I can remember one time when we were racing the atlanta 500 and he was sick and he needed an operation. I said, daddy, we dont have to rest a day. He whispered to me and said, lived my legs up and put me in the car. He drove 500 miles that day. Nermeen well talk to dave isay about storycorps, his new book, and the recent death of freed death row prisoner maurice bickham. All that and more coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im nermeen shaikh. The United States and russia have reached a deal to extend a fragile ceasefire to the embattled syrian city of aleppo. A surge in fighting between rebels and the Syrian Regime has guilt about 300 people over the past two weeks. The city now appears relatively calm. Jeffrey feldman condemned the recent attacks on area hospitals. Ever more shocking reports from the aleppo city in the past two weeks. You have all seen the horrifying images of on hospitals in both government and opposition Held Neighborhoods of the city. Let me be absolutely clear once again. Intentional and direct attacks on hospitals are war crimes. Nermeen new details have emerged about the death of a u. S. Navy seal in northern iraq. Video obtained by the guardian shows Charles Keating iv was fatally shot in an intense firefight with isis militants. The battle reportedly began when isis launched an attack, disrupting a meeting between navy seals and the local kurdish peshmerga. Keating was part of another group of seals sent in to help repel the attack. Amid a lengthy firefight, he was fatally shot in the side, then evacuated by helicopter before being pronounced dead. He is the third american killed in iraq as part of the campaign against isis. U. S. Officials have acknowledged keating died combat death but if continued to deny the u. S. Campaign in iraq is a combat mission. Defense secretary ash carter spoke about keating on wednesday. Well, his mission was to advise and assist the peshmerga who are fighting isil along that of troops between the Peshmerga Forces and the isil forces. That is what is mission was. In an interview with the new york times, keatings grandmother, Phyllis Holmes said we keep saying its supposed to be advising that were doing, and yet were losing one kid at a time. Even defense secretary ash carter said it was a combat death. And it was one hell of a combat death, she said. A u. S. Army officer has sued president obama, saying the u. S. War against isis is illegal. Captain Nathan Michael smith, who is deployed in kuwait, says he believes the mission is justified, but lacks Proper Authority from congress. I began to wonder, is this the administrations war, or is it americas war . smith wrote. My conscience bothered me. Smith once a u. S. Court to tell obama he must get approval from congress for the war in iraq and syria. Ohio Governor John Kasich has dropped out of the republican president ial race all but , sealing the nomination for donald trump. Kasichs campaign had initially said he would remain in the race after texas senator ted cruz dropped out following a loss in the indiana primary. But kasich reversed course on wednesday. You see, i have always said that the lord has a purpose for hass es for everyone he for everyone. As isis been my campaign today, i have renewed faith, deeper faith, that the lord will show me the way forward and fulfill the purpose of my life. Thank you and god bless. Nermeen the province of alberta has declared a state of emergency over a Massive Wildfire that has forced all 88,000 residents to flee the city of Fort Mcmurray in the heart of the oil sands region. More people have been ordered to evacuate from surrounding communities, while a number of Oil Companies have shut down or curtailed operations. Scientists have linked the increase in wildfires to climate change. President obama criticized what he called a manmade disaster in the city of flint, michigan wednesday during a visit to , address the citys water crisis. The crisis began when an emergency manager appointed by Governor Rick Snyder switched the citys water supply to the corrosive flint river, which ate away at the lead pipes, poisoning the drinking water. During his visit, obama took sips of filtered water to reassure residents its now safe. I know there is a lot of suspicion about whether or not the water coming out of peoples taps in their homes are safe, or whether there still contaminated and still a problem. That the epahasize has looked at this very carefully and they are very confident that if you use a , then it is safe for kids over six. Domingo the Justice Department has warned North Carolina its new antilgbt law violates the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against transgender people. It could jeopardize funding. The Department GaveNorth Carolina until monday to confirm it would not implement the law, which prevents trans people from using the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. In related news, the city council and oxford, alabama has , voted to rescind its ordinance which made it a misdemeanor punishable by jail time for a person to use a bathroom that didnt match the sex they were assigned at birth. And in illinois, a group of families have sued the Palatine School district for allowing a transgender student to use the girls locker room. In egypt, a court has sentenced human rights activist to six months in prison on charges of insulting the judiciary. Seif was summoned by a prosecutor on accusations of inciting protests against president Abdel Fattah Al sisi, but officials said she failed to comply with the summons. Seif is the sister of blogger alaa abdel fattah, who has been jailed since february 2015. To see democracy now s interview with her when she was just 17 years old, go to democracynow. Org. Meanwhile, thousands of journalists rallied wednesday to call for an apology