Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's the week of August seventeenth, twenty twenty five, and
this is what's on the People's News. We speak with
Congressman Al Green about a legislative update of the fourth
annual Slavery Remembrance Day. HPD releases a video of a
shooting which brings more details. Americans will be dealing with
(00:26):
a new virus that's coming soon to the United States.
Texas is especially vulnerable. The commander in cheats tariffs are
causing suffering throughout the United States and the world, including
the African continent in South Africa. All that and more
on the People's News. I'm Steve Gallington. This is the
(00:50):
People's News, and the People's News starts now. Congressman Al
Green represents the Texas ninth Congressional district. Rather than using
his position to gain additional power or engage in corruption
(01:10):
or fraud, Congressman Green has fought for the people of
his district during his entire tenure within the House of Representatives.
He led the impeachment drive for the convicted felon, fraud, cheater,
and corrupt man Donald Trump, while also fighting for voting rights.
(01:31):
His district is one of the districts that is the
target of the convicted felon and the corrupt GOP Governor
of Texas, Greg Abbott. He held the fourth annual Slavery
Remembrance Day and Legislative Update to say to his constituents
to never forget what slavery has done to blacks in
(01:52):
the US, and the cost of forgetting this is high.
This year's theme was we have come too far to
turn back.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
We must we must let us be to prevent the
evils of slavery.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
From being repeated.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
We must to communicate the suffering and the lives lost
because of slavery.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
We must for the first twenty enslave Africans who arrived
in the British colonies at point covered you know what
is not an work continued on also playing from sixteen nineteen.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
We must for the twelve million humans from all walks
of life whose lives were stored from Him when they
were kidnapped from Africa and forced into slap. We must
(03:02):
for the Africans sold into slavery by other Africans.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
We must for.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
The twelve percent of human beings who suffered the end
him passage and did not survive the horrific bo We
must for.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
The men and women and.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Children in your.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Cloth, together with many shino and chain.
Speaker 5 (03:36):
We must for your slave human being who often work
so after some died.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Six and seven days of awful food.
Speaker 6 (03:51):
We must.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
For the mothers and fathers who were separated from.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
That sholdren, and so on the loser boots.
Speaker 7 (04:04):
We must.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
For the freedom fighters such as Nat Turner who fall
to free and slaved people, who gave their lives.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
In the fight for freedom and justice.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
We must.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
For the tens of thousands of enslaved human beings who
risk their lives in search of freedom on the underground railroad.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
We must.
Speaker 8 (04:35):
For the freedom.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Fighters such as Having the Time, who escaped slavery and dedicated.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
A life to returning to the South a little less.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Than thirteen freedom enslaving men, women and children thirteen high nager.
Speaker 7 (04:54):
We must.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
For the white liberators like Colin Brown and President of
Abraham Lincoln who lived and died combative American institution of slavery.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
We must ah.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
To commemorate the centuries of suffering, the ears of tears shed,
the history of hearts broken, the brutality of blood still,
and the greeting of the lives lost because of slavery.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
We must oh.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yet, in the spirit of righteous remembers imbued would love
for our country that hasn't always loved.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
As brothers and sisters of.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
African ancestry, we have to acknowledge.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
That in the spike of slater, and this spike is.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Impidious offsprings, mass mentioned complicacy, black codes, labial segregation, and
institutionalized racism. African Americans have come all in all, from
arriving on space ships to our ascension to judicis from
(06:12):
surviving me then be the passage to riding among them movests,
from shackle the chains, to creating societal change, from seeing
at the back of bus to owning bus, coming from
the having no home to living get the White House,
from they to.
Speaker 7 (06:32):
The thinking, con prosinate, thinking President O lovely, I mean,
oh boy, and memails being called girls disrespectfully, we.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Can now claim that we can respectfully have some among us.
At least two presented ass the President at BATA Private President, we.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Must Harris County Commissioner Ronnie Ellis was also in attendance
and stated how important history is to this country and
that we must never forget.
Speaker 9 (07:11):
I think slavery remember today is a very important milestone
in world history. And I'm so proud of Commissman Algerine
for being a sponsor of it. This event is growing
every year and I just look forward to it. It's
one of the premium events in Houston. I hope people
around the country catch on they do it as well.
(07:32):
In this climate makes it even more important to know
our history. And it's a rich history, and it's a
history that ought to obviously be celebrated. Remember it those
who don't want to repeat it, you know, and it's
not just African Americans. You know, the underground railroad will
make reference.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
To from Texas didn't go north, he went south.
Speaker 9 (07:52):
Most people don't notice as a black president of Mexico.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Google him, you'll be shocked. And he didn't get his
full term. They might have taken him out.
Speaker 9 (07:59):
Important because about a slavery and that is partially why
that was a battle for the independence of Texas. The
impresarios were told three things they had to do. They
had to convert to Catholicism, they had to speak Spanish,
and they could own slaves. Okay, they said, fine, we
can't Spanish, Wino, but they couldn't own slaves. Now, why
(08:23):
do you think they had a war for the independence
of Texas footnote in history Everything.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
The congressman sat down for an interview with the People's
News after the event.
Speaker 10 (08:33):
Well, first, let me thank you for giving me the
opportunity to spend time with you and your audience. You
have an audience that is act to your audience participants,
and I want your artists to audience.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
To know that I appreciate them. Your question has to
do with the crisis that's in the country, and for
some people, it's not a crisis. They see this as
what they've been waiting for.
Speaker 10 (08:59):
They see this as something to celebrate and appreciate a
president who is evolving democracy into autocracy.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
They welcome this, it seems.
Speaker 10 (09:09):
But we who understand the costs and price of freedom,
who have suffered some of the indignations and humiliations associated
with segregation, we understand and don't want to see us
return to that painful part of our past.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I am a person who says I had bank to
color water fountains, and I sat in the back of
the bus. I had to sit in the bacum of
the movie.
Speaker 10 (09:35):
I had to step off the sidewalk literally when men
of another here would come along and would not yield
a portion of the sign.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
And that didn't happen occasionally.
Speaker 10 (09:46):
It happened quite regularly in the southern town where I live,
where my friends and neighbors.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Denied me the rights recognizing.
Speaker 10 (09:53):
The Constitution for more So, this crisis that you've called
to my attention is one that is not insurmountable, but
it does require our attention and our participation.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Every person has a role to play.
Speaker 10 (10:11):
We've got to make sure that, notwithstanding how we feel
about the last election, we've got to vote, because regardless
as to how we feel about the last election, we've
seen the consequences of allowing a person to stack me
back at the Supreme Court, to take charge of the
House of Representatives, to take control of the Senate, and to.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Pass laws many that harm us. Now, I want to
make something very clear.
Speaker 10 (10:38):
I understand why some people decided that they were not
going to participate when we meeting democrats.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
I'm a liberated Democrat on bost unafraid of censure, but
non scientist.
Speaker 10 (10:51):
When we took control of the House of Senate and
the Presidency, we had a commitment we were supposed to
pass John Lewis voting rights. And we were supposed to
pass George Floyd Justice and Policing and we didn't. We
were supposed to raise the minimum wage twenty five cents
an hour.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Is despicable, and we didn't. Now there are other things
I single out of these three.
Speaker 10 (11:12):
These were things that were expected of people who've been
talking about them for years on end and literally saying
not in these exact words, but if we get the power,
we will produce.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Well, we didn't.
Speaker 10 (11:27):
And I say to people, I know, I know what happened,
and I understand why there was this desire to be
less than enthusiastic about the election that just passed.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
I understand it.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
By the way.
Speaker 10 (11:46):
I wanted all of those things that I just talked
about to pass, and I fought to get the past.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
But we didn't get it done. And I want you
to know that.
Speaker 10 (11:57):
Notwithstanding that, and it's a painful thing to know that
we should have done these things and didn't do them.
Notwithstanding that, we have to vote to prevent a greater
erosion of the rights that we have under this president.
We're seeing the Voting Rights Act eviscerated. We are Section
two of the Voting Rights actors hanging on by a thread.
(12:19):
It was Section two that opened the doors to the
voting booth. To us, it was Section two that made
a great difference in our lives. It was Section two
that helped us, helped us to defeat some of the
atrocities and voting that were taking place here in Texas,
where at one time only whites could vote in primaries.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
The Supreme Court.
Speaker 10 (12:40):
Said, Texas, you can't do that. And Texas said, okay,
we'll have white pre primaries. And the Supreme Court said, well, Texas,
we told you you couldn't have white primaries. You can't
have white pre primaries either. Texas said, okay, Well, what
we'll do then is require you to have a poll tax,
and the Supreme Court.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Sat, well, Texas can't have a whole tax. Then in
Texas say, all.
Speaker 10 (13:02):
Right, then we'll go fast forward and we'll just require
you to have an idea that you don't have.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I mean, these things just evolve. They don't go away.
Speaker 10 (13:12):
They metamorphosed into a different state such that they continue.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
But you don't know that it's what it was. It's
still what it is.
Speaker 10 (13:21):
So we've got to fight this. But we can't fight
it unless we elect people who are willing to fight. Now,
if a person is not willing to fight, I'm with you.
I don't want people who don't want to fight. I
want people going to be able to say racism. We
elect a lot of people who can't say racism. We
elect people who are of the opinion that if you
(13:44):
say racism, somehow you become.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Persona and ungraded. Well, we're not going to allow that.
Speaker 10 (13:51):
We've got to be able to fight the racism that
exists in this country in lending, in jobs, in housing,
in healthcare.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
That's racism. So we've got to fight and focus on
the things that are.
Speaker 10 (14:04):
Important to everybody and not exclude the things that are
important to people of color.
Speaker 6 (14:09):
How scary is it that now when you look at
DC and this is gonna be a blueprint for different
states and cities across the country, to the eyes and
put national guards in the.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
Streets the city. Let me tell you the lesson that
I would have people recall as a relation to d C.
Excuse me. The President.
