Say What? 1/23/2012

The Crazy Old Man Network

Say What?

Mon. Jan 23, 2012

Democracy Now! Raj Patel: In Attacks on Obama, Food Stamps, Newt Gingrich is "Racially Coding Poverty"

The new documentary “Finding North” premiering here at the Sundance Film Festival exposes how one in every four American children suffers from hunger, despite living in the wealthiest nation in the world. And, nearly 30 percent of American families, more than 49 million people, often go without meals. While Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich decries President Obama as “the food stamp president,” author Raj Patel says what is really needed is a conversation about poverty and why the need for food stamps is so high. “It is true that disproportionately people of color are affected by food insecurity. What Gingrich is doing is racially coding poverty by calling President Obama the food stamp president,” Patel said. “He is invoking ideas of racialized poverty. Of course when you look at people who’re on the food stamp program, the majority of them are white and poor.” Patel is author of the popular book, "Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System.”

Schedule of programs http://www.localendar.com/public/crazyoldmannetwork

Civil Rights and Human Rights Harry Belafonte

The Crazy Old Man Network

The Injustice System

Fri. Jan 20, 2012

Harry Belafonte: Civil Rights and Human Rights

March 15, 2002

Harry Belafonte singer, civil rights activist [homepage]

Singer and actor Harry Belafonte reflects on America's painful history of racial injustice and comments on the challenges that remain in advancing human rights at home and abroad. Harry Belafonte has been at the forefront of the American struggle for civil rights and an international effort to promote human rights throughout the globe. Here, Belafonte launches a major new civil rights and human rights initiative with the claim that "We are very spoiled here. We know very little about terrorism, except for those of us who have been victims of terror within our own circle. A lot of us here have always understood terror. We've lived in it. It knocks at the door constantly. There are other forms of terror. Poverty is terror. HIV/AIDS is terror. Absence of education and ignorance is great terror."

Series:

• Civil Rights Movement Series
• Human Rights Series

“Sing Your Song”: Harry Belafonte on Art & Politics, Civil Rights & His Critique of President Obama

May 16, 2011

Legendary musician, actor, activist and humanitarian Harry Belafonte joins us for the hour to talk about his battle against racism, his mentor Paul Robeson, the power of music to push for political change, his close relationship with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the U.S. role in Haiti. A new documentary chronicles his life, called Sing Your Song. The son of Jamaican immigrants, Belafonte grew up on the streets of Harlem and Jamaica. In the 1950s, he spearheaded the calypso craze and became the first artist in recording history with a million-selling album. He was also the first African-American musician to win an Emmy. Along with his rise to worldwide stardom, Belafonte became deeply involved in the civil rights movement. One of Dr. King’s closest confidants, he helped organize the March on Washington in 1963. “Going into the South of the United States, listening to the voices of rural black America, listening to the voices of those who sang out against the Ku Klux Klan and out against segregation, and women, who were the most oppressed of all, rising to the occasion to protest against their conditions, became the arena where my first songs were to emerge,” Belafonte tells Democracy Now!

Schedule of programs http://www.localendar.com/public/crazyoldmannetwork

Say what? 1/17/2012

The Crazy Old Man Network

Say What?

Tue. Jan 17, 2012

Chris Hedges Sues Obama Admin Over Indefinite Detention of U.S. Citizens Approved in NDAA

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges has filed suit against President Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to challenge the legality of the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes controversial provisions authorizing the military to jail anyone it considers a terrorism suspect anywhere in the world, without charge or trial. Sections of the bill are written so broadly that critics say they could encompass journalists who report on terror-related issues, such as Hedges, for supporting enemy forces. "It is clearly unconstitutional," Hedges says of the bill. "It is a huge and egregious assault against our democracy. It overturns over 200 years of law, which has kept the military out of domestic policing." We speak with Hedges, now a senior fellow at the Nation Institute, and former New York Times foreign correspondent who was part of a team of reporters that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for the paper's coverage of global terrorism. We are also joined by Hedges' attorney Carl Mayer, who filed the litigation on his behalf in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

