Against alshabab. Hes also the first sitting president to address the African Union. Well go to nairobi for an update. But first, after hundreds gathered in chicago this weekend for the funeral of sandra bland, we go to texas to look at the history of racial profiling in Waller County, where she died, and Police Relations with the Africanamerican Community there. Well speak with judge dewayne charleston, who served as the first africanamerican justice of peace in Waller County and is calling for the local sheriff to resign. Sandra died in sheriff bland smiths custody and control. Yall digest that. Think on that. Sleep on that. And pray on that. He needs to go. Amy all that and more coming up. Amy welcome to democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman n. Yemen, at least 130 people are dead after saudiled air strikes pummeled a residential neighborhood in the western port city of mohka late friday. The strikes at a housing complex for power plant workers flattening building that is spread throughout the neighborhood and burned alive women, children, and the elderly. A resident described the onslaught. There were continuous air strikes without any breaks, and we have no military men, no doubles. We dont even have gunmen around here. We couldnt get to our children. There were some 20 bodies that i pulled out with my own hands and counted. Who is to blame for this . They killed women and children and elderly and young ones. How is this the fault of these innocent people . There are no hutsis here and no military bases. There is nothing here. Amy following the strikes, the Saudiled Coalition agreed to a fiveday ceasefire to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and medical supplies in yemen. The ceasefire took effect monday night at midnight. Within hours, they both said they resumed attacks. A sue sued car bomber attacked a hotel in mogadishu. One of the dead was a kenyan militant. Alshabab has claimed responsibility. At tack came as president obama departed kenya and arrived in ethiopia sunday for talks on counterterrorism efforts against alshabab. Obama is the first sitting u. S. President to visit either ethiopia or kenya, his fathers home country. On tuesday, he also becomes the first sitting president to address the African Union. Well have more on the historic visit later in the broadcast. In more news from africa, burr you understand eyes incumbent president , pierre nkurunziza, has won reelection following widespread proceed lists and violence over what many say was an unconstitutional bid for a third term. In turkey, the government has called for an emergency nato meeting as the military launched a wave of air strikes targeting the selfproclaimed is tam i can state in syria and the Kurdish Workers Party in northern offensive coordinator. The military escalations followed the suicide bombing which killed more than 30 student activists in a turkish city one week ago. The turkish militarys attacks against the p. K. K. Broke an effective twoyear ceasefire between turkey and the cuddish group, who have been in conflict for decades. Protests broke out in istanbul and cities in southeast turkey following the death of a procushedish activist during police raids. Meanwhile, turkey and the United States have developed a joint plan to push isil out of a 60mile strip of syria. The collaboration comes after turkey announced last week it would be opening a key air base to the u. S. Deputy state Department Spokesperson mark toner spoke with the collaboration. Mark it was the horrific attacks in turkey this past week and underscored frankly, the importance of strengthening our mutual efforts to defeat isil in both turkey security in the region. So from that we decided to deep than cooperation and that includes a train program, intelligence sharing, and operational coordination. Amy in cleveland, ohio, the inaugural movement for black lives national convenes concluding with a white Police Officer pepper spraying africanamerican attendees. When conferencegoers witnessed Police Allegedly slamming a 14yearold boy to the ground to arrest him, they blocked the squad car and tried to get the teenager out. A Police Officer then pepper sprayed the crowd. The incident capped a weekend of programming about Police Brutality and racial justiceful among those who attended was former political prisoner and black panther eddie conway, who explained why the conference was a blackonly space. Eddie well, its a blackonly space because we have to get ourselves together. We have to organize ourselves. So other people, if they have an interest in supporting us being our allies or assisting our cause, they need to organize their communities and their space to give us support. Amy the conference in cleveland wrapped up a day after hundreds of people attended the funeral for sandra bland, the 28yearold africanamerican woman found dead in her jail cell in texas july 14. Dash cam video shows texas state plooper Brian Encinia forcibly removing bland from the car after she objected to putting out her cigarette when he pulled her over for allegedly failing to signal a lane change. Her family disputes authorities claim her death was a suicide. Swreel more on Sandra Blands funeral and the latest on her case after head leans. A private autopsy is reportedly underway for a native american activist who was found dead in a mississippi jail one day after sandra bland was found dead. Rexdale henry died five days afterest arrested for failing to pay a fine. He was held in philadelphia, mississippi, the same jail where three civil rights activists, james chaney, andrew goodman, and mickey schwerner, were held before their murder by the ku klux klan in 1964. The white gunman accused of killing two people in a lafayette, louisiana, Movie