Speaker 10 (14:35):
Has brought in resources and he's saying that there's a
crime problem. Now, what is happening in DC and around
this country is we deny the resources that are needed,
and when they things get bad, then the president can
(14:56):
come in and say you didn't take care of your people,
and we can only say, but you didn't give us
the resources. If the resources that the president's bringing now
had been in DC, whatever you think the crime problem is,
it would probably be less than what it is, okay, because.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
He brought When you bring in eight hundred National Guards person.
Speaker 10 (15:21):
When you when you have the power of others on reserve,
and yes you can, you can do some things. By
the way, I think that's a devolution into autocracy. That's
when the president does this. Why would you allow those
resources to be in the form of dollars so that
this mayor in d C could take that money and
(15:42):
out of police officers necessary to properly defend the city.
By the way, I prefer the term peace officers, the
peace officers that.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Could if they're in the city.
Speaker 10 (15:54):
We see this in communities around the country where you
see a pocket apology and then you get a person elected.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
To office who says we're going to do something about it,
and that person can't because they won't give the resources.
Speaker 10 (16:07):
We've got to have resources if we're going to make
changes in these pockets. Are poverty in the lives of
people who want homes, in the lives of people who
are trying to get loans.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
You have to have resources, and I'm saying the people
that there's hope.
Speaker 10 (16:24):
By the way, here, I'm saying to people what happened
in DC is a good lesson for us in terms
of what resources can do. But it's also a good
lesson in terms of resources denied. Here's why one billion
dollars is being held up by Congress. They's supposed to
go to Washington, d C. Congress is holding up the
billion dollars. The President could say release that money and
(16:47):
it would be released overnight. But rather than release the
money so that the funds could go to DC, he
wants to make a show of it and bring the
National Guard and so that he can claim I cleaned
up the nation's capital. About show for him, But it's
not about show for the people live in Washington, d C.
If they want good governance, then they have to demand
(17:08):
that the president do for d C what he would
do temporarily for thirty days. Let it happen in terms
of funding d C. Let it happen perpetually, not occasionally.
And that's what he's doing, and some sooner or later,
the National Guards person's going to go away. You know,
all of that help is going to go away. DC
(17:29):
will be back where it was, and then they'll claim
and see and look at that they can't manage it. Well,
they can't manage it because you don't allow the resources
to come in for it to be managed. But you know, then,
by the way, I'm saying this with the understanding that
crime is not what the President is saying it is.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
There's not the emergency that he claims it is.
Speaker 10 (17:49):
Now, if one person is hurt, for that one person,
he's an emergency, okay, but that's not the way.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
We're defining it for for bringing the National Guard.
Speaker 7 (17:57):
Now.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Final thing on DC is this.
Speaker 10 (18:00):
A great opportunity for us to realize that DC ought
to be a state. If DC were a state, the
president would have to ask the governor for permission if
he wanted to bring the National Guard, or the governor
would have to say to the president, as the president,
we need the National Guard barring some national some sort
of major emergency. So I think we've been demanding it.
(18:23):
I'm a big supporter of DC statehood. It has a
population larger than two states that I'm aware of. So
we need to make sure that we now initiate and appreciate.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
This movement to make DC a state. There's no reason
for it not to be a state other than the
president gets to control it and the Congress gets to
fund it. Well, let's let DC do what other states do.
Speaker 10 (18:46):
Have their own congress people, their own senators, their own governor.
And it's just unusual for people to live in a place,
that country that talks about taxation without representation and then
in the seat of the country have taxation with our representation.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
That was Congressman Al Green, our champion who fights for
us from the ninth Congressional District. The Houston Police Department
just released a video showing Houston Police officer Sergeant Terrell
shoot Brendan Brown in the head July seventh, twenty twenty five,
as Brendan was stopped in a police footchase. Brendan had
(19:31):
no gun in his hand, but did have a gun
on his person. He was pursued after HPD received a
call identifying a person with a gun who had assaulted
a woman and broke into her residence. Sergeant Terrell was
on another call when he came upon Brown running. After shootings,
(19:51):
officers do not render first aid as per HPD policy,
such as CPR and stopping the bleeding by putting pressure
on the wounds. HPD edited out of their video six
minutes immediately after the shooting until CPR was started. Civil
(20:12):
rights lawyer Randall Callanan stated that hopefully justice will come
one day. We spoke to him about the shooting and
also overcrowding in Harris County jails and the high number
of dusks there this year.
Speaker 11 (20:27):
Yeah, Brendan Brown was shot and killed by a Houston
Police Department officer. He had a run from the scene
of an alleged crime and basically he was being caught,
so he was slowing down and as he was pulling
up his pants. Based upon the video that we received,
(20:49):
he was then shot and killed by one of the officers. Now,
the video that was provided to us, which is actually
a part of Mayor Turner's policy change, is basically whatever
clips that they want to show, and also there's a
narrative by the police that goes along with it. They
(21:11):
put these out on YouTube generally about thirty days after
the incident. Now, in this particular case, we would like
to see the whole video, because there there is a
gap afterwards where nobody applies pressure to his wound or
(21:32):
does CPR until almost six minutes later when their policy
has first aid. But they didn't do that in this case,
because a person can even survive head wound, because not
all head wounds are of course fatal, and so that
was not done either. So we have this situation where
(21:54):
there was an unjustified shooting and then after that there
was a lack of meta cook care under the City
of Houston's own policy.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
This party, they were I know, they said they feared
for their life. So it's usually was to was to
claim but police when they have to shoot a suspect,
but was there any fear or any evidence that there
was a threat to the life of the officer?
Speaker 11 (22:28):
Well, the legal standard is whether there is the requisite
danger to the individual. Now, there was some evidence that
he might have a gun. However, tens of thousands of
people are out on the streets of Houston legally carrying guns,
have guns, and you can't just shoot one and then
(22:48):
find a gun later and say, oh, look he had
a gun, so I guess I shot him. It's okay,
the question is whether he had a gun in his
head at the time, and I think the video shows
that he doesn't have a gun in his hand, and
that the interpretation of the video most people is who
looked at it said and he was pulling up the
you know, his pants from the back as he's as
he was stopping running, and that's when you shot and killed.
(23:12):
I think the officer is saying that he thought he
was reaching for a weapon. Of course, when that is analyzed,
it's analyzed by a court and a jury gets to
analyze that. Just then officer says that's what happened. Doesn't
mean that's what the jury will find, is it. You're
asking for a grand jury to look at this this
(23:33):
case or where we stay where we find No, No,
we are not currently doing that, however that might occur
in the future. We don't hold out much hope that
a grand jury will indict the officer. However, there are
you know, potential civil actions to pursue.
Speaker 6 (23:54):
What is where Where is Whittmer's New towards a As
far as.
Speaker 11 (24:02):
You were kind of breaking up there, what did you ask?
Speaker 6 (24:04):
What is what where is Houston mayor Wmers towards the Houston,
the Houston Police Department as far as shootings or even
policies themselves, as far as police.
Speaker 11 (24:17):
Conduct, well generally, the mayor promised, Oh, the mayor was
endorsed by the police officers union when he was running
for the mayor, and then the mayor made the City
of Houston police officers some of the highest paid police
(24:40):
officers in the state of Texas. So currently it would
appear that one of the mayor's political bases is the
police officers.
Speaker 5 (24:50):
And so.
Speaker 11 (24:52):
While that doesn't mean that he's going to obey everything
they asked him to, we do have that going on
that the mayor is, you know, probably counting on their
political support for future.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Elections. Speaking of the mayor, not to change gears here,
but Harris County still haven't a problem with people dying
down at the jail house. It seems that that problem
the mayor or the county judge is still not losing
(25:27):
that problem.
Speaker 11 (25:29):
Yeah, so far this year we've had about twelve or
thirteen deaths in Harris County jail. Last year we had
a total of ten. So we're already more than double
and we're not even two thirds done with the year yet.
And so we're going to be on a track to
beat out last year by quite a bit. So there
(25:50):
definitely is still apparently is problems. When you look at
individual cases, there are problems. And recently I had a
case which where a person was repeatedly injured in the
head by guards at the Harrison County Jail and went
into a coma and as you know, permanent brain damage,
(26:11):
and the court decided that there was.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
Enough. I guess.
Speaker 11 (26:22):
Fact issues whether or not the jail has a policy
of allowing its officers to strike inmates in the head,
because that's a known no no and which you only
do that, you know, under extreme circumstances, like you were
in fear of your life. If that's the only thing
you could do to save yourself from being severely injured
by a an inmate, you can strike them in the head.
(26:45):
But other than that, that's not an approved method of
use of force.
Speaker 6 (26:53):
And I know that the hair a little Hans County
is muscle should be suspects or you know, I people
are being killed in Harrison County. They're sending people to
Louisiana and Mississippi, and now you're having the same problems
in Louisiana Mississippi under contracted prisons, and so we had
(27:17):
some desks. We had some desks in Louisiana recently. So
is there any accountability towards H four, towards the parent county,
towards those those those victims that have been have been
killed in those facilities. Well, generally, only under very extreme
circumstances would Harris County be uh monetarily liable. However, the
(27:41):
facility itself in Louisiana could be liable for those circumstances,
especially if they're a private prison, because unlike government prisons
who get the benefit of qualified immunity and other you know,
more difficult laws to try to get liability, private prisons
have to deal with negligence and gross negligence more like
(28:03):
a personal injury case. So there is more chance of
recovery when you're dealing with a private prison such as
the one in Louisiana. I believe it's the lassal unit
uh that they bring people to. So there is that
is one small advantage of these things happening in a
(28:24):
private prison rather than a government prison. In Texas. In Texas,
we have a board that monitors prisons the state. In
Federal pas I think the state, the state prisons are
monitored and even the jails are monitored by regulations. I
forgot who actually is the who actually monitors them, but
(28:49):
we do have people that monitors up the standards. Who
was taking care of that as far as as Louisiana
or the Louisiana Louisiana government officials monitoring and making sure
they're up to regulation, or is it Texas is supposed
to do that?