http://www.democracynow.org/

Schedule of programs http://www.localendar.com/public/crazyoldmannetwork

Democracy Now! Martin Luther King Jr Special

The Crazy Old Man Network

The Crazy Old Man Network Show

Mon. Jan. 16, 2012

SPECIAL: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in His Own Words

Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King. He was born January 15th, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People’s Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. We play his “Beyond Vietnam” speech, which he delivered at New York’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, as well as his last speech, “I Have Been to the Mountain Top,” that he gave on April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated. [includes rush transcript]

http://www.democracynow.org

Schedule of programs http://www.localendar.com/public/crazyoldmannetwork

Democracy Now! Thursday, October 6, 2011

Today's Headlines

Thousands Join Occupy Wall Street March; 28 Arrested

Greeks Rally, Strike Against Austerity Cuts

Afghans Protest U.S. on 10-Year Anniversary of Invasion

U.S. Threatens to Cut UNESCO Funding for Palestine Vote

Secret Panel Determines U.S. "Kill List"

Activists: Up to 12,000 Prisoners Hunger Striking in …

Groups Sue Over Keystone XL Tar Sands Oil Pipeline …

Palin Opts Out of GOP Race

3 Killed, 7 Wounded in California Shooting

Study: Openly Gay Males 40% Less Likely to Receive Job …

Obama Hosts Honduran President at White House

Bahrain Orders New Trial for Jailed Medics

South Africa Prevents Dalai Lama Visit

Apple Founder Steve Jobs Dies at 56

Civil Rights Leader Fred Shuttlesworth Dies at 89

Occupy Wall Street March Gets Massive Turnout; 28 Arrested in Police Crackdown

Labor unions and students joined the growing Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City on Wednesday in the largest march since the protest began 20 days ago. Tens of thousands marched from Foley Square to Zuccotti Park, renamed “Liberty Plaza,” the site of the protest encampment where hundreds have been sleeping since Sept. 17. The march was peaceful ,but police later beat a handful of protesters with batons after they toppled a police barricade in an attempt to march down Wall Street. Police say a total of 28 people were arrested. We hear from eyewitnesses to an altercation between police and protesters at Wall Street.

"We Have Come Together": Inspired By Occupy Wall Street, Unions Join Activists for Historic March

The Occupy Wall Street march was endorsed by a coalition of labor groups including the Transport Workers Union, National Nurses United, SEIU 1199, and the United Federation of Teachers. We hear the voices of union leaders addressing the boisterous crowd at Foley Square in Lower Manhattan before the march headed to the Financial District.

Bronx Hip-Hop Duo Rebel Diaz, Live From Occupy Wall Street March

The hip-hop brother duo Rebel Diaz attended the Occupy Wall Street march in Lower Manhattan yesterday, and stopped to tell Democracy Now! why they came down from the South Bronx to join thousands of others demanding change. As they walked along Broadway towards Zuccotti Park — the heart of the protest encampment — they performed a song written about the occupy movement spreading across the United States.

Decrying Debt and Budget Cuts, Students Stage Walk-Out to Join Growing Occupy Wall Street Movement

Students made up a large contingent of Wednesday’s march in support of Occupy Wall Street. A national day of student walk-outs was held to protest budget cuts and to show support for Occupy Wall Street. According to the website OccupyColleges.org, walkouts occurred at 75 schools across the nation including many in New York City. Democracy Now! met up with several students who walked out of classes at the City University of New York, the New School and New York University to attend Wednesday’s march in Lower Manhattan. “I think a lot of students are in the direct lines of sing on this economic crisis is selling people a terrible bill of goods.People got the impression that they are able go to school and have a well paying job, some semblance of security and inclusion in a professional, responsible life,” one of the students says. “We what have seen a lot with students across the sea in Europe and students in Puerto Rico and Chile is that this is really a mirage.”

"We Are the 99%": Voices From the Occupy Wall Street March

People of all ages and backgrounds were on hand for Wednesday’s Occupy Wall Street march that drew tens of thousands into the streets in downtown New York City. Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman reports from the street to bring you some of their voices.