Theater before killing himself has been dived as john russel houser. According to the southern port law center houser lauded longtime ku klux klan leader david duke, expressed interest in white power groups, antisemitic ideas, and the antigay Westboro Baptist church. He posted about the power of the lone wolf on a forum dedicated to the new york chapter of greeces far right neo institutesee party golden dawn. Houser opened fire thursday night inside a showing of the movie trainwreck, killing two young women, Jillian Johnson and mayci breaux. Authorities say he was able to acquire his gun legally in alabama despite a record of mental illness, alleged Domestic Violence and an arrest for arson. Speaking on face the naste, bobby jindal, president ial candidate, acknowledged houser should not have been able to acquire a gun. In news from honduras, as many as 25,000 people marched friday night to demand the resignation of president juan hernandez. Thousands carried torches during fridays protest, which is the late neast campaign to demand an i understand pefpblet investigation into a 200 million government corruption scandal. In colombia, the government has suspended air strikes against the rebel group farc, the late neast series of steps to deescalate the decadeslong conflict. The president made the announcement after farc leaders announced a ceasefire. Translator given the statement made by the enemy, the farc, the declaration of a ceasefire by the farc, i have given the order to suspend starting today the air strikes on camps where there is a concentration of members of that organization. Noip chill leave, a copper miner was shot dead friday during a strike at the stateowned mining copy, one of the Worlds LargestCopper Mining companies. The strike began last week after a subcontracted worker launched a work stoppage at five mines, demanding the right to collective bargaining. The union has accused the police of fridays Fatal Shooting n. News from brazil more than 1,000 taxi drivers blocked roads across Rio De Janeiro in a protest against the wall streetbacked company ube other friday. Drivers used their yellow taxis to form a threemile blockade of one of the citys busiest though fares. Fridays action in Rio De Janeiro follows intense protests against uber by taxi drivers in paris hong kong, miami and other major cities who say the company threatens their union rights and livelihood. The Obama Administration is reportedly preparing to release convicted israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in a bid to appease israel. Pollard is a former u. S. Intelligence officer convicted of passing u. S. Secrets to israel, and he was sentenced to life in prison. Republican president ial candidate Mike Huckabee has denounced the iran deal invoking the holocaust by accusing president obama of marching israelis to the door. Oven. The head of the Democratic National committee, debbie waserman shultz, has called for huckaby to apologize. Congress is now one week into its period to review the historic deal. In the occupied west bank, a palestinian teenager has been killed in an israeli arrest raid, marking the third such incident in less than a week. Israeli Authorities Say 19yearold Mohammed Abu Latifa was suspected of planning an attack and fell from a roof after being shot while running away. Witnesses and the teens family dispute that account, saying he was executed. In the latest sign of a federal crackdown on Animal Rights activists, the f. B. I. Has arrested two people accused of freeing mink and other animals from fur farms, and vandalizing property linked to the fur and meat industries. Joseph budenburg and Nicole Kissane were charged under the 2006 animal enterprise terrorism act, which elevates crimes like vandalism to terrorist offenses if they threaten industry profits. Health insurance giant anthem has announced plans to buy rival cigna for 54. 2 billion, marking the largest such merger in u. S. History. The move leaves the United States with just three major health insurers. And spelman college, a historically black Womens College in atlanta, georgia, has discontinued a professorship endowed by bill cosby, becoming the late neast series of universities to cut ties after at least 40 people accused cosby of sexual assault. Spelmans move came about a week after the release of a 2005 deposition in which cosby admits to drugging women. Meanwhile, new York Magazine published a cover story on sunday featuring the faces and words of 35 of the cosbys alleged victims and the California Supreme Court has cleared the way for a civil lawsuit against bill cosby filed by a woman who accuse cosby of sexually assaulting her when she was 15 years old. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy guideman. Hundreds gathered to remember sandra bland saturday in the suburban Chicago Church she attended for decades before moving to Waller County, texas, where she was set to begin a new job at her alma mater. People filled the church as well as overflow rooms. Many of them wore white while others wore tshirts with the message sandy speaks. The 28yearold africanamerican womans family members stood before her open casket as they continued to dispute Law Enforcement claims she hung herself with the liner of a trash can in her jail cell. Blands mother geneva reedveal said, that baby did not take herself out of here. She also vowed to continue calling for answers, saying im going to take today and relax. Im going take tomorrow and relax. But men, its on. Illinois senator dick durban and congressman bill foster both attended the funeral and said they have sent letters to u. S. Attorney general Loretta Lynch calling for a federal investigation into Sandra Blands death. During an interview, lynch reportedly said she may