Speaker 11 (29:10):
Well, that's a good question that has not arisen. The
name of the the Texas agency is called the Texas
Commission on Jail Standards and they do monitor you know,
the Harris County Jail and all the jails in Texas.
Whether they have jurisdiction over in Louisiana, that would be
(29:34):
a good question. I would think no, because of course
it's a different state and that's a state agency. But
that could be wrong.
Speaker 6 (29:44):
Well, Randall, I'm gonna leave it at that. There's such
other A few people find out more about this case
that you're talking that is the latest shooting.
Speaker 11 (29:53):
Well, you either look google the name the Brendan Brown,
B R and A and Brown and see the media reports.
There's been no lawsuit filed yet in case. There's no
there's no court files to look at.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
Okay, but you are, but you are planning to foul
charges and we do we do not know.
Speaker 11 (30:20):
We are waiting on some more information, such as the
autopsy report and possible more videos, the videos that we
were requesting to see what was left out in the
minutes after the shooting and and that's what we need
to further analyze the case.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
That was civil rights lawyer Randall callanan.
Speaker 8 (30:46):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
This is Steve Gallington, producer and host of the People's News.
If you have a story that needs to be told,
come to us. We accept fully produced audio, written material,
or just give us the idea and we will run
with it. Shiny new one hour episodes of The People's
News drop each Sunday on The People's News podcast hosted
(31:09):
by Spreaker dot com and linked to my website Gallington
dot com. The CDC reports a new virus. Actually it's
not a new virus. It's been around since the fifties,
but it's been expanding throughout the East, in China and
Asia and soon might be making an appearance here in
the Houston area. The US Centers for Disease Control have
(31:31):
issued a travel warning for anyone heading to China, as
thousands in that nation are coming down with the chicken
Gunia virus. The virus is spread by mosquitoes and causes
severe joint pain and fever, which sometimes can be short
lived or go on for years. Chicken Gunya moves easily,
and there are already outbreaks in France and at least
(31:55):
one confirmed case in Italy. It is important to note
that it has not been traced to the US yet,
but with Houston being a large international city and also
having a substantial mosquito population where West Nile virus is
already in place, it is something to be on the
lookout for. Doctor j Reddi is the Chief Science Officer
(32:16):
at health track RX. He is a longtime healthcare and
laboratory executive with a decade of experience in molecular diagnostics.
Most recently as spearheaded helth Track rx's response to the
reemergence of measles and growing concerned about avian influenza or
bird flu, his team has launched molecular testing protocols to
(32:37):
ensure health providers quickly identify outbreaks of many infectious diseases.
Speaker 8 (32:43):
This is a virus that was discovered in actually the
nineteen fifties in Africa, but has really kind of spread
endemically throughout the a lot of the East, particularly China,
India that region, and also see it in South America
and Mexico as well. And really what we're seeing is
(33:05):
an increase in human cases. We're about a quarter of
a million so far this year. And uh, you know,
really it's coming from just the mosquitoes. This isn't a
virus that has spread person to person, but as a
person gets this virus and then maybe travels back to
the United States, the second are bit by a mosquito
in the US, now we can create kind of an
(33:27):
area of transmission in the United States. What is it?
Speaker 6 (33:32):
Why is it? First of all, talk about the origins
of it. It coming from African and it then it's
spreading to Asia.
Speaker 8 (33:41):
Really it's just about the two species of mosquitoes that
it can spread from. And so as you see more travel,
you know, a more frequent travel, international travel, as people
get the chicken guinga virus in one area and travel
to another. Well, now these mosquitoes that are these two
species that are present some other countries can get that
(34:01):
virus and spread it to other humans. So I don't
know if it originated in Africa originally, but that's where
it was first discovered. So I believe the endemic area
has been pretty spread for a while, but now that
we're seeing more international travel, it is making its way
to South America, also in New Mexico, and if it's
making their way to those areas, we can expect to
(34:23):
see it in the United States at some point in
the future.
Speaker 6 (34:26):
What do we do about this as far as stopping
from spreading here.
Speaker 8 (34:32):
Unfortunately, really the only two things we can do to
stop it from spreading here is a wearing mosquito repellent
during these seasons and trying to reduce the areas where
mosquitoes can really harbor. So anywhere where there's still water
around the house, whether it's in a planter or in
a water base or something that's outside, those are areas
(34:54):
where mosquitoes can really thrive, make sure those are dumped out,
And unfortunately, wearing long sleeves, which is tough to do
in Texas, particularly in the summertime.
Speaker 6 (35:07):
Yes, and we're here in Texas, especially in Houston, we
have the West nol virus that's spread by mosquitoes. Is
it the same, I don't know. It just preas the
same way, but it was symptoms the same. Or should
local officials be looking out for this?
Speaker 8 (35:27):
Local officials should definitely be looking at We should all
actually be looking out for this. I mean, we've seen
over the past five years three kind of different endemics
that have happened. They are epidemics that have happened, whether
it's a international and regional with COVID nineteen monkey pots
now called impos measles, and now we're seeing something else
(35:51):
that's developing outside of the US that we can expect
is going to get here at some point. And while
there is similarities in the symptoms like fever and headache
and vomiting diarrhea similar to West Nile, there are there
are differences like severe joint pain. And what we all
need to do as a broader community is be aware
(36:12):
of these viruses and the difference in symptoms. Also be
aware of where we're traveling to make there because there
are two vaccines for this, particularly for people who are
going to travel to these higher risk areas like China,
like India at this point. And then the broader community
to make sure that you know, laboratories like like hell
(36:32):
trac RX or other laboratories across the United States are
ready to test for this virus should it in fact
get here, because that's gonna be one of the keys
when we start seeing this kind of get to the
United States at some point in the future. Is being
able to identify that it's present.
Speaker 6 (36:49):
How closet are we from it coming to the United States.
Speaker 8 (36:54):
Well, we are getting towards the end of summer, and
considering we haven't had any any cases that we've identified
a that have come in the United States and where
mosquitoes have been infected other people, I would say that that's.
Speaker 11 (37:08):
Not something that's likely going to happen next year.
Speaker 8 (37:12):
Because we are getting close to fall. But this is
not something that's going to go away. We're going to
continue to see, you know, these same species of mosquitoes
caring this in South America and Mexico, South Mexico, and
at some point in the future it will work its
way to the United States.
Speaker 6 (37:31):
What do you say as far as the difference between
the way we handle COVID and the way we can
handle this, And I know it's different, it's different, but
what ways can we I know, we did have a
we banned certain people from certain countries from coming into
the United States at one point, But how do we
(37:52):
stop that as far as a travel I mean, there's
people getting vaccinated before they leave. That's just the only
way we can actually prevent or we screen people, we
screen people from coming in those those countries more.
Speaker 7 (38:07):
Uh.
Speaker 8 (38:08):
Yeah, it's a tough that. It's really a tough one
because with COVID, you know, you had a really you
had a shorter time to you know, you had to
use a two to three day after someone you know
was exposed to COVID and got it, you start seeing
symptoms sometimes sooner than that. With chicken gunya that can
be up to eight days, and you know, it could
(38:30):
anywhere between four and eight days, and so you know,
you could get bitten by a mosquito on a Monday,
get on a flight on a Wednesday, and not feel
your symptoms until that you're already in the US. So really,
you know, the best way to prevent this is a
being aware of where where you're traveling to outside of
(38:50):
the US, if it is an area that's kind of
a hot spot for a chicken gunya, and making sure
that you seek where you can get that vaccine ahead
of time to prevent getting it in the first place.
That's going to be best way. Unfortunately, beyond that, there's
very little preventive measures we can do from someone coming
in the United States with this, And then it becomes
(39:10):
how do we make sure that we keep the how
do we make sure we keep ourselves at the lowest
risk as possible, whether that's again getting rid of standing water,
wearing mosquito repellent, where we do having as a country
a better response system where if we do see an
area or a pocket where this is starting to spread,
(39:31):
how are we going to address mosquitos in those areas
we can keep it, you know, really mitigated in that
one little pocket and not you know, spreading beyond that.
So I think preparedness is always the best way, whether
we're talking about being prepared from a knowledge perspective of
where I'm traveling to and what's present there, being prepared
(39:52):
from a laboratory to make sure you're you're able to
test for this if it does get here in the future,
and being prepared from a response more more of a
public sector thing of how are we going to respond
to this if we do see a population get into
the United States, how are we going to dress that
mosquito population to try to make sure that it doesn't
spread beyond that given area.
Speaker 6 (40:13):
And here in Houston on the Texas panandle we have
we have storms coming right now, and that's gonna even
that's gonna make it even harder to try to prevent
if mosquitos from coming from effecting the population here. What
do you say that the people that live along the
panhandle and in the communities and the and the governmental agencies.
Speaker 8 (40:38):
What I would say is, after these storms, the best
thing you can do is go out and make sure
you dump all of the standing water that might be
in anything from a sandbox to uh a potter or plant,
potted plant, any of these things. To make sure that
the standing water and still water's dumped out. This is
where mosquitoes really throw. And you know, wear your mosquito repellent.
(41:04):
There are some some good things out there that that
while not will not be one hundred percent effective, will
reduce the chance of getting a bit by mosquitos. And
you know, again, if you reduce that, if someone if
there is a small population of mosquitoes with chicken gunya
you're going to reduce that even further. So really it's
just about the things that you can control, which is
(41:24):
getting rid of standing water, wearing mosquito repellent, and in
those situations, particularly when you're walking out in the evening
where it is, wearing long sleeves to try to reduce
the chance of getting bitt by a mosquito. And to
your point, it's not only chicken gunya. We also got
West Nile. The number of mosquitoes with West Nile are
(41:45):
increasing right now at the same time.