Naomi Klein: Protesters Are Seeking Change in the Streets Because It Won’t Come From the Ballot Box

Among the thousands at last night’s Occupy Wall Street protest here in New York City was award-winning journalist and author Naomi Klein. She is the author of the bestselling book, "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.” She also wrote "No Logo," a book that has become a cultural manifesto for critics of unfettered capitalism worldwide. Klein joins us to discuss the Occupy Wall Street movement and why it is being belittled in the corporate media. “My biggest fear was that the Obama presidency was was going to lead this generation of young people into political cynicism and political apathy,” Klein says. “But instead, they are going to where the power is. They are realizing the change is not coming in Washington because politicians are so controlled by corporate interest, and that that is the fundamental crisis in this country.”

Naomi Klein: Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Controversy Shows How Wall Street Is Occupying U.S. Gov’t

Last month, award-winning journalist and author Naomi Klein was in Washington, D.C., where she was arrested along with more than 1,000 people in two-week campaign of civil disobedience outside the White House against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada’s tar sands field to Gulf Coast refineries. Now in New York City to support the Occupy Wall Street protest, Klein joins us to discuss the connections between the two struggles, and the cozy relationship between the White House, the U.S. State Department that is considering the proposed pipeline, and Keystone XL lobbyists.

Democracy Now! Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Today's Headlines

Occupy Wall Street Protesters File Class Action Suit; …

Lawsuit Accuses Banks of Defrauding Veterans, Taxpayers

Obama Invokes Reagan in Push for Tax Changes

Study: Corporations Laid-Off Workers Following Tax Holiday

Russia, China Veto Security Council Measure on Syria …

Iraq: No Immunity for U.S. Troops

Palestinians Protest U.S. Aid Freeze

Bahrain Sentences 26 Protesters

HRW: No Improvement in Accountability for Colombia Union …

Greeks Stage General Strike Over Austerity Cuts

Rumsfeld Refuses to Answer Al Jazeera Reporter on Iraq War

Somalia Blowback: After Deadly Mogadishu Bombing, A Look at How U.S. Fueled Militant Islamist Threat

In Somalia, at least 70 people were killed yesterday in the capital of Mogadishu after a large truck bomb exploded near a government compound that housed the Somali cabinet and eight ministries, including the Ministry of Education. The militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, which maintains control of much of southern Somalia. Many in the country blame its refusal to accept Western aid for causing the deadly famine now accompanying a massive drought in the Horn of Africa. We’re joined by award-winning investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill, who was recently in Somalia to report for The Nation magazine. His article "Blowback in Somalia,” examines how U.S. policy there has helped create a militant Islamist threat.

As Unions, Students Join Occupy Wall Street, Are We Witnessing Growth of a New Movement?

As the Occupy Wall Street protest enters its twentieth day, New York City’s most powerful unions are set to march today from City Hall to the movement’s encampment in the Financial District. The demonstration will be bolstered by the walkout of potentially thousands of students at major public universities in New York City where tuition rates are on the rise. Meanwhile, similar "occupation" movements are springing up in cities around the country. On Tuesday, the Greater Boston Labor Council, representing 154 unions with 90,000 workers, supported the Occupy Boston encampment for shining "a spotlight on the imbalance of power in our nation and the role that Wall Street has played in devastating our economy." We host a discussion about whether the Occupy Wall Street movement is sparking a diverse, grassroots movement for economic change. We’re joined by Kai Wright, contributor to The Nation magazine and editorial director of ColorLines.com, where he wrote "Here’s to Occupying Wall Street! (If Only That Were Actually Happening)." We also speak with Arun Gupta, an editor with of The Indypendent, and of “The Occupied Wall Street Journal,” a newspaper affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement, where he published an article titled, "The Revolution Begins at Home."

Social Justice, Antiwar Protesters to Occupy D.C.’s Freedom Plaza in “October 2011” Protest

Tomorrow, thousands of people are expected to gather in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., for a “people’s assembly” organized by a movement calling itself "October 2011." They plan to occupy the plaza until they have brainstormed sustainable solutions to promote universal healthcare and economic justice, as well as end the nearly decade-long Afghanistan War. We speak with two of the movement’s organizers, Kevin Zeese and Dr. Margaret Flowers. Zeese is a lawyer who works with ItsOurEconomy.us, while Flowers is a pediatrician who serves as a congressional fellow for Physicians for a National Health Program. “This came out of seeing that all of the issues — the work in the peace movement and the wars, the work for single payer, the work for environmental justice — have been hampered by the same obstacle which is the corporate control of our political process and the corporate media message,” Flowers says. “We saw the need back and to bring these movements to gather to unite because we do have the strength in our numbers.”

