Then poet, musician and activist Saul Williams on art politics and racism in america. You cant learn my steps until you unlearn your thoughts. Spirit soul cant be store bought. Forget thought. It leads to naught. Simply stated, it leads to you trying to figure me out. Your intellect is disfiguring your soul. Your beings not whole. Check your flagpole stars and stripes. Your astrologys imprisoned by your concept of white, or self. Whats your plan for Spiritual Health . Calling reality unreal. Your line of thought is tangled. The starspangled got your soul mangled. Your beings angled, forbidding you to be real and feel. You cant find truth with an ax or a drill, in a white house on a hill, or in factories or plants made of steel. Stealing us was the smartest thing you ever did too bad you donnt teach the truth to your kids and we will hear actor and activist Jesse Williams stirring speech at the bet awards. Weve been floating this country on credit for centuries, and were done tching andnd waiting whwhile this invnvention called whihiteness uses and abuses us, burying black pepeople out of sightht and out of mind, while extrtracting our culturure, our dollalars, our entertainment like oil, black k gold. All l that and more coming up welcome to democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and d peace report. Im amy gogoodman. Today in this holiday special, we begin with the words of frederick douglass. Born into o slavery around 1818, douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. On july 5, 1852, in rochester, new york, he gave one of his most famous speeches, the meaning of july fourth for the negro. He was addressing the rochester ladies antislavery society. This is James Earl Jones reading the historic address during a p performance of h howard zinns v voices of a peoples history of the United States. James earl jones was introduced by howard zinn. Howard zinn frederick douglass, once a slave, became a brilliant and powerful leader of the antislavery movement. In 1852, he was asked to speak in celebration of the fourth of july. Frederick douglass [read by James Earl Jones] fellowcitizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am i called upon to speak here today . What have i, or those i represent, to do with your national independndence . Are the great principles of politicalal freedomom and of natural justice, embodied in that declaration n of independence, extended to us . And am i, therefore, call upon to b bring our humble offering t to the nationalallta, and to confess the benefefits and express devout g gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us . I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This fourth of july is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, i must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today . What, to the american slave, is your fourth of july . I answer a day that reveals to him, morerehan all otother days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is a constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts ofof liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy a thin veil to cover up crimes that would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour. At a a time like t this, scororching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O had i the ability, and d could reachh the e nations earar, i would, today, pour forth a stream, a fiery stream of biting rididicule, blasting reproach, withthering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not lilight that is neneeded, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propririety of t the natin mumust be startled; the e hypocrisy of the natatin muste exexposed; and the crimes against god and man must be proclaimed and d denounced. Amy goodman James Earl Jones reading Frederick Douglasss famous 1852 Independence Day address inin rochesterer, new york. That was part of a performance of howard zinns voices of a peoples history of the United States. Inin this holiday spspecial we turn now to one of the countrys bestknown spoken word arartists, saSaul Williams. Twenty yearsrs ago, he won the title of grand slam chamampion at the nuyorican poeoets cafe. Ovover the past two decades, Saul Williams has forged a career mixing poetry, music and acting. In 201014 he performed in the firirst broadway hiphop musicical, holler if ya hear me,e, a musical inspired by tupac shakur. He has just released his fifth album, martyrloserking. I recently interviewed Saul Williams and began by asking him about the title of his latest alalbum, martyrloserking. Saul williams well, i think, you know, its an obvious play on words. Martyrloserking, Martin Luther king would be one of many martyr loser kingsa martyr as in those who have either been killed because of theyou know, the work that theyve done for the upliftment of humanity or what have you, or those who haven t been killed who give their lives just through service to humanity. Ok . So, a martyr is connected to the idea of sacrifice and those who give their lives or sacrifice the possibilities ofof wealth or what have you for the sake of humanity. The loser, basically what im referencing is the disenfranchised, those who identify as b belonging to a disenfranchised group and, you know, not necessarily find pride in that, but can say, yeah, i b belong to that group or, you know, im not handsome. I dont have the fancy car. I dont have any of this stuff. You know, according to social standards, im a loser. But im happy with my life. It is the screen name of a hacker. Its a concept piece. In fact, the title came from me i was living in paris at the time, and i heard a french person mispronounce the name of Martin