undertake such an effort. She said blands arrest highlights the concern of many in the black community that a routine stop for many of our of the members of the black community is not handled with the same professionalism and courtesy that other people may get from the police. Sandra bland was found dead in her jail cell july 13 after a traffic stop escalated into arrest when texas state trooper Brian Encinia forcibly removed her from her car after she allegedly objected to putting out her cigarette. The attorney for her family said he believed she was targeted. When i look at sandy and see that she was doing nothing more than saying i want to be treated the right way i wanted to be treated equal, i say i celebrate you, sister. Thats the way i see it. I dont think that theres anything wrong with making a stand when it comes to being treated fairly. You know, it is hard for me to get beyond the fact that this officer that stopped her made a uturn right after looking at her right square in her face as she made a right hand turn to go about her business. She didnt do anything wrong when she made the right hand turn. She didnt do anything wrong traversing down the street. It looked very much like she was targeted. Amy for the full interview with cannon lambert, as well as Sandra Blands sister, you can go to democracynow. Org. But right now, were going to houston, texas, to look at the history of racial profiling in Waller County, where sandra bland died. Police relations with the Africanamerican Community there. Were joined by judge dewayne charleston. He served as the first africanamerican justice of the peace in Waller County, texas where sandra bland was arrest and had later found dead in jail. On wednesday he spoke at a Court Meeting on the death and called for the sheriff to resifpblee hes author of the United States versus Waller County, then me. Welcome to democracy now . Its great to have you with us. What did you say in your testimony this week . Dewayne well, i was trying to point out that whatever happened in the jail, sandy bland died. And when she was in that jail, she was in the custody and control of sheriff glenn smith. And in anybody had hired a babysitter they come home from work finding their child hung with a trash can liner they would get rid of that babysitter. That babysitter who they entrusted their child to. And so all i was saying is that he bears accountable. He bears responsibility. She died in his care, custody, and control. You know, i believe that he has to go, and theres a line of questionable practices that he has undertaken in both his capacity as police of chief and as the sheriff in Waller County. Amy why dont you talk about that history of sheriff glenn smith, who was first, as you said, police chief of hempstead, and then after being fired, was elected to be sheriff. Judge charleston you know, as i understand it, it was a pretty big media event back then. It was some years ago when he was the chief of police. He had pulled, among other incidents that he was held accountable for, he pulled some africanamericans over. I think he had a couple of his men with him and they were searched in the street. They had their pants pulled down and underwear pulled down, and privates exposed, and they began to strip these guys in public, and there was testimony that one of his men began to ridicule the parts of their anatomy. And when it came to the attention of the city council, he was voted to be terminated. This was just part and parcel of their effort to intimidate, ridicule and malign with an incredible sense of impunity, and i think what happened to sandy bland is just an extension that have culture. Amy as the times put it today, reinforcing what youre saying about his history they said a decade ago, hempsteads only fulltime black Police Officer sued, allegedly that chief smith had dismissed him on a trumped up charge after he complained about a supervisors racial slurs. And an africanamerican couple also sued, allegely chief smith turned them away when he reported a white man assaulted heir 7yearold son at pee wee football practice. Those suits were dismissed. But in 2007, city officials suspended chief smith after he pshed a black man who he had had spit on him in the street. The next year, after complaints about officers who executed faulty warrants and searched a black young mans underwear in public he was fired. So judge dewayne charleston, can you talk about the history of Waller County, which you have been intimately involved with in your years of activism, but going back to you write in your book that Waller County is the last county in the country to abolish slavery. Judge charleston yes. At that time, i think it was part of austin county. Those counties later separated. But it was that territory they remain holdouts, those plantation owners, i think those plantations remained holdouts after the civil war. But even if you go back some 30 years before that, Waller County is where sam houston trained his troops during the winter, before they went to san jiss incidentee and defeated santa ana. Before that, santa ana and his troops killed everybody, all the men at the alamo except for two africanamerican men, benjamin lunde. They freed everybody except the two africanamerican men and the women and children they spared. And it was that thing that got me really interested, back when i was in college, and i came to find out that it was this preparation of sam houston and the defeat of santa ana that gave the Southern States the knowledge to know, the confidence to know that they can secede from the union. And now today, because of that defeat of santa ana, weve got schools named after people who set black people free, people who were fighting to preserve slavery, and yet we malign santa