Speaker 6 (41:47):
And and you said it's two vaccines right now that
if you if you get this, if it will it
would cure it.
Speaker 8 (41:54):
Correct, absolutely, Yeah, there's two vaccines, and if you go
to the manufacturer's website, it will tell you where you
can go get those vaccinations. If you are traveling to
China or India, they're obviously not going to be available
at every single doctor's office around the country, but.
Speaker 6 (42:10):
If you go to the website of too manufacturers.
Speaker 8 (42:13):
You can definitely find that information of where to get that.
Speaker 6 (42:16):
Are there any sat effects?
Speaker 8 (42:18):
Oh yeah, there's side effects to that vaccine not really
intended for people who have low immune systems, but that
that's with most vaccines nowadays, you know it's going to
be different based on the person's prior history and comorbidities.
But if you're going to if you're going to China
(42:41):
and you're a relatively healthy person, it would be it's
a good thing to prevent yourself from getting that because
that severe joint pain can last weeks. It can cause
chronic heart disease for after you get chicken gunya, So
there are some some long term consequences get this virus
(43:01):
from Mosquitos.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
That was doctor J Reddy, who is the Chief Science
Officer at health Track RX. He is a longtime health
care and laboratory executive with a decade of experience in
molecular diagnostics. The current occupant of the White House, the corrupt,
criminal and incompetent senile, Donald Trump, has illegally put tariffs
(43:25):
all over the world on again, off again, roiling the
markets and causing suffering within the United States and outside
the United States. The Court of International Trade has yet
to weigh in on whether these tariffs are legal. It
is widely considered that they are indeed illegal and may
very soon be removed, and that the US will have
(43:49):
to pay back all the tariff fees that they've charged,
which would be a refund to the American people and
to American companies, But until that happens, the pain continues.
Some of the hardest hit countries were African nations, and
South Africa has been hit with a thirty percent tariff
rate to exports the United States. South Africa is the
(44:11):
biggest economy on the African continent and has been singled
out by the convicted felon Donald Trump, and he has
stated without proof that genocide is happening there to his
preferred immigrants, white South Africans. The South African government is
working to renegotiate the thirty percent tariff, which will have
(44:31):
a damaging effect on the country and the people of
the country. Doctor Tischeppo Mesingo Cherry is a South African
scholar at the University of Houston specializing in African history
with a focus on racial formation, radical politics, and religious expression.
We talked to her about the tariffs and the negotiations.
(44:54):
This is the first of a two part interview.
Speaker 12 (44:56):
Sure, this is Sepa Masango Cherry, associated professor at the
University of Houston, and I think maybe we should start
with South Africa and kind of wider policies to the continent,
which is a bit more complicated I think than maybe
(45:17):
most of us understand on this end of the world.
But first and foremost, there have been significant changes in
tariffs and policies towards the continent as a whole. And
what is really important in understanding the ways that trading
(45:39):
partnerships have worked in the past is that the African
Growth Opportunity Act, which was created in around two thousand,
was meant to help create jobs and also to grow
economies throughout the continent writ large, so that Act has
(46:00):
really been at a pinnacle of the ways in which
African countries have anticipated their economic relationship with the US.
In particular, South Africa for a very long time has
maintained strong relationships with the US, and much of that,
(46:23):
I would say is in part an overture to the
late first President Nelson Mandela and his stature as a
worldwide humanitarian. What has shifted under the Trump administration, of course,
has been an increase in terriss The amount of terrorists
(46:48):
per country has also fluctuated as far as what he
has dictated to the to the press, but also to
African leaders. So, for instance, upon his entrance into presidency,
it seemed quite clear that there were several countries that
(47:10):
he was targeting, South Africa being one of them, and
we'll talk about why that might be the case, but
alsoces other spaces inn in Southern Africa, mainly Leto and Zimbabwe.
Many of you might have heard some off color comments
(47:31):
towards list too early on in his presidency, a kind
of disparaging and dismissiveness around last like which country is that?
Where does it exist? Those were some of the initial
comments around LECTU. And he also had anticipated having a
(47:53):
fifty percent tariff towards LYCTA. That has since change. South
Africa is the target of the heightened tariffs. It is
at thirty percent as of now. That's an increase from
the twenty five percent that was initially pinned on the country,
(48:13):
and we'll talk about why that percentage has gone up.
That is that is connected in part to his thoughts
around immigration and refugee status overall and those who will
enter the US, as well as the Land Expropriation Act
in South Africa, which he deems a deeply problematic act
(48:37):
that targets white South Africans, namely those of the Africanic Community.
Alongside with that thirty percent increase, it is notable that
there are other other countries who are suffering from a
tariff increase that we don't necessarily point to you. For instance,
(48:58):
Algeria and Libya are thirty percent at the US border.
Tunisia will face twenty five percent. So these are quite
high tariffs, especially if we look at the economic past
of all of these countries that I'm naming Lisa to.
Fortunately for them did not get that fifty percent that
was initially declared. They're at fifteen percent, which is still
(49:22):
quite high and was real deeply disappointing for their foreign
Economic minister, and they said, they said as much, so
I just want to sort of take a step back
as far as those tariffs and explaining them. So the
(49:43):
thirty percent tariff, that five percent increase came about on
that declaration came about on August first. The implementation has
already since gone into effect in August seventh. And you know,
the President of South Africa, serah Rama PUSA, has spent
quite a bit of time trying to negotiate a different,
(50:07):
a lower tariff amount, given that the US is the
second their second biggest trading partner that did not work
much of the kind of the focus around lowering tariffs.
At least, the strategy that I can see from President
Trump is that he would like South Africa to change
(50:30):
its policy on land. Land has been a very very
critical an thorny issue between the US and South Africa,
and I think it is important to explain, even if
we might have heard this term that thrown around this uh,
the Land Expropriation Act in South Africa, it is an
(50:54):
act that was created by Parliament to attempt to redress
unequal access to an ownership of land across across races.
In fact, it's just a bit worth knowing historically that
(51:15):
those countries that were under British domain had an act
in nineteen thirteen, the Land Act of nineteen thirteen, and
not only hit South Africa, but it also hits spaces
like Kenya, Ghana. I mean, there are quite a few
others that were falling under the British domain. That act
essentially took land out from out from and away from
(51:40):
indigenous communities and in the hands of colonial agents. And
that land was has since sort of main been maintained
in the descendants of the colonial agents despite or former
colonial agents, despite the fact that these countries gained independence
(52:05):
in the late fifties sixties, in the case of South
Africa nineteen ninety four, places like South Africa and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe who gained independence in nineteen eighty have really kind
of wrestled with how to create systems of equality connected
to land and the ways in which land has been
(52:28):
a vital form of livelihood for African people. Overall, it's
complicated because, of course, the land did not just was
not just held in the hands of government officials, but
also in the hands of individuals as it was petered
out to people of European descent, and the case of
(52:52):
South Africa and there apartheid, the decree actually suggested that
eighty five percent about eighty five percent of the land
should be in the hands of essentially of white white
citizens in South Africa, and that that land should be arable,
(53:14):
it should be the best of the land. That about
fifteen percent was not in the hands of African So
this Expropriation Act is meant to speak directly to what
is a seemingly long history around land ownership. But what
is more important for us to understand about this moment
(53:37):
past nineteen ninety four is that post apartheid South Africa
is deeply unequal. In fact, it gets more and more
unequal over time. So that Land Appropriation Act suggests that
the government can retrieve land and can give out land
(53:57):
to create a form of equity. President Trump has been
pushing Rama Pasa to change, not even just amend but
get rid of this act and and the transference would
be lower terriffs. That is something that so Ramapasa, irrespective
of his deep connections to UH business and and sub
(54:23):
Saharan Africa, has been unwilling to make uh and and
really the African National Congress along with other parties would
see it as a deep political betrayal of of the
meaning of freedom for African people overall. So this has
kind of been the quiet negotiation that has taken place
(54:46):
around the terraffs. On the other side, Trump has actively
actively suggested that this Land Appropriation Act, alongside looking at
the crime statistics, has has made South Africa a space
(55:07):
of white genocide, so that it's not just about the
land being taken away, but the suggestion is that white
farmers who own the land that is in potential jeopardy
is being taken away will incur, it will be inflicted
with violence. So it's not just the taking away of land,
(55:29):
but the suggestion that violence will will occur.
Speaker 6 (55:34):
That has not been the.
Speaker 12 (55:35):
Case thus far as this act has operated. What has
been the case, however, is that South Africa has a
high crime rate. And so the crime that that Trump
is pointing to, or the violence that he's pointing to,
is really an an It is really reflective of the
(55:58):
crime rate in South Africa, especially in more desolate and
isolated spaces, and so but even more so that those
who actually are bearing the brunch of violent crimes in
South Africa are black South Africans.
Speaker 1 (56:15):
That was doctor Tascheppo Mashingo Cherry, who is a South
African scholar at the University of Houston specializing in African
history with a focus on racial formation, radical politics, and
religious expression.
Speaker 11 (56:29):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (56:30):
This is Steve Gallington, producer and host of The People's News.
The People's News is people powered News. We are free
to report the unvarnished and unspun truth and challenge the
status quo of corporate propaganda and social media advertising disguised
as real news. Shiny new one hour episodes of The
(56:51):
People's News drop each Sunday on the People's News podcast,
Thanks for Listening. The People's News is a production of
Steve Gallington and Richard Hannah and is protected by copyright laws.
All the information broadcast on air and online, as well
(57:11):
as published in both print and or online, including articles,
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these copyright and other state and federal intellectual property laws. Therefore,
you may not use our content in any prohibited way,
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(57:33):
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Prohibited use also includes publication of our material in printed
or electronic brochures, newsletters, or flyers, as well as all
website or email distribution. To obtain permission to use copyrighted material,
email Steve Gallington at Steve at gallington dot com. Thank you,
It's the week of August seventeenth, twenty twenty five, and
this is what's on the People's News. We speak with
Congressman Al Green about a legislative update of the fourth
annual Slavery Remembrance Day. HPD releases a video of a
shooting which brings more details. Americans will be dealing with
(00:26):
a new virus that's coming soon to the United States.