Democracy Now! Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Democracy Now! Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Today's Headlines

Truck Bombing Kills at Least 70 in Somali Capital

Major Unions Throw Support Behind Occupy Wall Street Protest

Occupy Wall Street-Inspired Protests Spring Up Around the …

Obama: Nation Is Not Better Off Than It Was Four Years Ago

Report: Fannie Mae Aware of Dubious Foreclosure Practices as …

Emails Reveal Cozy Relationship Between Pipeline Lobbyist, …

Obama Administration Backs Increased Arctic Ocean Oil …

Alabama: Latino Students Disappear Due to New Far-Reaching …

U.S. Lawmakers Confirm Blocking $200 Million in Aid to …

Report: Syrian Protesters Abroad Systematically Monitored, …

Civil Rights Attorneys Request NYPD Turn Over Records on …

Mexican Officials Take Issue With Perry Suggestion to Send U. …

Obama Pushes Forward on Trade Agreements With South Korea, …

A War of Voting: Could Redistricting and Voting Law Changes Help Republicans Win in 2012?

A new report by the Brennan Center for Justice warns changes to voting laws could strip the voting rights of more than 5 million people — a higher number than the margin of victory in two of the last three presidential elections. Its findings reveal some 3.2 million people in Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin do not have the state identification they will now need to vote. Others will be kept from the voting booth by tougher restrictions for convicted prisoners and laws requiring proof of U.S. citizenship. In 2012, states that have cracked down on voting rights will account for 63 percent of the 270 Electoral College votes needed for a presidential victory. We speak with Ari Berman, author of the new article in Rolling Stone magazine, “The GOP War on Voting," and with ProPublica reporter Lois Beckett, who co-wrote, "The Hidden Hands in Redistricting: Corporations and Other Powerful Interests," about how money is helping re-shape Congressional districts along partisan lines, a practice known as gerrymandering.

Press Freedom Victory: Democracy Now! Reporters Win Landmark Settlement Over 2008 RNC Arrests

On Monday, we reported a final settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by Democracy Now! Host Amy Goodman, along with producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, challenging the police crackdown on journalists at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. We play excerpts of a news conference of our announcement, held yesterday in Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan, where hundreds are camped out with the Occupy Wall Street protest. We were joined by our attorneys to announce the settlement, Steven Reiss of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and Anjana Samant of the Center for Constitutional Rights. “There is a reason why freedom of the press is in the First Amendment. Because without freedom of the press, there is no democracy,” Reiss says. “That is a lesson that applies not just abroad. We have seen many times in recent months abroad, it applies here as well.”

7 Months After Revolution Ousted Mubarak, Egyptian Military Maintains Control, Suppressing Dissent

Over the weekend, Egyptian political parties dropped a threat to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections, the first multi-candidate vote since the ouster longtime president, Hosni Mubarak. The parties agreed to take part in the vote after Egypt’s ruling military council vowed to amend a voting law that would have made it easier for former Mubarak allies to return to government. But the military council’s shift fell short of ongoing demands by opposition activists for an end to the military trials of civilians and the lifting of 30-year-old emergency laws. Meanwhile, freedom of the press in Egypt is becoming increasingly limited and a massive strike is underway by teachers and other government workers. Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous has been reporting in Egypt since January, and he joins us in our New York studio just before he returns to Cairo.

Democracy Now! Podcast, September 28, 2011 - Troy Davis and the Machinery of Death

Troy Davis and the Machinery of Death

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/troy_davis_and_the_machinery_of_death_20110927/

Posted on Sep 27, 2011

By Amy Goodman

Audio. Left click to play. Right click to download.

On Sept. 21 at 7 p.m., Troy Anthony Davis was scheduled to die. I was reporting live from outside Georgia’s death row in Jackson, awaiting news about whether the Supreme Court would spare his life.