ana, who set black people free. So which was just the beginning. In 1963, 1964, my mother went into labor. My brother my youngest brother was born in a utility closet right there in waller death. He was born in a utility closet because they would not allow my mother to give birth in a room that was reserved for whites. Then if you go forward another 40 years theres a lawsuit because a cemetery under integrated. The city of hempstead will not allow certain people to be buried in certain cemeteries, and they will not maintain the jewish, the white, and the black cemeteries equally, even though they own the deeds and have it. They settled out of court, and supposedly were supposed to begin. So from cradle to the grave, from the beginning of time of the state of texas the republic of texas, to now, Waller County has been at the forefront of suppression and oppression of africanamericans. Amy now judge dewayne charleston, you yourself was born at the historically black college of prairie view a m. Thats where sandra bland was supposed to begin working and where she went to school back 10 years ago. It is also key in Voting Rights in this country, particularly around College Students. Can you explain . Judge charleston in 1972, a guy named charles, a white guy was recruited by the Defense Department to come and integrate the sea program at prairie view. He led a sevenyear fight for africanamericans he was a white guy he led a seven yee fight for africanamericans to vote in Waller County. It took a very active u. S. Supreme court in 1979, the United States versus Waller County, leroy simms, to assure and protect Prairie View College students right to vote in Waller County. It was that decision assured College Students all over america that they could vote in the college in the town in which they were living while they were attending college. Now, since that Supreme Court ruling in 1979 prairie view students have been under attack. There have been three city councilmen, a county attorney, a minister, a judge, two Public Officials, all arrested, all indicted, some convicted after they participated in get out the vote efforts and get out and 19 students were also indicted after they all participated in some get out the vote or campaign initiative. Were talking about suppression of Voting Rights since the Supreme Court assured that right in 1979. There was one District Attorney who threatened to send any student to jail if they dared attempt to vote in Waller County. Nothing happened here, the Justice Department, the District Attorney, nobody slapped him with any criminal offense for his intimidation of Voting Rights. It is a long storied history, and, you know, for sandra bland, underscore that she speaks it up, but sand east bland was not an isolated case. She was systematic of a couple too that has permeated for years in Waller County. She was the tip. When she told her mother that she had found her purpose, that she was coming back to prairie view because she wanted to fight injustice in the south, sandy is speaking about things she felt things she saw, and im just grateful for the fact that she had an opportunity to highlight that, even before she died, and now even more so in her death. Amy i want to go back to something we discussed on friday. You were talking about the sheriff. Youre calling on the sheriff to resign. But i want to ask you about the d. A. In 2014, last yeerk Waller County d. A. Mathis was accused of sending threatening Text Messages after san africanamerican clergyman asked Waller County to provide data on prosecution rates ethnicity. This is a man you worked with, who said after he was prosecuted minorities, mathis texted him with threats. Mathis reportedly told him, youre too stupid to know what that word means. The prosecutor cited examples of white Public Officials he prosecuted and then texted, my hounds aint even started yet, dumb ass, when i talk people will listen keep talking and i will sue your ass for slander. Now, i am quoting the text of the current d. A. The current d. A. , mathis, who is in charge of investigating the death of sandy bland and Holding People accountable perhaps, for example, like the man who arrested her, Brian Encinia, the officer, not to mention the sheriff and those in the jail. Judge charleston this comment is indicative of the spirit of meanness that africanamericans and l. A. Teens, and i assume many whites are subjected to in Waller County. The fact that he would use such verbiage, the fact that he would imply that he would send his hounds after somebody, the fact that he would refer to a pastor as a dumb ass, and the fact that he would do it by texting shows you the absolute incompetence of this d. A. , and it would make one question why would he himself remove himself in light of what he has said . So that the family, the bland family can be assured of total transparency, the total integrity of the election i mean, of the investigation, they would be totally confident in that. Its just like he has got to go along with the sheriff and i cant i cant understand the delay with which the Texas Attorney general or the Justice Department is having in removing him so that the general public, escude specially the bland family would know theres integrity in this investigation. Amy in 2010, judge dewayne charleston, you pled guilty to accepting bribes following an f. B. I. Investigation into corruption which ensnared, also ensnared other Public Officials in the county. Why do you believe your prosecution was racially motivated . Judge charleston like i said, i had led several marches and we sent thousands to Waller County. We had engaged the political process. I was empowering students. I was told that sandy was part of the march in 2008. We were empowering students. We