Luther king as martyr loser king, and i reflected on it and thought, thats kind of brilliant, because e there wawas so much going on in the world. I started working on this, id say, around the time of the arab spring, and thinking about all of the people that were starting to protest and stand up, followed by the occupy movement. And just theres been so many protest movements, and, you know, that quest for democracy is worldwide. My story is based in burundi, where there is an n ongoing quqt for democracy riright now. Theres another character in my piece whos from uganda, whos a refugee from the antigay laws thereher name, the characters name, is neptune frostanother quest for democracy there. Im american. We know whats going on here. My family lineage is from haiti. We know whats going on there. There is a global quest for democracy. And i essentially wanted to create a modern parable where i kind of took all these social issues, where theres so much to think about and talk about, and kind of dumped them inin my drum machine and created this thinly veiled fiction where i could, you know, play with these ideas in the context of these characters and this story surrounding, essentially, a hacker by the name of martyr loser king. Amy goodman so, burundi. Saul williams yes. Amy goodman id like you to perform it. Saul williams sure. Amy goodman its on martyrloserking. And talk about why burundi. Saul williams ok. Well, ill tell you a little bit about it first, because, in fact, i started working on this song way before what has recently happened in burundi since their president , nkurunziza, has changed the e constitution and is now serving what some e would call an illegal third t term and d is, of course, you know, suppressing the voice of journalists and of protesters. S. Theres been o over 200,000 rerefugees that have e left the couountry in t the past six months. There have been hundreds of murders from people speaking up against the government. None of this had gone down when i started writing about it. I started writing about it primarily because my wife is from rwanda, and so, over the years, ive learned m more and more about the great lakes region, of course. Theres lots oflots of interesting things that happen there. One,e, like 80 percecent of the cobalt and coltltan that our technoloy is depended on comomes from that t region. Ok . And as you can imagine, the story around those mines and the exploitation that occurs around those mines are the sort of things you probably don t want to think about when youre taking a selfie. You know, you really don tyou know, its the sort of things that we dont want to consider in larger industrializized nations when we think ofof the sort of exploitation thats necessary to ensurere our comfort, right . The story is n not necessarily about t that, but it starts there. And so, from there, i chose burundi primarily because bujumbura, the capital, was sort of a destination for many People Living in that region, the same way we may dream of going to paris. People would talk about the music, the food, the night life and what have you. And so i started creating this like parallel universrse and this fictitious landscape where our main character, martyr loser king, is from. And so, ill recite the song for you, and then we can talk some more about it. But it goes like this. Runnin down a dark street app that got a flashlight nike swoosh on bare feet, Whitney Houstons crack pipe the greatest love of all, watch me risise to watch me fall contemplating, rent is late in houses that i cant afford show my papes at heavens gates, they ask me for my visa lived a life without no hate so tell me what you need to question your authority, genocide and poverty treaties don t negate the fact youre dealing stololen property hacker, im a hacker, im a hacker in your hard drive hundred thousand dollar tesla ripping through your hard drive oh, jesus, pull the cord, seat belt, what you standing for buckle up, lets knuckle up and tell mohammed bring his sword swoosh, im a candle, im a candle chop my neck a million times, i still burn bright and stand, yo vigil in the middlele of your occupied locations one that burns for haters, one that burns for haitians im a candle, im a candle chop my neck a million times, i still burn bright and stand, yo standing in the middle of your synagogue and chapel licking that forbidden fruit through bitten glowing apples factories in china, coltan from the congo smuggled to burundi hidden in a bongo we beat a mighty drum, changes go before they come guns and ammunition pay tuition for the desperate young hacker, im a hacker, im a hacker in your hard drive hey, there aint no o security, im hacking through your hard drive information highway, tunnel vision highway exit 17, yo, bring them mothermother my way virus, im a virus, im a virus in your system [blank] your history teacher, ive never been a victim im just a wititness, hitler can come e get this rabbs in ramallah throwing burkas on these [blank]es im a candle and so, esessentially, this song takes a rumi poem. It was inspired by a poem from rumi, where he says, im a candle. Chop my neck a million times, i still burn bright and stand. And i thought of that, because like when you think of even like the black lives Matter Movement riright now and so manany, you know, social movements happening today, that are happening without singular leadershipand i think its actually brilliant, because we learned from cointelpro in so many past movements how it was so easy to knock out a leader and quell the movement. And so, now, through social media, through twitter and all of these things, were able to mobilize without actually having a singular