As Greece Erupts, BBC's Paul Mason on "The New Global …
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Eight youths, tending their flock of sheep in the snowy fields of Afghanistan, were exterminated last week by a NATO airstrike.
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid died of an apparent asthma attack today while covering the conflict in Syria. One of the most celebrated journalists covering the Middle East, Shadid, 43, had been a guest on Democracy Now! several times over the past decade reporting on Libya, Tunisia, Iraq and Lebanon.
Part 2: "Who Killed Che? How the CIA Got Away with Murder": New Book Ties Johnson Admin to Che Death
In an extended interview, co-authors Michael Ratner and Michael Steven Smith discuss the life of Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara and the chilling story behind his murder by the Bolivian military. In their book, "Who Killed Che?" Ratner and Smith draw on previously unpublished U.S. government documents to argue the CIA played a critical role in the killing. [includes rush transcript]
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Start 2012 off right with a contribution to Democracy Now!
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Democracy Now! reports on the case of Georgia death row prisoner Troy Davis. Davis was convicted in 1989 of killing of off-duty white police officer, Mark MacPhail. Since then, seven of the nine non-police witnesses who fingered Davis have recanted their testimony, and there is no physical evidence that ties Davis to the crime scene. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal March 28, 2011. With his legal appeals exhausted, the fate of Davis rests largely in the hands of Georgia’s Board of Pardons and Parole.
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Year of Global Uprisings, from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street: A Special Look Back at 2011
January 02, 2012 | StoryToday we look back at 2011, a year that saw the U.S. killing of Osama Bin Laden, the ouster of a dictator in Egypt and the death of one in Libya, the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, and the expansion of the secret U.S. drone war in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula. As U.S. troops leave Iraq, thousands of private security contractors remain to guard the U.S. embassy—the largest in the world. The Horn of Africa was hit by the region’s worst drought in decades as the devastating impact of extreme weather was felt across the globe, while the world’s most powerful countries continue to refuse to join in a pact to address climate change. However, 2011 may be most remembered as a year of global uprisings. From the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street, millions of people took to the streets to oppose repressive regimes and an unjust economic system. We spend the hour today looking back at the protest movements that shaped 2011. [includes rush transcript]
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Martina Correia, 1967-2011: NAACP’s Ben Jealous on the Life of Troy Davis’ Sister, Public Champion
December 15, 2011 | StoryThe funeral of Georgia activist Martina Correia, the older sister of former death row prisoner Troy Anthony Davis, was held earlier this month in her home town of Savannah, Georgia. She passed away December 1 after a more than decade-long battle with breast cancer at the age of 44. At the same time as she fought to save her own life, Correia struggled valiantly to save that of her brother’s. Davis was executed by the state of Georgia on September 21, despite major doubts about evidence used to convict him of killing police officer Mark MacPhail, including the recantation of seven of the nine non-police witnesses. "She leaves behind a tremendous legacy," NAACP President Ben Jealous says. "Martina really had inspired activists around the country, including young activists." [includes rush transcript]
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NAACP: Mumia Abu-Jamal Victory over Death Penalty Signals Turning Tide Against Capital Punishment
December 15, 2011 | StoryHundreds of supporters of the imprisoned journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal gathered last week in Philadelphia to mark the 30th anniversary of his arrest for the killing of a white police officer. The event occurred just two days after Philadelphia prosecutors announced they will no longer seek the death penalty for Abu-Jamal. We ask NAACP president and CEO Ben Jealous to comment on the developments in his case. "The fact that Seth Williams felt, the DA in Philly felt, emboldened to come forward and to ask for something that was so reasonable and so just, in a city with such a conservative law enforcement history, really is testament to the fact that public support for the death penalty has fallen to an all-time low since it was reinstated, in the wake of Troy Davis’s execution," Jealous says. [includes rush transcript]
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Martina Correia, 1967-2011: Led Struggle to Save Brother Troy Davis’ Life as She Fought for Her Own
December 02, 2011 | StoryThe Georgia activist Martina Correia died on Thursday after a more than decade-long battle with breast cancer. She was 44 years old. At the same time as she fought to save her own life, Martina Correia struggled valiantly to save that of her brother’s — Troy Anthony Davis. Troy Davis was executed by the state of Georgia on September 21 despite major doubts about the case, including the recantation of seven of the nine non-police witnesses. Correia was her brother’s staunchest advocate, at times leading rallies and public events from her wheelchair. She will also be remembered for her relentless women’s health activism after advocating for the creation of mobile mammography vans serving poor women in Savannah. At the funeral for Troy Davis in October, Amy Goodman spoke to Correia about her brother’s life, her quest to end the death penalty, and her own struggle against cancer. "The fight for my life, and the fight for Troy’s life, has been two-fold. They used poison to kill my brother, and then they use poison to keep me alive," Correia said. "So I want people to understand that we’re not supposed to kill people, and we’re supposed to help people. And I want them to know that Troy is just as much me as I am Troy. And I’ll never forget that." [includes rush transcript]
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New York Times Profiles Democracy Now!