Texas is especially vulnerable. The commander in cheats tariffs are
causing suffering throughout the United States and the world, including
the African continent in South Africa. All that and more
on the People's News. I'm Steve Gallington. This is the
(00:50):
People's News, and the People's News starts now. Congressman Al
Green represents the Texas ninth Congressional district. Rather than using
his position to gain additional power or engage in corruption
(01:10):
or fraud, Congressman Green has fought for the people of
his district during his entire tenure within the House of Representatives.
He led the impeachment drive for the convicted felon, fraud, cheater,
and corrupt man Donald Trump, while also fighting for voting rights.
(01:31):
His district is one of the districts that is the
target of the convicted felon and the corrupt GOP Governor
of Texas, Greg Abbott. He held the fourth annual Slavery
Remembrance Day and Legislative Update to say to his constituents
to never forget what slavery has done to blacks in
(01:52):
the US, and the cost of forgetting this is high.
This year's theme was we have come too far to
turn back.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
We must we must let us be to prevent the
evils of slavery.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
From being repeated.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
We must to communicate the suffering and the lives lost
because of slavery.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
We must for the first twenty enslave Africans who arrived
in the British colonies at point covered you know what
is not an work continued on also playing from sixteen nineteen.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
We must for the twelve million humans from all walks
of life whose lives were stored from Him when they
were kidnapped from Africa and forced into slap. We must
(03:02):
for the Africans sold into slavery by other Africans.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
We must for.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
The twelve percent of human beings who suffered the end
him passage and did not survive the horrific bo We
must for.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
The men and women and.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Children in your.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Cloth, together with many shino and chain.
Speaker 5 (03:36):
We must for your slave human being who often work
so after some died.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Six and seven days of awful food.
Speaker 6 (03:51):
We must.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
For the mothers and fathers who were separated from.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
That sholdren, and so on the loser boots.
Speaker 7 (04:04):
We must.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
For the freedom fighters such as Nat Turner who fall
to free and slaved people, who gave their lives.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
In the fight for freedom and justice.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
We must.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
For the tens of thousands of enslaved human beings who
risk their lives in search of freedom on the underground railroad.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
We must.
Speaker 8 (04:35):
For the freedom.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Fighters such as Having the Time, who escaped slavery and dedicated.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
A life to returning to the South a little less.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Than thirteen freedom enslaving men, women and children thirteen high nager.
Speaker 7 (04:54):
We must.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
For the white liberators like Colin Brown and President of
Abraham Lincoln who lived and died combative American institution of slavery.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
We must ah.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
To commemorate the centuries of suffering, the ears of tears shed,
the history of hearts broken, the brutality of blood still,
and the greeting of the lives lost because of slavery.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
We must oh.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yet, in the spirit of righteous remembers imbued would love
for our country that hasn't always loved.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
As brothers and sisters of.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
African ancestry, we have to acknowledge.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
That in the spike of slater, and this spike is.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Impidious offsprings, mass mentioned complicacy, black codes, labial segregation, and
institutionalized racism. African Americans have come all in all, from
arriving on space ships to our ascension to judicis from
(06:12):
surviving me then be the passage to riding among them movests,
from shackle the chains, to creating societal change, from seeing
at the back of bus to owning bus, coming from
the having no home to living get the White House,
from they to.
Speaker 7 (06:32):
The thinking, con prosinate, thinking President O lovely, I mean,
oh boy, and memails being called girls disrespectfully, we.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Can now claim that we can respectfully have some among us.
At least two presented ass the President at BATA Private President, we.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Must Harris County Commissioner Ronnie Ellis was also in attendance
and stated how important history is to this country and
that we must never forget.
Speaker 9 (07:11):
I think slavery remember today is a very important milestone
in world history. And I'm so proud of Commissman Algerine
for being a sponsor of it. This event is growing
every year and I just look forward to it. It's
one of the premium events in Houston. I hope people
around the country catch on they do it as well.
(07:32):
In this climate makes it even more important to know
our history. And it's a rich history, and it's a
history that ought to obviously be celebrated. Remember it those
who don't want to repeat it, you know, and it's
not just African Americans. You know, the underground railroad will
make reference.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
To from Texas didn't go north, he went south.
Speaker 9 (07:52):
Most people don't notice as a black president of Mexico.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Google him, you'll be shocked. And he didn't get his
full term. They might have taken him out.
Speaker 9 (07:59):
Important because about a slavery and that is partially why
that was a battle for the independence of Texas. The
impresarios were told three things they had to do. They
had to convert to Catholicism, they had to speak Spanish,
and they could own slaves. Okay, they said, fine, we
can't Spanish, Wino, but they couldn't own slaves. Now, why
(08:23):
do you think they had a war for the independence
of Texas footnote in history Everything.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
The congressman sat down for an interview with the People's
News after the event.
Speaker 10 (08:33):
Well, first, let me thank you for giving me the
opportunity to spend time with you and your audience. You
have an audience that is act to your audience participants,
and I want your artists to audience.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
To know that I appreciate them. Your question has to
do with the crisis that's in the country, and for
some people, it's not a crisis. They see this as
what they've been waiting for.
Speaker 10 (08:59):
They see this as something to celebrate and appreciate a
president who is evolving democracy into autocracy.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
They welcome this, it seems.
Speaker 10 (09:09):
But we who understand the costs and price of freedom,
who have suffered some of the indignations and humiliations associated
with segregation, we understand and don't want to see us
return to that painful part of our past.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I am a person who says I had bank to
color water fountains, and I sat in the back of
the bus. I had to sit in the bacum of
the movie.
Speaker 10 (09:35):
I had to step off the sidewalk literally when men
of another here would come along and would not yield
a portion of the sign.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
And that didn't happen occasionally.
Speaker 10 (09:46):
It happened quite regularly in the southern town where I live,
where my friends and neighbors.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Denied me the rights recognizing.
Speaker 10 (09:53):
The Constitution for more So, this crisis that you've called
to my attention is one that is not insurmountable, but
it does require our attention and our participation.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Every person has a role to play.
Speaker 10 (10:11):
We've got to make sure that, notwithstanding how we feel
about the last election, we've got to vote, because regardless
as to how we feel about the last election, we've
seen the consequences of allowing a person to stack me
back at the Supreme Court, to take charge of the
House of Representatives, to take control of the Senate, and to.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Pass laws many that harm us. Now, I want to
make something very clear.
Speaker 10 (10:38):
I understand why some people decided that they were not
going to participate when we meeting democrats.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
I'm a liberated Democrat on bost unafraid of censure, but
non scientist.
Speaker 10 (10:51):
When we took control of the House of Senate and
the Presidency, we had a commitment we were supposed to
pass John Lewis voting rights. And we were supposed to
pass George Floyd Justice and Policing and we didn't. We
were supposed to raise the minimum wage twenty five cents
an hour.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Is despicable, and we didn't. Now there are other things
I single out of these three.
Speaker 10 (11:12):
These were things that were expected of people who've been
talking about them for years on end and literally saying
not in these exact words, but if we get the power,
we will produce.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Well, we didn't.
Speaker 10 (11:27):
And I say to people, I know, I know what happened,
and I understand why there was this desire to be
less than enthusiastic about the election that just passed.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
I understand it.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
By the way.
Speaker 10 (11:46):
I wanted all of those things that I just talked
about to pass, and I fought to get the past.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
But we didn't get it done. And I want you
to know that.
Speaker 10 (11:57):
Notwithstanding that, and it's a painful thing to know that
we should have done these things and didn't do them.
Notwithstanding that, we have to vote to prevent a greater
erosion of the rights that we have under this president.
We're seeing the Voting Rights Act eviscerated. We are Section
two of the Voting Rights actors hanging on by a thread.
(12:19):
It was Section two that opened the doors to the
voting booth. To us, it was Section two that made
a great difference in our lives. It was Section two
that helped us, helped us to defeat some of the
atrocities and voting that were taking place here in Texas,
where at one time only whites could vote in primaries.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
The Supreme Court.
Speaker 10 (12:40):
Said, Texas, you can't do that. And Texas said, okay,
we'll have white pre primaries. And the Supreme Court said, well, Texas,
we told you you couldn't have white primaries. You can't
have white pre primaries either. Texas said, okay, Well, what
we'll do then is require you to have a poll tax,
and the Supreme Court.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Sat, well, Texas can't have a whole tax. Then in
Texas say, all.
Speaker 10 (13:02):
Right, then we'll go fast forward and we'll just require
you to have an idea that you don't have.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I mean, these things just evolve. They don't go away.
Speaker 10 (13:12):
They metamorphosed into a different state such that they continue.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
But you don't know that it's what it was. It's
still what it is.
Speaker 10 (13:21):
So we've got to fight this. But we can't fight
it unless we elect people who are willing to fight. Now,
if a person is not willing to fight, I'm with you.
I don't want people who don't want to fight. I
want people going to be able to say racism. We
elect a lot of people who can't say racism. We
elect people who are of the opinion that if you
(13:44):
say racism, somehow you become.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Persona and ungraded. Well, we're not going to allow that.
Speaker 10 (13:51):
We've got to be able to fight the racism that
exists in this country in lending, in jobs, in housing,
in healthcare.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
That's racism. So we've got to fight and focus on
the things that are.
Speaker 10 (14:04):
Important to everybody and not exclude the things that are
important to people of color.
Speaker 6 (14:09):
How scary is it that now when you look at
DC and this is gonna be a blueprint for different
states and cities across the country, to the eyes and
put national guards in the.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
Streets the city. Let me tell you the lesson that
I would have people recall as a relation to d C.
Excuse me. The President.