Davis was sentenced to death for the murder of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989. Seven of the nine nonpolice witnesses later recanted or changed their testimony, some alleging police intimidation for their original false statements. One who did not recant was the man who many have named as the actual killer. No physical evidence linked Davis to the shooting.

Davis, one of more than 3,200 prisoners on death row in the U.S., had faced three prior execution dates. With each one, global awareness grew. Amnesty International took up his case, as did the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Calls for clemency came from Pope Benedict XVI, former FBI Director William Sessions and former Republican Georgia Congressman Bob Barr. The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles, in granting a stay of execution in 2007, wrote that it “will not allow an execution to proceed in this state unless ... there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused.”

But it is just that doubt that has galvanized so much global outrage over this case. As we waited, the crowd swelled around the prison, with signs saying “Too Much Doubt” and “I Am Troy Davis.” Vigils were being held around the world, in places such as Iceland, England, France and Germany. Earlier in the day, prison authorities handed us a thin press kit. At 3 p.m., it said, Davis would be given a “routine physical.”

Routine? Physical? At a local church down the road, Edward DuBose, the president of Georgia’s NAACP chapter, spoke, along with human rights leaders, clergy and family members who had just left Davis. DuBose questioned the physical, “so that they could make sure he’s physically fit, so that they can strap him down, so that they could put the murder juice in his arm? Make no mistake: They call it an execution. We call it murder.”

Davis had turned down a special meal. The press kit described the standard fare Davis would be offered: “grilled cheeseburgers, oven-browned potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, cookies and grape beverage.” It also listed the lethal cocktail that would follow: “Pentobarbital. Pancuronium bromide. Potassium chloride. Ativan (sedative).” The pentobarbital anesthetizes, the pancuronium bromide paralyzes, and the potassium chloride stops the heart. Davis refused the sedative, and the last supper.

By 7 p.m., the U.S. Supreme Court was reportedly reviewing Davis’ plea for a stay. The case was referred to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who hails from Pin Point, Ga., a community founded by freed slaves that is near Savannah, where Davis had lived.

The chorus for clemency grew louder. Allen Ault, a former warden of Georgia’s death row prison who oversaw five executions there, sent a letter to Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, co-signed by five other retired wardens or directors of state prisons. They wrote: “While most of the prisoners whose executions we participated in accepted responsibility for the crimes for which they were punished, some of us have also executed prisoners who maintained their innocence until the end. It is those cases that are most haunting to an executioner.”

The Supreme Court denied the plea. Davis’ execution began at 10:53 p.m. A prison spokesperson delivered the news to the reporters outside: time of death, 11:08 p.m.

The eyewitnesses to the execution stepped out. According to an Associated Press reporter who was there, these were Troy Davis’ final words: “I’d like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I’m not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent. The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight. For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls.”

The state of Georgia took Davis’ body to Atlanta for an autopsy, charging his family for the transportation. On Troy Davis’ death certificate, the cause of death is listed simply as “homicide.”

As I stood on the grounds of the prison, just after Troy Davis was executed, the Department of Corrections threatened to pull the plug on our broadcast. The show was over. I was reminded what Gandhi reportedly answered when asked what he thought of Western civilization: “I think it would be a good idea.”

Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.

Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 900 stations in North America. She is the author of “Breaking the Sound Barrier,” recently released in paperback and now a New York Times best-seller.

© 2011 Amy Goodman

Distributed by King Features Syndicate

Podcast

Democracy Now! Monday, October 3, 2011

Today's Headlines

NYPD Arrests Over 700 on Brooklyn Bridge in Ongoing Occupy …

International Protests Erupt in Portugal, Greece, England

U.S. Confirms Death Of Second U.S. Citizen In Yemen Drone …

Afghan President Karzai Suspends Talks With Taliban

Libya: Shelling Prevents Red Cross Convoy In Besieged Town …

Thousands Attend Funeral For Executed Death Row Prisoner …

Koch Brothers Exposed For Trading With Iran, Bribing …

Rick Perry Under Fire For Racially Offensive Hunting Camp …

Virginia Nuclear Reactors Remain Shut Down More Than Five …

Jewish Settlers Blamed For Burning Israeli Mosque, U.S. …

Government Probe Confirms Major New York City Public School …

Settlement Reached Over Arrest of Amy Goodman, Democracy …

Settlement Reached Over Arrest of Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! Producers at 2008 GOP Convention

