in a vote boycotted by opponents and criticized by international observers. Sisi headed the country’s ruling military council after leading the coup that overthrew Mohamed Morsi one year ago next month. In his inaugural address, Sisi pledged to overcome what he called the "mistakes of the past."
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi: "I intend to make sure the upcoming rebuilding phase will be full of pledges domestically and internationally to make up for what we have missed and fix the mistakes of the past. We will establish a strong republic that will be just, safe and stable, prosperous and blessed. A republic that believes in knowledge and work. And a state that realises that resources have to come from its children and go to its children."
Sisi is the sixth military leader to run Egypt since the army overthrew the monarchy in 1952.
•5 Dead in Las Vegas Shooting Rampage
Five people are dead in Las Vegas after a pair of shooters killed three people and then took their own lives. The suspects reportedly shouted "this is a revolution" before shooting dead two police officers eating lunch in a restaurant. They then fatally shot a civilian inside a nearby Walmart. Las Vegas sheriff Doug Gillespie detailed how the rampage unfolded.
Doug Gillespie: "After shooting our officers, the suspects went across the parking lot to the WalMart in the same plaza. At 11:27, our dispatch received a second call of shots fired at the WalMart store. Two teams of patrol officers arrived on scene and did hear shots being fired. One citizen was discovered deceased inside the front door of the store. Our officers entered the front and back of the WalMart store. Our officers did come in contact with suspects, at which time gunfire took place between the officers and the suspects. A short time later, more shots were heard. Preliminary, it appears the female suspect shot the male suspect, then took her own life."
The shooters reportedly laid down "Don’t Tread On Me" flags of the American Revolutionary War on the officers’ bodies. According to ABC News, the U.S. is now averaging 15 mass shootings a year, a three-fold increase from six years ago.
•Bergdahl Tortured, Kept in Cage During Taliban Captivity
New details have emerged of freed U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl’s time in Taliban captivity. Bergdahl has told military doctors he was beaten, tortured, and locked in a metal cage for weeks and possibly months at a time as punishment for trying to escape. He is reportedly now in good enough physical condition to fly home to the United States, but will remain at an American military hospital in Germany until mentally ready. The Obama administration faces continued Republican criticism for winning Bergdahl’s freedom in return for five Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. Speaking to CNN, Republican Senator John McCain claimed Obama has released "hardcore military jihadists who are responsible for 9/11." Speaking to CNN, Secretary of State John Kerry defended the prisoner exchange.
Secretary of State John Kerry: "It would have been offensive and incomprehensible to consciously leave an American behind, no matter what, to leave an American behind in the hands of people who would torture him, cut off his head, do any number of things. And we would consciously choose to do that? That’s the other side of this equation. I don’t think anybody would think that is the appropriate thing to do."
•Bergdahl Family Receives Death Threats
The FBI meanwhile says it’s investigating death threats sent to Bowe Bergdahl’s father, Bob. The first of the threats were received last week when the town of Hailey, Idaho cancelled a rally celebrating the younger Bergdahl’s release. Bob Bergdahl has been the target of right-wing criticism after he learnt to speak Pashto and grew out his beard in a bid to reach out to his son’s captors.
•Wisconsin LGBT Couples Exchange Vows After Marriage Ban Struck Down
Dozens of LGBT couples have exchanged vows in Wisconsin after a federal judge struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban. Couples flocked to county clerk’s offices in Milwaukee and Madison on Friday shortly after the ruling came down. Larry Dupuis of the American Civil Liberties Union called the decision a victory for equality.
Larry Dupuis: "This is an incredible day. Time to celebrate. Obviously there are more steps coming, but this is a huge, huge victory for freedom and equality in this state."
Wisconsin’s ban became the latest to be rejected since the Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act last year. Gay marriage advocates have now won 15 straight cases since the Supreme Court’s decision. Wisconsin’s Republican Attorney General is seeking an emergency order to stop the weddings, meaning they could be put on hold.
•Texas GOP Adopts Anti-LGBT "Conversion Therapy" in Party Platform
Texas Republicans have adopted LGBT "conversion" as an official party position. Around 7,000 delegates approved without debate a platform that includes so-called "reparative therapy." The Tea Party-backed plank recognizes "the legitimacy and efficacy of counseling… for those patients seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle." Both New Jersey and California have banned so-called "conversion" therapy on minors.
•Over 1,000 Undocumented Children Held in Arizona Warehouse
The federal government has transferred hundreds of undocumented immigrant children to a makeshift detention center in Arizona following a surge of crossings from Central America. Over 1,000 children are reportedly being held at a warehouse in Nogales, some sleeping in plastic containers. Around 300 children caught near the Texas border crossing with Mexico were moved to Nogales over the weekend. Cyndi Whitmore of the Phoenix Restoration Project, an immigrant rights group, voiced concerns over the children’s conditions.
Cyndi Whitmore: "I think the volume that we’re seeing right now is pretty unprecedented. They’re putting together some last-minute and transitional shelters and processing areas, which of course we have concerns about, whether or not those facilities are adequate. We’ve already seen the facilities in which the family units were being held were very inadequate, to the point of being inhumane."
After their detention at the Nogales site, the children will be sent to one of three U.S. military bases in Oklahoma, California, or Texas. The Department of Homeland Security says it’s seeing a surge of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central America. Up to 90,000 unaccompanied minors are expected to cross into the United States this year. Last month, U.S. officials dropped off hundreds of undocumented immigrants at a Phoenix bus station. They were told to find their relatives around the nation and then report to the nearest federal immigration center. Advocates have accused the government of stranding the migrants with no food or money in sweltering heat.
•Maya Angelou Honored at North Carolina Memorial
The writer and activist Maya Angelou was remembered Saturday at a memorial service in North Carolina. Angelou died last month at the age of 86. First Lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton and media mogul Oprah Winfrey were among the dignitaries to honor Angelou at Winston-Salem’s Wake Forest University, where she taught for three decades. Obama said Angelou had championed African-American women like no one before.
Michelle Obama: "She showed us that eventually if we stay true to who we are then the world would embrace us. And she did this not just for black women but for all women, for all human beings. She taught us that it is OK to be your regular old self, whatever that is. Your poor self, your broken self, your brilliant, bold, phenomenal self. That was Maya Angelou’s reach."
•Basque, Anti-Monarchy Protesters Rally in Spain
Tens of thousands of people rallied in Spain over the weekend as part of a continued push for a referendum on ending the monarchy. Anti-monarchy demonstrations have erupted since King Juan Carlos announced plans to abdicate the throne to his son Prince Felipe last week. The king was selected by dictator Francisco Franco and crowned after Franco’s death in 1975. Meanwhile in the northern Basque region, tens of thousands of people held hands on Sunday to form a giant human chain calling for a vote on independence. An estimated 100,000 people took part.
•5 Sentenced for 2006 Murder of Russian Journalist
And a Russian court has sentenced five people to prison for the 2006 murder of the journalist and human rights advocate Anna Politkovskaya. A fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Chechen war, Politkovskaya was shot dead outside her home. Two of the defendants were jailed for life while three others were given sentences between 12 to 20 years. Russian activists say they want the case to remain open until it’s determined who ordered Politkovskaya’s murder.
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