leader. And so, i found that poem inspiring and went on to create this song surrounding this character, which is, like i said, thinly veiled fiction really there to provide an alternative source of energy for those who are mobilizing to create democracy now globally. Amy goodman well, Saul Williams, you left the United States. You went to live in paris for four years. Saul williams mmhmm. Amy goodman of course, James Baldwin comes to mind. Saul williams yes. Amy goodman most recently, tanehisisi coates moved to par. Talk about w why you left the unUnited States. And also, it gives you a different view of africa, particularly the Saul Williams yes. Amy goodman former french colonies, like burundi Saul Williams of course. Amy goodman and rwanda. Saul williams of course. And i spent a lot of time on the continent of africa while living there, because its much easier to go, right . Well, you know, ofof course there are people like, like you said, like James Baldwin, nina simone, josephine baker, thatthe history list is long of those people who chose to go there. I cant say that i chose to go there for the same reasons. I was living in los angeles andand essentially just realized that if ii was dreaming of doing stuff like that, living abroad. I had done it as a teenager, living in brazil, and it really changed my perspective, not only of myself and of the world, but how i looked at the states, because its a different thing to look at the states from the outside. And so, i decided to move to paris primarily because, one, i had a 13yearold daughter who i wanted her to have the sort of insight that comes from looking at her country from the outside and to experience another way of seeing the world. And because my first film, slam, you know, won the camera dor at cannes, and my first album was released in france a year and a half before it w was released in the states, ive had a Good Relationship primarily in france and across europe, and decided to try it out, to try it out, and just to see what it would feel like. And arriving there, it was interesting, on manyyou know, like in many smallscale, but which are indeed largescale, ways. For example, i remember my daughter getting a little bronchial cough. And im there. I dont have healthcare there. And so, you know, there, anyone coughs, theyre like, oh, you should go see a doctorfirst time they cougu. Here, you know, were likeyou know, we wait til were really sick to go see the doctor. Go to see the doctor. Amy goodman pneumonia is the standard here. Saul williams right, you know . Pneumonia is the e standard, exactly. But everybodys saying, no, take her to the doctor. So im like, ok, oh, my god, i know how much i have in my account. I dont know if this is going to be cool. I took her to the doctor. The doctor, sure enough, yeah, theres a little bronchial cough there. He wants to prescribe five Different Things i need to go to the pharmacy across the street to pick up. And then, you know, hes like, and im going to have to charge you for this visit. How much is it . Oh, 25 euro. You know, 30 bucks. Ok. Thank you. I then go to the pharmacy across the street, and i get five differentyou know, theres a syrup and pills, antibiotic, all this stuff. It all adds up to like 6. 50. And its at that moment, essentially, that i realize that people who have like a singlepayer healthcare system, theyit actually affects culture, life, in ways that here, for example, we actually cant imagine. You know, were afraid of growing older and getting sick, for example, because we know wei know people who try to keep their job because they need a way to pay for the operation that they know they need and all this stuff. And there, its a different thing. Same t thing wiwith education, you know . The idea of like you can be whatever you wananto be, its not going to cost you so much just because youre passionate about medicine and you u want to be a doctor, or youre passionate about law and you want to become a lawyer. Its not going to cost you that much if, you know, you live in a sort of socialist country like that. And so, being exposed to thisyou know, that reality and how it affected how people think, and what have you, was enormous for me, was enormous for me. Yeah. Amy goodman and how did it affect the way that you saw the africacan countries that you got to visisit, bebeing in paris . Saul williams well, yeah, i ended up spending a lot of time particularly in senegal. I shot a film when i was over there, in french, in wolof called tey, or aujourdhui, and ended up spending about three months in senegal and then traveling to other countries and other regions, as well. It wasnt my first time, but it was the most time i had spent. And, you know, eveven in paris, the African Community there, in barbes and at have yoyou, is strong. You know, the thing that charged me is just the layers and levels of dialogue that i was able to have, about politics, about global infrastructure, and seeing how informed the average person is. Amy goodman and how was it for your 13yearoldld daughter to go to school . Saul williams she went to Public School there. And, you know, first shes in like french as a second d language course, you know, when she starts off. And the first day, she comes back from school, and shes like, oh, guess what. They have us translating nina simone songs in school to learn the language. Another day she comes home, and she says, today i was in classtheres, you knowlike theres tons of people going to france, so there was an afghani boy in her clalass, who in the middle of class, he gets in trouble because his phone rings. He runs out and comes back crying. And the teacher explainsafter he explains to the teacher, who w