were ensuring them that they had the right to vote and they needed to stand up. I told you early on about the long list of people who had been attacked. The things i had been saying for seven years were not very convenient for the people who were in power there in Waller County. I needed to be silent. I need to be silent. I plelled guilty. It was what i had to do for my family. I was brought into a conspiracy because i had introduced a childhood friend to some people who had, in fact, accepted bribes. And so i was brought into the conspiracy based on the Legal Definition of conspiracy. But the reality is, it was really meant to shut me up because i had always speak. And so then, in a sense, i was shut up. But thats why i decided i would speak now, because sandy could not speak. They literally took everything but from me but my mouth, and they took her life, so i feel like i still have the right to come up and speak truth to life where sandy was violated. Amy in your book, you write an interesting fact also going back to 1979, about the iranian students who stormed the u. S. Embassy in tehran and the link to Waller County. Judge charleston absolutely. There was a gentleman named david walker who lived down the street from us, wonderful guy wonderful family. And i remember his high school student, he flew in after they released to the white house and came straight to our football game, and i was so proud, but david wanted to go back. He was a true marine. I could see it in his eyes, he wanted to go back and continue to protect that embassy, go back and be there. And that was my First Experience with racism when i saw how iranians saw david walker and other africanamericans as they released those women and all of the africanamericans, and it had a profound impact on me. Amy they only released first the africanamericans. Judge charleston im not sure of that. I know they released the women and africanamericans. But i specifically remember them releasing, i was 16 yesterday, and i remember them releasing the africanamericans, and saying the general consensus was, we empathize with what africanamericans are going through in the u. S. , and it had a profound impact. I didnt know that people around the world empathized with our condition at that time, and i think that was a Pivotal Point in my life they decided to deal with this injustice. Noip our last 30 seconds, what do you want to see come out of the investigations of the death of sandy bland . Judge charleston sandy, for all practical purposes, was given a life sentence with no chance of parole. She was arrested by the state trooper. She was judged by the state trooper. She was booked in the Waller County jail, and there she died. Those are the facts, and thats what we do know. And because she was given a life sentence on july 10 at 4 27 p. M. , somebody needs to be accountable for why she was not available to assail herself of this criminal Justice System t. Needs to be reformed. Thats the first thing, in all aspects, to the grand jury system, it needs to be reformed. The second thing is she died under the care, custody and control of Waller County. They must be held accountable. They are responsible. They had already been in violation of so many Different Things with respect to the jail standard. They must be held accountable, and lastly i think that the District Attorney ought to remove himself so that he can assure what the Lieutenant Governor said would take place, and that is the absolute transparency of this investigation. Amy i want to thank you for being with us, served as the first africanamerican justice of the peace in Waller County, texas, where sandra bland was arrested and later found dead in jail. Hes the author of the United States versus Waller County, then me. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Well be back in a minute. [music break] amy democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Before we move on to africa, to nairobi, kenya, to talk about the significance of president obamas trip to his fathers homeland where his father was born he is now in ethiopia first u. S. President to go to either country not to mention to address the African Union, we wanted to turn to an oral history project called story corps, a piece that they have produced called traffic stop t. Features alex landau, an africanamerican man who was nearly killed during an encounter with the Denver Police in 2009. Alex landau did this story with his white adoptive father, patsy hathaway. The video gains with her. Its also animated. We never talked about race growing up. I dont think that was ever a conversation. I thought that love would conquer all and skin color didnt really matter. I had to learn the really hard way when they almost killed you. Yeah. I was 19 years old. I had picked up a friend, and i noticed that we had red and blue lights behind us. We were being pulled over. The officer explained i had made an illegal left turn and to step out of the car. So i get out of the car first. He pats me down. And then he goes around to the passenger side and pulled my friend addison out of the car. Addison is white. Yeah, addison is white. And he had some tpwheed his coated pocket, so he gets placed in handcuffs. I figure everything is ok. Ive already been patted down, plus theres three officers on the scene, and i had never had a negative interaction with police in my life. So i asked them, can i please say a warrant before you continue the search . And they grabbed me and began to hit me in the face. I could hear addison in the background yelling stop, leave him alone. I was hit several times, and i remember gasping for and air spitting and blood flying across the grass. And then i hear an officer shout out, hes reaching for a gun. I immediately started