and the ouster of egypts interior minister following a police raid on the Journalists Union and the arrest of two reporters. Protests against president al sisi reignited last month over his decision to hand two red sea islands to saudi arabia. Hundreds marched in mexico wednesday to mark 10 years since a Brutal Police raid on the town of atenco. Current president enrique pena nieto, who was then the governor of the state of mexico, ordered the police raid on atenco amid protests in support of local flower vendors. Two people were killed, 200 activists and peasants arrested, and more than two dozen women said they were sexually tortured. Activists continue to protest renewed plans to build a new airport in the area. Adan espinoza of the peoples front in defense of the land spoke at wednesdays march. There has not been any justice as the intellectual author, the president , has not been held responsible for the death and the women who were sexually assaulted who have not received any justice which is the most important thing. We have kept our word and we will keep doing so, saying no to the new airport. We are not going to leave our land. It will keep our land at whatever cost. Nermeen and an israeli army general has compared modernday israel to nauseating trends in 1930s germany. The israeli militarys deputy chief of staff, Major General yair golan, made the remarks wednesday evening on holocaust day, saying after all, there is nothing simpler and easier than hating the foreigner, there is nothing easier and simpler than arousing fears and intimidating, there is nothing easier and simpler than becoming bestial, forgoing principles and becoming smug. Following a firestorm, he was forced to walk back the comments, saying he had not intended to compare israel to nazi germany. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im nermeen shaikh. Today we spend the hour with dave isay, the founder of storycorps. Over the last 12 years, storycorps has gathered the largest single collection of human voices. In 2003, the first storycorps recording booth opened in new york citys Grand Central station. Since then, a quarter of a Million People have recorded interviews with their loved ones through storycorps. Dave has just published a new book titled, callings the purpose and passion of work. Amy goodman and i recently interviewed dave isay about the book, but we began by discussing the case of maurice bickham, a former death row prisoner who recently died at the age of 98. In 1958, bickham, an African American, was sentenced to death for shooting and killing two Police Officers in mandeville, louisiana, even though bickham said the officers were klansmen who had come to kill him and shot him on the front porch of his own home. Many other people in the Community Also said the officers worked with the ku klux klan, which was a common practice in small southern towns. Maurice bickham served 37 years at angola state penitentiary in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. Dave isay chronicled his story in the 1989 radio documentary, tossing away the keys. Bickham won seven stays of execution, but louisianas governors repeatedly denied him clemency until, under enormous pressure, he was finally released in 1996. Days after he was released, he traveled to new york, where he was interviewed on wbais wakeup call by amy goodman, Bernard White, and others. Wakeup call had closely followed bickhams case and helped give it national attention. We began our interview with dave isay by playing for him moreese marie spectrum in his own words. Heart. S shot through the i said, lord, i know you are good and you made one promise, i thy father and mother tried. I said for that reason, allow me to have a few more days. And he did. Id never had a personal relationship with the lord until i was laying with a my heart. T atop the when i got shot in 1952, i asked the lord, i said ever been nothing else like this, give me something to shoot. Let the other man die, not me. Wordsreminded of those and i got injured and i had 37 years. Toould have at least said the lord, dont let this happen anymore and it would not have happened. But i was the person that did not see but one way, and that was my way. It was not gods way. People, hit me in the head and told me to do it i did. [indiscernible] i lived through seven stays of execution, heart attacks in operation and come out good enough health to be final over the world . God wasould not tell me in on my side. Amy that was marie spectrum and the studios of wbai. 1996. Back in the studio was packed. I remember so well. It was Martin Luther king day and he came in with his family, with his daughter. I think his grandson might have been there. The late great deal noble was there, of course Bernard White and i. We hosted wakeup call. Dave isay, you had shot the spotlight on his case when he did the documentary in angola. Talk about the significance of maurice bickham who just died at the age of 98. I remember that day well. I just watched this video well last that that the tv viewers saw. E momentn incredibl with all of us sitting there. Wbai have been fighting for his lease release for i think a year. Amy is maurice bickham gotten out of jail yet . I think even the Louisiana Attorney general or the governor talked about the significance of this radio station. I think every day you would play the nina simone song i wish i knew how it feels to be free. Sitting in that room with maurice 48 hours after getting out, listening to that song with his kids and his grandkids, crying, it was one of the most remarkable moments i think of my life. Insanean absolutely case. These two Sheriff Deputies had come to his house amy in the 1950s. In the 1950s. They had come to kill him. They shot him right above the heart and he rolled over on a gun and killed two of them. He