Speaker 10 (14:35):
Has brought in resources and he's saying that there's a
crime problem. Now, what is happening in DC and around
this country is we deny the resources that are needed,
and when they things get bad, then the president can
(14:56):
come in and say you didn't take care of your people,
and we can only say, but you didn't give us
the resources. If the resources that the president's bringing now
had been in DC, whatever you think the crime problem is,
it would probably be less than what it is, okay, because.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
He brought When you bring in eight hundred National Guards person.
Speaker 10 (15:21):
When you when you have the power of others on reserve,
and yes you can, you can do some things. By
the way, I think that's a devolution into autocracy. That's
when the president does this. Why would you allow those
resources to be in the form of dollars so that
this mayor in d C could take that money and
(15:42):
out of police officers necessary to properly defend the city.
By the way, I prefer the term peace officers, the
peace officers that.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Could if they're in the city.
Speaker 10 (15:54):
We see this in communities around the country where you
see a pocket apology and then you get a person elected.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
To office who says we're going to do something about it,
and that person can't because they won't give the resources.
Speaker 10 (16:07):
We've got to have resources if we're going to make
changes in these pockets. Are poverty in the lives of
people who want homes, in the lives of people who
are trying to get loans.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
You have to have resources, and I'm saying the people
that there's hope.
Speaker 10 (16:24):
By the way, here, I'm saying to people what happened
in DC is a good lesson for us in terms
of what resources can do. But it's also a good
lesson in terms of resources denied. Here's why one billion
dollars is being held up by Congress. They's supposed to
go to Washington, d C. Congress is holding up the
billion dollars. The President could say release that money and
(16:47):
it would be released overnight. But rather than release the
money so that the funds could go to DC, he
wants to make a show of it and bring the
National Guard and so that he can claim I cleaned
up the nation's capital. About show for him, But it's
not about show for the people live in Washington, d C.
If they want good governance, then they have to demand
(17:08):
that the president do for d C what he would
do temporarily for thirty days. Let it happen in terms
of funding d C. Let it happen perpetually, not occasionally.
And that's what he's doing, and some sooner or later,
the National Guards person's going to go away. You know,
all of that help is going to go away. DC
(17:29):
will be back where it was, and then they'll claim
and see and look at that they can't manage it. Well,
they can't manage it because you don't allow the resources
to come in for it to be managed. But you know, then,
by the way, I'm saying this with the understanding that
crime is not what the President is saying it is.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
There's not the emergency that he claims it is.
Speaker 10 (17:49):
Now, if one person is hurt, for that one person,
he's an emergency, okay, but that's not the way.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
We're defining it for for bringing the National Guard.
Speaker 7 (17:57):
Now.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Final thing on DC is this.
Speaker 10 (18:00):
A great opportunity for us to realize that DC ought
to be a state. If DC were a state, the
president would have to ask the governor for permission if
he wanted to bring the National Guard, or the governor
would have to say to the president, as the president,
we need the National Guard barring some national some sort
of major emergency. So I think we've been demanding it.
(18:23):
I'm a big supporter of DC statehood. It has a
population larger than two states that I'm aware of. So
we need to make sure that we now initiate and appreciate.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
This movement to make DC a state. There's no reason
for it not to be a state other than the
president gets to control it and the Congress gets to
fund it. Well, let's let DC do what other states do.
Speaker 10 (18:46):
Have their own congress people, their own senators, their own governor.
And it's just unusual for people to live in a place,
that country that talks about taxation without representation and then
in the seat of the country have taxation with our representation.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
That was Congressman Al Green, our champion who fights for
us from the ninth Congressional District. The Houston Police Department
just released a video showing Houston Police officer Sergeant Terrell
shoot Brendan Brown in the head July seventh, twenty twenty five,
as Brendan was stopped in a police footchase. Brendan had
(19:31):
no gun in his hand, but did have a gun
on his person. He was pursued after HPD received a
call identifying a person with a gun who had assaulted
a woman and broke into her residence. Sergeant Terrell was
on another call when he came upon Brown running. After shootings,
(19:51):
officers do not render first aid as per HPD policy,
such as CPR and stopping the bleeding by putting pressure
on the wounds. HPD edited out of their video six
minutes immediately after the shooting until CPR was started. Civil
(20:12):
rights lawyer Randall Callanan stated that hopefully justice will come
one day. We spoke to him about the shooting and
also overcrowding in Harris County jails and the high number
of dusks there this year.
Speaker 11 (20:27):
Yeah, Brendan Brown was shot and killed by a Houston
Police Department officer. He had a run from the scene
of an alleged crime and basically he was being caught,
so he was slowing down and as he was pulling
up his pants. Based upon the video that we received,
(20:49):
he was then shot and killed by one of the officers. Now,
the video that was provided to us, which is actually
a part of Mayor Turner's policy change, is basically whatever
clips that they want to show, and also there's a
narrative by the police that goes along with it. They
(21:11):
put these out on YouTube generally about thirty days after
the incident. Now, in this particular case, we would like
to see the whole video, because there there is a
gap afterwards where nobody applies pressure to his wound or
(21:32):
does CPR until almost six minutes later when their policy
has first aid. But they didn't do that in this case,
because a person can even survive head wound, because not
all head wounds are of course fatal, and so that
was not done either. So we have this situation where
(21:54):
there was an unjustified shooting and then after that there
was a lack of meta cook care under the City
of Houston's own policy.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
This party, they were I know, they said they feared
for their life. So it's usually was to was to
claim but police when they have to shoot a suspect,
but was there any fear or any evidence that there
was a threat to the life of the officer?
Speaker 11 (22:28):
Well, the legal standard is whether there is the requisite
danger to the individual. Now, there was some evidence that
he might have a gun. However, tens of thousands of
people are out on the streets of Houston legally carrying guns,
have guns, and you can't just shoot one and then
(22:48):
find a gun later and say, oh, look he had
a gun, so I guess I shot him. It's okay,
the question is whether he had a gun in his
head at the time, and I think the video shows
that he doesn't have a gun in his hand, and
that the interpretation of the video most people is who
looked at it said and he was pulling up the
you know, his pants from the back as he's as
he was stopping running, and that's when you shot and killed.
(23:12):
I think the officer is saying that he thought he
was reaching for a weapon. Of course, when that is analyzed,
it's analyzed by a court and a jury gets to
analyze that. Just then officer says that's what happened. Doesn't
mean that's what the jury will find, is it. You're
asking for a grand jury to look at this this
(23:33):
case or where we stay where we find No, No,
we are not currently doing that, however that might occur
in the future. We don't hold out much hope that
a grand jury will indict the officer. However, there are
you know, potential civil actions to pursue.
Speaker 6 (23:54):
What is where Where is Whittmer's New towards a As
far as.
Speaker 11 (24:02):
You were kind of breaking up there, what did you ask?
Speaker 6 (24:04):
What is what where is Houston mayor Wmers towards the Houston,
the Houston Police Department as far as shootings or even
policies themselves, as far as police.
Speaker 11 (24:17):
Conduct, well generally, the mayor promised, Oh, the mayor was
endorsed by the police officers union when he was running
for the mayor, and then the mayor made the City
of Houston police officers some of the highest paid police
(24:40):
officers in the state of Texas. So currently it would
appear that one of the mayor's political bases is the
police officers.
Speaker 5 (24:50):
And so.
Speaker 11 (24:52):
While that doesn't mean that he's going to obey everything
they asked him to, we do have that going on
that the mayor is, you know, probably counting on their
political support for future.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Elections. Speaking of the mayor, not to change gears here,
but Harris County still haven't a problem with people dying
down at the jail house. It seems that that problem
the mayor or the county judge is still not losing
(25:27):
that problem.
Speaker 11 (25:29):
Yeah, so far this year we've had about twelve or
thirteen deaths in Harris County jail. Last year we had
a total of ten. So we're already more than double
and we're not even two thirds done with the year yet.
And so we're going to be on a track to
beat out last year by quite a bit. So there
(25:50):
definitely is still apparently is problems. When you look at
individual cases, there are problems. And recently I had a
case which where a person was repeatedly injured in the
head by guards at the Harrison County Jail and went
into a coma and as you know, permanent brain damage,
(26:11):
and the court decided that there was.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
Enough. I guess.
Speaker 11 (26:22):
Fact issues whether or not the jail has a policy
of allowing its officers to strike inmates in the head,
because that's a known no no and which you only
do that, you know, under extreme circumstances, like you were
in fear of your life. If that's the only thing
you could do to save yourself from being severely injured
by a an inmate, you can strike them in the head.
(26:45):
But other than that, that's not an approved method of
use of force.
Speaker 6 (26:53):
And I know that the hair a little Hans County
is muscle should be suspects or you know, I people
are being killed in Harrison County. They're sending people to
Louisiana and Mississippi, and now you're having the same problems
in Louisiana Mississippi under contracted prisons, and so we had
(27:17):
some desks. We had some desks in Louisiana recently. So
is there any accountability towards H four, towards the parent county,
towards those those those victims that have been have been
killed in those facilities. Well, generally, only under very extreme
circumstances would Harris County be uh monetarily liable. However, the
(27:41):
facility itself in Louisiana could be liable for those circumstances,
especially if they're a private prison, because unlike government prisons
who get the benefit of qualified immunity and other you know,
more difficult laws to try to get liability, private prisons
have to deal with negligence and gross negligence more like
(28:03):
a personal injury case. So there is more chance of
recovery when you're dealing with a private prison such as
the one in Louisiana. I believe it's the lassal unit
uh that they bring people to. So there is that
is one small advantage of these things happening in a
(28:24):
private prison rather than a government prison. In Texas. In Texas,
we have a board that monitors prisons the state. In
Federal pas I think the state, the state prisons are
monitored and even the jails are monitored by regulations. I
forgot who actually is the who actually monitors them, but
(28:49):
we do have people that monitors up the standards. Who
was taking care of that as far as as Louisiana
or the Louisiana Louisiana government officials monitoring and making sure
they're up to regulation, or is it Texas is supposed
to do that?