yelling. No, im not, im not reaching for anything. And i remember an officer say if he doesnt calm down, were going to have to shoot him. I could feel the gun pressed to my head. I expected to be shot. And at that point i lost consciousness. I woke up to a multitude of officers just standing around me laughing. One officer was like, wheres that warrant now, you [beep] nigger. It took 45 stitches to close up the lacerations in my face alone. How did it feel when you finally saw me . Patsy all i remember is involuntarily screaming. Alex that was the first time i cried the entire time i had been in there, and it wasnt my injuries that hurt, it was just seeing how it devastated you. Patsy my whole world view changed that night. Alex yeah. For me it was a point of awakening to how the rest of the world is going to look at you. I was just another black face in the street. And i was almost another dead black male. Amy that was story corps interview with alex landau and his mother, patsy hathaway, just released on friday for a tv viewers, the images were showing are graphic in nature. The photographs of alex taken the night of january 15, 2009, following the traffic stop. His face is bloody and had bruised, practically beyond recognition. Landau has since become involved in efforts to curb use of Excessive Force by police and to foster transparency and accountability by Police Officers, including the use of body cameras. As we turn right now to what happened this weekend in cleveland, ohio, where about 1,000 black lives matters supporters gathered for an historic conference to raise National Attention about Police Brutality and other pressing issues including immigration rights, economic justice, and lgbtq rights. Democracy now spoke friday to three of the founders of the movement. This is opal tometi. Opal but we will turn to the clip of people speaking at the conference in cleveland. Im with several different organizations. Right now its currently social justice. Weve been through a lot this year. And before then. So this has been a learning space, a healing space, a political sizing space, a radicalizing space. We get to love each other, affirm each other, check each other, hold each other, hold each other accountable and i think thats really important. There is healing in not having a story about filtering yourself or worrying about at least in some instances of not feeling unsafe, right . Because youre amongst family. Marshall edward conway, the former political prisoner for the last 44 years i dont believe that black freedom can exist without world freedom. We need the free the planet. We need to free the human race. We need to Work Together across all the different lines, and it is only because of creating the space for everybody to be a human being can we be a human being and have freedom am we need to Work Together. For years, women has been tathe lead in this. We need to involve ourselves. We need to engage ourselves. We need to put aside our moralistic or ideological differences and realize that as a black community, we are all under threat. We are under the threat of yenside. We are under the threat of mass incarceration. We are under the threat of impoverishment and we definitely have a community thats collapsing, and if we dont come together, reach out to the youth, to the elders, to every segment of the community, then were going to be in real trouble. I work for the university of michigan, and i am a fellow at the national lgbtq task force. Im a woman of color, and i wanted to make sure in this movement with that we are included, because we are left out of a lot of things, and its really sad that there are times when i want to express the sorrow thats going on for people of color in the community, but feel very left out a lot of teams when it comes to conversations about like, black lives matter, violence against women violence against trans women so. Im here not only for capacity, but im also theyre make sure that trans forces are brought to the table. Amy special thanks to messiah rhodes for that report from the inaugural movement for black lives conference in cleveland ohio. Conferencegoers ended the weekend with a stark reminder of how much work needs to be done. When the event ended around 5 00 p. M. Sunday a crowd of participants witnessed a Police Officer attempting to arrest a 14yearold boy for alleged intoxication. The black lives matter participants blocked the squad car and tried to get the child out. One of the officers then began pepper spraying the crowd. The video has since gone viral. This is democracy now . When we come back, were going to nairobi, kenya, to talk about the president s first trip to kenya, a first u. S. President s trip to kenya. President obama has been there before, and then his trip on ethiopia. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now ,. Org dork the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We end todays show looking at president obamas visit to africa. He arrived sunday in ethiopia for talks with leaders on counterterrorism efforts against alshabab and human rights abuses and looming familiar anyone south sudan. Obamas visit marks the first by a sitting u. S. President to ethiopia which is home to the African Union. Later today hell hold talks with leader of kenya and uganda. Not scheduled to attend is the zimbabwe an president , the current chair of the African Union. This comes as obama has concluded his first visit to his fathers birthplace of kenya since taking office. In a major speech sunday in the capital of nairobi, he referred to himself as a kenyan american and included many details of his personal history in a speech while urging the country to deal with issues ranging from corruption to sexism. Speaking to a packed stadium filled