talks in that interview, because i watched last night this thing from 20 years ago, he talks about how one of the kids and grandkids of one of the officers he shot was visiting him back then in the 1950s saying you should not be here. And there is a granddaughter of one of the officers who was killed with been trying to apologize to maurice and never got a chance because he was 98 when he died and he was too sick. Indigo these deputies were so determined to kill maurice bickham that they wore their sheriffs close over their pajamas. They came in the middle of the night. They claimed they had to kill him because he was angry for not allowing them allowing them to get in the car with him or something. Fine, finebsolute human being. Amy you discovered him when you did your documentary throwing away the keys is what about angola. He had been in angola serving the longest prison sentence in history and he cared for the rose bushes at angola and was just amy a plantation prison named for the country in africa were so many people had become enslaved in this country, taken, kidnapped from africa and the plantation was named for the country that the africans had been taken from. There were a bunch of men who had been there for longer than anyone else in history. Some of these men had actually this was not the case with maurice, but there were many men who had been brought in and told to plead guilty to whatever crime they had been accused of, even know many of them had not committed them. Because of they went to trial, they would get the death penalty. There was a law back then that the rule was, you got out after 10 years on a murder. And then they changed the law so these guys were about to get out. You had people serving 30, 40, 50 years for crimes that they had not committed because they were trying to save their lives. Maries has been all of this time on death. He was a minister. He told the story of how he became tops from when he was the young man, how you had to pretend he was crazy on death, going into psychiatric hospitals because it was the only way to avoid the death penalty. He was an amazing man and more than that, he got out 20 years ago and lived until the age of 98 by himself independently and open with his family. Amy in california. Yeah, just a remarkable man. Nermeen that was storycorps founder dave isay. We will be with him in a minute. [music break] nermeen this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. I am nermeen shaikh. In a democracy now special, we spend the remainder of the hour looking at storycorps founder dave isays new book, callings the purpose and passion of work. Over the last 12 years, storycorps has gathered the largest single collection of human voices. In 2003, the first storycorps recording booth opened in new york citys Grand Central station. Since then, a quarter of a million of people have recorded interviews with their loved ones through storycorps. The new book is a remarkable collection of stories from the heart of the American Workforce teachers, social workers, public defenders, deli workers, plant supervisors, and beyond. They include stories by dreamers, healers, philosophers and groundbreakers. , amy goodman and i interviewed dave isay last month. Lets turn to one of the stories featured in the book, the story of english teacher Ayodeji Ogunniyi. Speaking to storycorps, he explains how the murder of his father inspired him to become a teacher. He now mentors students with backgrounds similar to those of his fathers killers. 11 00 that night, the knock came and they told me that my father was found in an alley. He was murdered. I remember yelling no really loud. My brother punched a hole in the wall. My mother just started to pull her hair and she scratched her face. They found the murderers and four days. They were 18, 19, 22. I was angry. I was very, very angry. Retaliate, it to just wanted to just ask them why. What happens to a person . Where do they get lost to become murderers . Touring anime, i was Afterschool Program for extra money and these kids came from the same conditions of the people that murdered my father came from. A student came to the Afterschool Program and was probably around 16 years old. We were doing something where everyone had to read out loud. He stormed out of the classroom. I went out to talk to him. He just broke down. He said, its hard for me to read. There are many people that cried because their herds, have been neglected, but to cry because you could not read, that spoke volumes to me. He started to read and it was like this gift that money cant buy. Buy me giving that to him, i totally forgot about the pain of the murder and i wanted to continue to get more of what i had heal. It just dawned on me, everybody at some point sits in a classroom. That could be the foundation for everything else. So that is when i said, whatever happened to my father is not me. G to be im going to follow my heart and become a teacher. ,my that was Ayodeji Ogunniyi an english teacher, just one of the 53 stories featured in storycorps founder dave isays new book. The books title, callings the purpose and passion of work. Welcome to democracy now great to have you with us. Talk about what youre doing with this project. And in that clip, i should say a couple of things, Ayodeji Ogunniyi was actually headed to medical school in this happen and his dad was a cabdriver and was murdered. It is one of those moments where, kind of like the moment when i can do radio when uni met for the first time. One of those moments where, boom , he knew this is what he was meant to do with the rest of his life and decided not to become a doctor but a teacher and he is still teaching in the public schools. He was talking to a loved one, as everyone does at storycorps. We have done in the last 12 years, about 70,000 interview