Speaker 11 (29:10):
Well, that's a good question that has not arisen. The
name of the the Texas agency is called the Texas
Commission on Jail Standards and they do monitor you know,
the Harris County Jail and all the jails in Texas.
Whether they have jurisdiction over in Louisiana, that would be
(29:34):
a good question. I would think no, because of course
it's a different state and that's a state agency. But
that could be wrong.
Speaker 6 (29:44):
Well, Randall, I'm gonna leave it at that. There's such
other A few people find out more about this case
that you're talking that is the latest shooting.
Speaker 11 (29:53):
Well, you either look google the name the Brendan Brown,
B R and A and Brown and see the media reports.
There's been no lawsuit filed yet in case. There's no
there's no court files to look at.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
Okay, but you are, but you are planning to foul
charges and we do we do not know.
Speaker 11 (30:20):
We are waiting on some more information, such as the
autopsy report and possible more videos, the videos that we
were requesting to see what was left out in the
minutes after the shooting and and that's what we need
to further analyze the case.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
That was civil rights lawyer Randall callanan.
Speaker 8 (30:46):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
This is Steve Gallington, producer and host of the People's News.
If you have a story that needs to be told,
come to us. We accept fully produced audio, written material,
or just give us the idea and we will run
with it. Shiny new one hour episodes of The People's
News drop each Sunday on The People's News podcast hosted
(31:09):
by Spreaker dot com and linked to my website Gallington
dot com. The CDC reports a new virus. Actually it's
not a new virus. It's been around since the fifties,
but it's been expanding throughout the East, in China and
Asia and soon might be making an appearance here in
the Houston area. The US Centers for Disease Control have
(31:31):
issued a travel warning for anyone heading to China, as
thousands in that nation are coming down with the chicken
Gunia virus. The virus is spread by mosquitoes and causes
severe joint pain and fever, which sometimes can be short
lived or go on for years. Chicken Gunya moves easily,
and there are already outbreaks in France and at least
(31:55):
one confirmed case in Italy. It is important to note
that it has not been traced to the US yet,
but with Houston being a large international city and also
having a substantial mosquito population where West Nile virus is
already in place, it is something to be on the
lookout for. Doctor j Reddi is the Chief Science Officer
(32:16):
at health track RX. He is a longtime healthcare and
laboratory executive with a decade of experience in molecular diagnostics.
Most recently as spearheaded helth Track rx's response to the
reemergence of measles and growing concerned about avian influenza or
bird flu, his team has launched molecular testing protocols to
(32:37):
ensure health providers quickly identify outbreaks of many infectious diseases.
Speaker 8 (32:43):
This is a virus that was discovered in actually the
nineteen fifties in Africa, but has really kind of spread
endemically throughout the a lot of the East, particularly China,
India that region, and also see it in South America
and Mexico as well. And really what we're seeing is
(33:05):
an increase in human cases. We're about a quarter of
a million so far this year. And uh, you know,
really it's coming from just the mosquitoes. This isn't a
virus that has spread person to person, but as a
person gets this virus and then maybe travels back to
the United States, the second are bit by a mosquito
in the US, now we can create kind of an
(33:27):
area of transmission in the United States. What is it?
Speaker 6 (33:32):
Why is it? First of all, talk about the origins
of it. It coming from African and it then it's
spreading to Asia.
Speaker 8 (33:41):
Really it's just about the two species of mosquitoes that
it can spread from. And so as you see more travel,
you know, a more frequent travel, international travel, as people
get the chicken guinga virus in one area and travel
to another. Well, now these mosquitoes that are these two
species that are present some other countries can get that
(34:01):
virus and spread it to other humans. So I don't
know if it originated in Africa originally, but that's where
it was first discovered. So I believe the endemic area
has been pretty spread for a while, but now that
we're seeing more international travel, it is making its way
to South America, also in New Mexico, and if it's
making their way to those areas, we can expect to
(34:23):
see it in the United States at some point in
the future.
Speaker 6 (34:26):
What do we do about this as far as stopping
from spreading here.
Speaker 8 (34:32):
Unfortunately, really the only two things we can do to
stop it from spreading here is a wearing mosquito repellent
during these seasons and trying to reduce the areas where
mosquitoes can really harbor. So anywhere where there's still water
around the house, whether it's in a planter or in
a water base or something that's outside, those are areas
(34:54):
where mosquitoes can really thrive, make sure those are dumped out,
And unfortunately, wearing long sleeves, which is tough to do
in Texas, particularly in the summertime.
Speaker 6 (35:07):
Yes, and we're here in Texas, especially in Houston, we
have the West nol virus that's spread by mosquitoes. Is
it the same, I don't know. It just preas the
same way, but it was symptoms the same. Or should
local officials be looking out for this?
Speaker 8 (35:27):
Local officials should definitely be looking at We should all
actually be looking out for this. I mean, we've seen
over the past five years three kind of different endemics
that have happened. They are epidemics that have happened, whether
it's a international and regional with COVID nineteen monkey pots
now called impos measles, and now we're seeing something else
(35:51):
that's developing outside of the US that we can expect
is going to get here at some point. And while
there is similarities in the symptoms like fever and headache
and vomiting diarrhea similar to West Nile, there are there
are differences like severe joint pain. And what we all
need to do as a broader community is be aware
(36:12):
of these viruses and the difference in symptoms. Also be
aware of where we're traveling to make there because there
are two vaccines for this, particularly for people who are
going to travel to these higher risk areas like China,
like India at this point. And then the broader community
to make sure that you know, laboratories like like hell
(36:32):
trac RX or other laboratories across the United States are
ready to test for this virus should it in fact
get here, because that's gonna be one of the keys
when we start seeing this kind of get to the
United States at some point in the future. Is being
able to identify that it's present.
Speaker 6 (36:49):
How closet are we from it coming to the United States.
Speaker 8 (36:54):
Well, we are getting towards the end of summer, and
considering we haven't had any any cases that we've identified
a that have come in the United States and where
mosquitoes have been infected other people, I would say that that's.
Speaker 11 (37:08):
Not something that's likely going to happen next year.
Speaker 8 (37:12):
Because we are getting close to fall. But this is
not something that's going to go away. We're going to
continue to see, you know, these same species of mosquitoes
caring this in South America and Mexico, South Mexico, and
at some point in the future it will work its
way to the United States.
Speaker 6 (37:31):
What do you say as far as the difference between
the way we handle COVID and the way we can
handle this, And I know it's different, it's different, but
what ways can we I know, we did have a
we banned certain people from certain countries from coming into
the United States at one point, But how do we
(37:52):
stop that as far as a travel I mean, there's
people getting vaccinated before they leave. That's just the only
way we can actually prevent or we screen people, we
screen people from coming in those those countries more.
Speaker 7 (38:07):
Uh.
Speaker 8 (38:08):
Yeah, it's a tough that. It's really a tough one
because with COVID, you know, you had a really you
had a shorter time to you know, you had to
use a two to three day after someone you know
was exposed to COVID and got it, you start seeing
symptoms sometimes sooner than that. With chicken gunya that can
be up to eight days, and you know, it could
(38:30):
anywhere between four and eight days, and so you know,
you could get bitten by a mosquito on a Monday,
get on a flight on a Wednesday, and not feel
your symptoms until that you're already in the US. So really,
you know, the best way to prevent this is a
being aware of where where you're traveling to outside of
(38:50):
the US, if it is an area that's kind of
a hot spot for a chicken gunya, and making sure
that you seek where you can get that vaccine ahead
of time to prevent getting it in the first place.
That's going to be best way. Unfortunately, beyond that, there's
very little preventive measures we can do from someone coming
in the United States with this, And then it becomes
(39:10):
how do we make sure that we keep the how
do we make sure we keep ourselves at the lowest
risk as possible, whether that's again getting rid of standing water,
wearing mosquito repellent, where we do having as a country
a better response system where if we do see an
area or a pocket where this is starting to spread,
(39:31):
how are we going to address mosquitos in those areas
we can keep it, you know, really mitigated in that
one little pocket and not you know, spreading beyond that.
So I think preparedness is always the best way, whether
we're talking about being prepared from a knowledge perspective of
where I'm traveling to and what's present there, being prepared
(39:52):
from a laboratory to make sure you're you're able to
test for this if it does get here in the future,
and being prepared from a response more more of a
public sector thing of how are we going to respond
to this if we do see a population get into
the United States, how are we going to dress that
mosquito population to try to make sure that it doesn't
spread beyond that given area.
Speaker 6 (40:13):
And here in Houston on the Texas panandle we have
we have storms coming right now, and that's gonna even
that's gonna make it even harder to try to prevent
if mosquitos from coming from effecting the population here. What
do you say that the people that live along the
panhandle and in the communities and the and the governmental agencies.
Speaker 8 (40:38):
What I would say is, after these storms, the best
thing you can do is go out and make sure
you dump all of the standing water that might be
in anything from a sandbox to uh a potter or plant,
potted plant, any of these things. To make sure that
the standing water and still water's dumped out. This is
where mosquitoes really throw. And you know, wear your mosquito repellent.
(41:04):
There are some some good things out there that that
while not will not be one hundred percent effective, will
reduce the chance of getting a bit by mosquitos. And
you know, again, if you reduce that, if someone if
there is a small population of mosquitoes with chicken gunya
you're going to reduce that even further. So really it's
just about the things that you can control, which is
(41:24):
getting rid of standing water, wearing mosquito repellent, and in
those situations, particularly when you're walking out in the evening
where it is, wearing long sleeves to try to reduce
the chance of getting bitt by a mosquito. And to
your point, it's not only chicken gunya. We also got
West Nile. The number of mosquitoes with West Nile are
(41:45):
increasing right now at the same time.
Speaker 6 (41:47):
And and you said it's two vaccines right now that
if you if you get this, if it will it
would cure it.