with nearly 5,000 cheering kenyans obama emphasized a message of optimism to kenyans, especially youth. President obama when it comes to the people of kenya, particularly the youth i believe there is no limit to what you can achieve. A young, ambitious kenyan today should not have to do what my grandfather did and serve a foreign master. I dont need to do what my father did and leave your home in order to get a good education and access to opportunity. Because of kenyas progress, because of your potential, you can build your future right here right now. [applause] amy to talk more about the significance of president obamas africa visit, were joined by two guests. Aggrey mutambo is a reporter at the daily nation. He covered obamas visit for the paper. And via democracy now video stream from princeton, new jersey salim lone is a kenyan journalist, political advisor, and former director of the news and Media Division at the United Nations from 2005 to 2012, the specs person for the thenprime minister of kenya. Lets begin in nairobi, kenya, and talk about the significance of the trip and the response of kenyans. Aggrey, if you can share what took place this weekend. Aggrey thank you for having me on the show. The visit by the president of the United States was very significant in two ways here. First of all, it involved an image boosting scenario for kenya, given the fact that there has been a lot of issues that led to the security and whether it was proper for people to come to nairobiie and other parts of the country where there has been a little terrorism incident. Secondly the president , when he came to nairobi, he helped address some of the issues which have been raised here by the Civil Society, given such civil liberties, corruption, and other issues like press freedom. So his coming here has been seen as one way of helping boost the Civil Society and expressing the issues which have been of great concern to people. To the government side of course, it has been used to show that kenya is indeed safe and not a banana republic, as many people may have thought. Thats according to the government site. Amy aggrey, i wanted to go to president obama urging kenyans to embrace gay rights. President obama you look at the history of countries around the world, when you start treating people differently not because of any harm theyre doing anybody, but because theyre different thats the path whereby freedoms begin to erode. And bad things happen. And when a government gets in the habit of treating people differently, those habits can spread. So im unequivocal on this. If somebody is a lawabiding citizen who is going about their business and working in the job and obeying the traffic signs and doing all the other things that good citizens are supposed to do and not harming anybody, the idea that they are going to be treated differently or abused because of who they love is wrong. Noip responding to the comments, the kenyan president kenyatta said the two countries share a lot in common, but not everything called gay rights a nonissue for kenyans. President kenyatta just like president obama, i think we need to speak frankly about some of these things. The fact of the matter is that kenya, the United States, we share so many values. Our common love for democracy entrepreneurship value for families, these are things that we share. But there are some things that we must agree we dont share our culture, our societies dont accept. Its very difficult for us to be able to impose on people that which they themselves do not accept. This is why i repeatedly say that for kenyans today, the issue of gay rights is really a nonissue. We want to focus on other areas that are daytoday living for our people. Amy that is kenyan president kenyatta. Aggrey mutambo can you elaborate on this interaction . Aggrey yes. The president s response indicates the kind of controversy associated with the issues of homosexuality here, mainly because many people see gay rights within morality. Mostly they borrow virtues from religious skiment tour. If you walk around in nairobi, you will find that many people live according to the teachings of their religious scripture, the bible, the koran for example, so most of those people see that allowing gays to have the same freedoms as them is like going against the teachings of religious scripture. But also, those religious organizations are very influential here in shaping the kind of politics that polses may want to pursue. This is very evident, for example, during the formation of the current constitution where the Catholic Church was very much opposed to the inclusion of those gay rights. The initial draft head proposed that marriage not be defined within the lens of man and woman. But this had to be included. So the fact that it was passed after the push by religious organizations, which initially argued that they were going to allow these rights, shows that politicians are just unable to what these organizations push for. Amy this is president obama, not all things were serious there, joking during his speech in nairobi about questions about where he was born. President obama some of my critics back home are suggesting that im back here to look for my birth certificate. [laughter] president obama that is not the case. Amy that was president obama speaking in nairobi kenya. Salim lone is also with us, former director of the news and Media Division at the United Nations. Can you talk about the significance of president obama, the first sitting u. S. President s trip to both kenya and ethiopia, as well as addressing the African Union, and what he is doing in these places. Salim first of all, i just want to repeat what arey said, this was a visit for kenya and for him. I think many people have said they havent