A final settlement has been reached in a federal lawsuit challenging the police crackdown on journalists reporting on the 2008 Republican National Convention and protests in St. Paul, Minnesota. Democracy Now! host and executive producer Amy Goodman, along with former producers Nicole Salazar and Sharif Abdel Kouddous, filed the lawsuit last year against the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments, the Ramsey County Sheriff and United States Secret Service personnel. The lawsuit challenged the policies and conduct of law enforcement during the 2008 RNC that resulted in their arrests. They were among dozens of journalists arrested that week in St. Paul. The settlement includes $100,000 in compensation paid by the St. Paul and Minneapolis police departments and the Secret Service. The settlement also includes an agreement by the St. Paul police department to implement a training program aimed at educating officers regarding the First Amendment rights of the press and public with respect to police operations, including proper procedures for dealing with the press covering demonstrations.

700 Arrested on Brooklyn Bridge as Occupy Wall Street Enters Third Week, Protests Grows Nationwide

The "Occupy Wall Street" protests in the financial district took a dramatic turn on Saturday when protesters tried to march across the Brooklyn Bridge. When police arrested 700 of the demonstrators, the event quickly turned into one of the largest arrests of non-violent protesters in recent history. Some protesters claim police lured them onto oncoming traffic on the bridge’s roadway; others said they did not hear instructions from police telling them to use the pedestrian walkway. Meanwhile, similar "Occupation" protests have spread to other cities, including Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles, where hundreds of protesters are now camped out in front of City Hall. We host a roundtable discussion with Marisa Holmes, an organizer with the main organizing group of Occupy Wall Street, called the General Assembly, Marina Sitrin, an attorney who is part of Occupy Wall Street’s legal working group, and Laurie Penny, a writer and journalist who reported on protests in London earlier this summer

Mourners Call For Abolishing Death Penalty at Funeral for Troy Davis in Georgia

This weekend in Savannah, Georgia, Troy Anthony Davis was laid to rest. Davis was killed by lethal injection in Jackson, Georgia on Sept. 21 after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stop his execution. The 2,000-seat Jonesville Baptist Church was filled to capacity for his funeral. While his body was being lowered into the burial ground, 23 doves were released. The first was symbolic of his spirit, and the remaining 22 represented each year Davis spent in prison. He was convicted of the 1989 killing of an off-duty police officer, Mark MacPhail. Since then, seven of the nine witnesses have recanted their testimony, and there was no physical evidence that tied Davis to the crime scene. Democracy Now! was in Savannah for the funeral and we play excerpts from the eulogies by Jason Ewart, Troy Davis’s attorney and an eyewitness to his execution; Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP; Larry Cox, president of Amnesty International USA; Lou DuBose, president of NAACP-Georgia; Lenda Sullivan-Russell, friend of Troy Davis; Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church; Antone’ De’Juan Davis-Correia, nephew of Troy Davis.

Legendary Comedian Dick Gregory On Hunger Strike To Protest Capital Punishment, Death of Troy Davis

Civil rights activist and comedian Dick Gregory was among the people who filled the 2,000-capacity Jonesville Baptist Church that hosted Troy Davis’ funeral on Saturday in Savannah, Georgia. Afterward, he told Democracy Now! he was starting a year-long hunger strike that night to protest against the death penalty. “I will not be eating solid food until next fall,” Gregory says. He called on others to pray and meditate that “the truth will come out” in Davis’ conviction for the 1989 killing of off-duty police officer, Mark MacPhail — a crime which Davis has always maintained he did not commit.

Martina Correia, Sister of Troy Davis, Vows to Keep Fighting Death Penalty

After the funeral on Saturday of Troy Anthony Davis, executed by the state of Georgia on Sept. 21, we spoke with his sister, Martina Correia. She fought for her brothers life, at the same time she fought for her own as she battled breast cancer. “I know we will be able to abolish the death penalty. Everyone is asking the question, why kill when there is doubt? We are no longer going to except that,” Correia says.