Speaker 8 (41:54):
Correct, absolutely, Yeah, there's two vaccines, and if you go
to the manufacturer's website, it will tell you where you
can go get those vaccinations. If you are traveling to
China or India, they're obviously not going to be available
at every single doctor's office around the country, but.
Speaker 6 (42:10):
If you go to the website of too manufacturers.
Speaker 8 (42:13):
You can definitely find that information of where to get that.
Speaker 6 (42:16):
Are there any sat effects?
Speaker 8 (42:18):
Oh yeah, there's side effects to that vaccine not really
intended for people who have low immune systems, but that
that's with most vaccines nowadays, you know it's going to
be different based on the person's prior history and comorbidities.
But if you're going to if you're going to China
(42:41):
and you're a relatively healthy person, it would be it's
a good thing to prevent yourself from getting that because
that severe joint pain can last weeks. It can cause
chronic heart disease for after you get chicken gunya, So
there are some some long term consequences get this virus
(43:01):
from Mosquitos.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
That was doctor J Reddy, who is the Chief Science
Officer at health Track RX. He is a longtime health
care and laboratory executive with a decade of experience in
molecular diagnostics. The current occupant of the White House, the corrupt,
criminal and incompetent senile, Donald Trump, has illegally put tariffs
(43:25):
all over the world on again, off again, roiling the
markets and causing suffering within the United States and outside
the United States. The Court of International Trade has yet
to weigh in on whether these tariffs are legal. It
is widely considered that they are indeed illegal and may
very soon be removed, and that the US will have
(43:49):
to pay back all the tariff fees that they've charged,
which would be a refund to the American people and
to American companies, But until that happens, the pain continues.
Some of the hardest hit countries were African nations, and
South Africa has been hit with a thirty percent tariff
rate to exports the United States. South Africa is the
(44:11):
biggest economy on the African continent and has been singled
out by the convicted felon Donald Trump, and he has
stated without proof that genocide is happening there to his
preferred immigrants, white South Africans. The South African government is
working to renegotiate the thirty percent tariff, which will have
(44:31):
a damaging effect on the country and the people of
the country. Doctor Tischeppo Mesingo Cherry is a South African
scholar at the University of Houston specializing in African history
with a focus on racial formation, radical politics, and religious expression.
We talked to her about the tariffs and the negotiations.
(44:54):
This is the first of a two part interview.
Speaker 12 (44:56):
Sure, this is Sepa Masango Cherry, associated professor at the
University of Houston, and I think maybe we should start
with South Africa and kind of wider policies to the continent,
which is a bit more complicated I think than maybe
(45:17):
most of us understand on this end of the world.
But first and foremost, there have been significant changes in
tariffs and policies towards the continent as a whole. And
what is really important in understanding the ways that trading
(45:39):
partnerships have worked in the past is that the African
Growth Opportunity Act, which was created in around two thousand,
was meant to help create jobs and also to grow
economies throughout the continent writ large, so that Act has
(46:00):
really been at a pinnacle of the ways in which
African countries have anticipated their economic relationship with the US.
In particular, South Africa for a very long time has
maintained strong relationships with the US, and much of that,
(46:23):
I would say is in part an overture to the
late first President Nelson Mandela and his stature as a
worldwide humanitarian. What has shifted under the Trump administration, of course,
has been an increase in terriss The amount of terrorists
(46:48):
per country has also fluctuated as far as what he
has dictated to the to the press, but also to
African leaders. So, for instance, upon his entrance into presidency,
it seemed quite clear that there were several countries that
(47:10):
he was targeting, South Africa being one of them, and
we'll talk about why that might be the case, but
alsoces other spaces inn in Southern Africa, mainly Leto and Zimbabwe.
Many of you might have heard some off color comments
(47:31):
towards list too early on in his presidency, a kind
of disparaging and dismissiveness around last like which country is that?
Where does it exist? Those were some of the initial
comments around LECTU. And he also had anticipated having a
(47:53):
fifty percent tariff towards LYCTA. That has since change. South
Africa is the target of the heightened tariffs. It is
at thirty percent as of now. That's an increase from
the twenty five percent that was initially pinned on the country,
(48:13):
and we'll talk about why that percentage has gone up.
That is that is connected in part to his thoughts
around immigration and refugee status overall and those who will
enter the US, as well as the Land Expropriation Act
in South Africa, which he deems a deeply problematic act
(48:37):
that targets white South Africans, namely those of the Africanic Community.
Alongside with that thirty percent increase, it is notable that
there are other other countries who are suffering from a
tariff increase that we don't necessarily point to you. For instance,
(48:58):
Algeria and Libya are thirty percent at the US border.
Tunisia will face twenty five percent. So these are quite
high tariffs, especially if we look at the economic past
of all of these countries that I'm naming Lisa to.
Fortunately for them did not get that fifty percent that
was initially declared. They're at fifteen percent, which is still
(49:22):
quite high and was real deeply disappointing for their foreign
Economic minister, and they said, they said as much, so
I just want to sort of take a step back
as far as those tariffs and explaining them. So the
(49:43):
thirty percent tariff, that five percent increase came about on
that declaration came about on August first. The implementation has
already since gone into effect in August seventh. And you know,
the President of South Africa, serah Rama PUSA, has spent
quite a bit of time trying to negotiate a different,
(50:07):
a lower tariff amount, given that the US is the
second their second biggest trading partner that did not work
much of the kind of the focus around lowering tariffs.
At least, the strategy that I can see from President
Trump is that he would like South Africa to change
(50:30):
its policy on land. Land has been a very very
critical an thorny issue between the US and South Africa,
and I think it is important to explain, even if
we might have heard this term that thrown around this uh,
the Land Expropriation Act in South Africa, it is an
(50:54):
act that was created by Parliament to attempt to redress
unequal access to an ownership of land across across races.
In fact, it's just a bit worth knowing historically that
(51:15):
those countries that were under British domain had an act
in nineteen thirteen, the Land Act of nineteen thirteen, and
not only hit South Africa, but it also hits spaces
like Kenya, Ghana. I mean, there are quite a few
others that were falling under the British domain. That act
essentially took land out from out from and away from
(51:40):
indigenous communities and in the hands of colonial agents. And
that land was has since sort of main been maintained
in the descendants of the colonial agents despite or former
colonial agents, despite the fact that these countries gained independence
(52:05):
in the late fifties sixties, in the case of South
Africa nineteen ninety four, places like South Africa and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe who gained independence in nineteen eighty have really kind
of wrestled with how to create systems of equality connected
to land and the ways in which land has been
(52:28):
a vital form of livelihood for African people. Overall, it's
complicated because, of course, the land did not just was
not just held in the hands of government officials, but
also in the hands of individuals as it was petered
out to people of European descent, and the case of
(52:52):
South Africa and there apartheid, the decree actually suggested that
eighty five percent about eighty five percent of the land
should be in the hands of essentially of white white
citizens in South Africa, and that that land should be arable,
(53:14):
it should be the best of the land. That about
fifteen percent was not in the hands of African So
this Expropriation Act is meant to speak directly to what
is a seemingly long history around land ownership. But what
is more important for us to understand about this moment
(53:37):
past nineteen ninety four is that post apartheid South Africa
is deeply unequal. In fact, it gets more and more
unequal over time. So that Land Appropriation Act suggests that
the government can retrieve land and can give out land
(53:57):
to create a form of equity. President Trump has been
pushing Rama Pasa to change, not even just amend but
get rid of this act and and the transference would
be lower terriffs. That is something that so Ramapasa, irrespective
of his deep connections to UH business and and sub
(54:23):
Saharan Africa, has been unwilling to make uh and and
really the African National Congress along with other parties would
see it as a deep political betrayal of of the
meaning of freedom for African people overall. So this has
kind of been the quiet negotiation that has taken place
(54:46):
around the terraffs. On the other side, Trump has actively
actively suggested that this Land Appropriation Act, alongside looking at
the crime statistics, has has made South Africa a space
(55:07):
of white genocide, so that it's not just about the
land being taken away, but the suggestion is that white
farmers who own the land that is in potential jeopardy
is being taken away will incur, it will be inflicted
with violence. So it's not just the taking away of land,
(55:29):
but the suggestion that violence will will occur.
Speaker 6 (55:34):
That has not been the.
Speaker 12 (55:35):
Case thus far as this act has operated. What has
been the case, however, is that South Africa has a
high crime rate. And so the crime that that Trump
is pointing to, or the violence that he's pointing to,
is really an an It is really reflective of the
(55:58):
crime rate in South Africa, especially in more desolate and
isolated spaces, and so but even more so that those
who actually are bearing the brunch of violent crimes in
South Africa are black South Africans.
Speaker 1 (56:15):
That was doctor Tascheppo Mashingo Cherry, who is a South
African scholar at the University of Houston specializing in African
history with a focus on racial formation, radical politics, and
religious expression.
Speaker 11 (56:29):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (56:30):
This is Steve Gallington, producer and host of The People's News.
The People's News is people powered News. We are free
to report the unvarnished and unspun truth and challenge the
status quo of corporate propaganda and social media advertising disguised
as real news. Shiny new one hour episodes of The
(56:51):
People's News drop each Sunday on the People's News podcast,
Thanks for Listening. The People's News is a production of
Steve Gallington and Richard Hannah and is protected by copyright laws.
All the information broadcast on air and online, as well
(57:11):
as published in both print and or online, including articles,
audio clips, illustrations, graphics, photographs, and videos, are protected by
these copyright and other state and federal intellectual property laws. Therefore,
you may not use our content in any prohibited way,
including reproducing, publishing, transmitting, selling, rewriting, broadcasting, or posting on
(57:33):
the Internet without the expressed written permission of the People's News.
Prohibited use also includes publication of our material in printed
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website or email distribution. To obtain permission to use copyrighted material,
email Steve Gallington at Steve at gallington dot com. Thank you,
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