October 24, 2011 | Blog PostClick here to read A Grass-Roots Newscast Gives a Voice to Struggles, by Brian Stelter.
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Mourners Call for Abolishing Death Penalty at Funeral for Troy Davis in Georgia
October 03, 2011 | StoryThis weekend in Savannah, Georgia, Troy Anthony Davis was laid to rest. Davis was killed by lethal injection in Jackson, Georgia, on September 21 after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stop his execution. The 2,000-seat Jonesville Baptist Church was filled to capacity for his funeral. While his body was being lowered into the burial ground, 23 doves were released. The first was symbolic of his spirit, and the remaining 22 represented each year Davis spent in prison. He was convicted of the 1989 killing of an off-duty police officer, Mark MacPhail. Since then, seven of the nine witnesses have recanted their testimony, and there was no physical evidence that tied Davis to the crime scene. Democracy Now! was in Savannah for the funeral, and we play excerpts from the eulogies by Jason Ewart, Troy Davis’s attorney and an eyewitness to his execution; Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP; Larry Cox, president of Amnesty International USA; Edward DuBose, president of NAACP-Georgia; Ledra Sullivan-Russell, friend of Troy Davis; Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church; Antone De’Jaun Davis-Correia, nephew of Troy Davis. [includes rush transcript]
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Legendary Comedian Dick Gregory on Hunger Strike to Protest Capital Punishment, Death of Troy Davis
October 03, 2011 | StoryCivil rights activist and comedian Dick Gregory was among the people who filled the 2,000-capacity Jonesville Baptist Church that hosted Troy Davis’s funeral on Saturday in Savannah, Georgia. Afterward, he told Democracy Now! he was starting a year-long hunger strike that night to protest against the death penalty. "I’m going to go not eating no solid food until next fall," Gregory says. He called on others to pray and meditate that "the truth will come out" in Davis’s conviction for the 1989 killing of off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail—a crime which Davis has always maintained he did not commit. [includes rush transcript]
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Martina Correia, Sister of Troy Davis, Vows to Keep Fighting Death Penalty
October 03, 2011 | StoryAfter the funeral on Saturday of Troy Anthony Davis, executed by the state of Georgia on Sept. 21, we spoke with his sister, Martina Correia. She fought for her brother’s life at the same time she fought for her own as she battled breast cancer. "I know we will be able to abolish the death penalty. Everyone is asking the question, why kill when there is doubt? We are no longer going to except that," Correia says. [includes rush transcript]
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Michael Moore: Man Interviewed by Democracy Now! Inspired My Georgia Boycott over Troy Davis Execution
September 28, 2011 | Blog PostFilmmaker Michael Moore describes how he was inspired to boycott Georgia by one of the people Democracy Now! interviewed at the protest outside the prison shortly after news of Troy Davis’s execution was announced. [includes rush transcript]
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"Troy Davis and the Machinery of Death" By Amy Goodman
September 28, 2011 | Blog PostOn Sept. 21 at 7 p.m., Troy Anthony Davis was scheduled to die. I was reporting live from outside Georgia’s death row in Jackson, awaiting news about whether the Supreme Court would spare his life.