seen president obama so happy for three consecutive days. He really loved being at home and talking to people, and he spoke very, very honestly on a number of urgent issues that kenyans are trying to address. At the same time, i think kenya for the moment just has a huge boost for their president. I think there are a number of issues first because of his crimes against humanity which was brought recently. In addition to that, he was brought into power, it was, like the one before that he was struggling with these issues, plus the issue of terrorism and the fact of kenyan soldiers who were occupying a large part of southern somalia, which in turn has paid a very bloody price. That invasion was supposed to keep kenya and kenyans more secure, but in fact over 400 kenyan have died since the invasion began, and virtually none have died before. So this is very good for kenyan a, but as i said, the president raised a number of issues about human rights, about democracy whether it will influence them, were not so sure. But i think the second issue which concerns them as a whole and kenya itself which has been a victim of terrorism since 1998, it was the greatest terrorist attack, the most number of people killed, over 200 people when the u. S. Embassy in kenya, and we are doing in east africa, in fighting the alshabab, what the world has been doing fighting terrorism in general, meaning using primarily force, and in the process seeing terrorism get much, much worse everywhere. Now they control the countries, and thats exactly whats happening in east offer can a, too, that weve invaded somalia , for our own political reasons , and thats an issue that president obama, unfortunately, came out on the wrong side, supporting the invasion of somalia, continuing the drone strikes, and this is a problem. We need to tackle the scourge of terrorism. It is the greatest scourge that humanity faces at the moment apart from war, of course, unlawful wars in particular. But we must do it right and not do it in ways which are actually making it much more a factor. Kenyans are already suffering from this insecurity aggrey, can you talk about kenyans perception of the impact of the counterterrorism efforts . Aggrey of course the fight against terrorism here has he lifted alot of debate because when the police go hunting for those subjects, it has always come out within the lines of human rights violations. Reports have been published accusing the police of harassing people suspected to be terror suspects. Some people have disappeared. So it is the same reason that human rights organizations have stayed to tell the kenyan authorities that fighting terrorism should not go with diluting peoples rights. So it is true that people perceive terrorism as having a very big Economic Impact here. We have had a lot of lives lost, for example but again there are other voices which are saying that the Counterterrorism Measures being adopted by the government here are, in fact, adding salt to the wound. Amy president obama speaking about the issue of counterterrorism. President obama on security, the United States and kenya are already strong partners, and today we reafoirmed we stand united in the face of terrorism. Earlier i had the opportunity to meet with survivors and families of victims of the bombing of our u. S. Embassy in 1998. In the face of despicable violence, such as the attack on Garrissa University college and the westgate mall, the kenyan people have shown incredible resolve and remarkable resilience. Amy that was president obama in nairobi. Aggrey mutomba were you at these attacks . Aggrey yes, i was there. And what came out of that time wases confusion maybe from the authorities, the way they are responding. Of course, president kenyatta has argued that the issue of terror is a new phenomenon, and the way they rake to it has had a lot of problems. But at westgate and garrissa, perhaps my observation is if there had been an earlier response, many peoples lives may have been saved. Amy finally, president obama visited family there, his stepgrandmother his halfsister. Can you talk about the significance of this . He had an extended family dinner. Aggrey yes. There had been hope that he would go to the village where his father was born, but i think it was plain to compensate for the fact he couldnt go to the village, so he met here with some of the relatives from his extended family and they shared local delicacies here which is partly traditional here, whenever guests come people do share those kind of dell delicacies. They share the significance of that. So i think the president was just trying to live within the traditions of his father. Amy and salim lone, now president obama is in ethiopia. How does ethiopia fit into this picture . Salim well, its an economic dynamo and has enabled even kenya to do better because of this. I think the problem has been the lack of democracy there. But at the same time, i think all of it recognizes that you live in a world that you have and you cannot keep on hoping for a better world. So you struggle and you struggle but ethiopia is a part of somalia, for example, and deployed a very moderate course. So theyre ahead of the chief of the African Union and a very very important, second largest population in africa, so its a tough call for obama knowing what hes trying to do in the u. S. , making many of the u. S. Policies, and yet on this issue of terrorism i think hes not got the right message. Amy we have five seconds. Salim thats one of the great problems we have in the world at the moment, its the u. S. Has no vision for how to address this. Amy salim lone, were going to leave it there, as well as others. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynew. Org or mail them to nt need to go to a gym