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"We Have Got To Bring Corporate America To Its Knees"
- Harry Belafonte on Racism, Poverty, the Elections, War and
Resistance
Spying in America: How the Pentagon is Overcoming Privacy
Laws to Conduct Spy Operations At Home
"We Have Got To Bring Corporate America To Its
Knees" - Harry Belafonte on Racism, Poverty, the Elections,
War and Resistance
We hear legendary actor, singer, activist and humanitarian
Harry Belafonte speaking after receiving the 2004 Human Rights
Award by Global Exchange in San Francisco. Today we hear the
words of legendary actor, singer, activist and humanitarian,
Harry Belafonte.
The son of Caribbean-born immigrants, Harry Belafonte grew
up on the streets of Harlem and Jamaica. He dropped out of
high school at the age of 17 to enlist in the Navy. After
serving in World War II he returned to New York and began
a successful acting and singing career. He spearheaded the
Calypso craze with a string of hits and his third album, titled
"Calypso", became the first in history to sell over
1 million copies.
Along with his rise to worldwide stardom, he became deeply
involved in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1956, he met the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and the two quickly became friends.
Belafonte sent money to bail Dr. King out of the Birmingham
City Jail and raised thousands of dollars to release other
imprisoned protesters. He financed the Freedom Rides, and
supported voter-registration drives and helped to organize
the March on Washington in 1963.
In the 1980's he helped initiate the star-studded "We
Are the World" single, which raised tens of millions
of dollars for famine relief in Ethiopia, calling global attention
humanitarian crises in Africa.
A longtime anti-apartheid activist, Belafonte hosted former
South African President Nelson Mandela on his triumphant visit
to the United States. In 1987 he was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill
Ambassador.
Belafonte has been a longtime critic of U.S. foreign policy,
calling for an end to the embargo against Cuba, and opposing
policies of war and global oppression.
Last week, the San Francisco-based human rights group Global
Exchange awarded Harry Belafonte with the 2004 Human Rights
Award. In his acceptance speech, he spoke about racism, poverty,
the elections, war and resistance.
- Harry Belafonte, speaking at the 2004 Human
Rights Awards Ceremony in San Francisco on June 10,
2004.
Spying in America: How the Pentagon is Overcoming
Privacy Laws to Conduct Spy Operations At Home
A new provision buried in an intelligence appropriations
bill moving through Congress would exempt Pentagon agencies
from the Privacy Act, vastly expanding their ability to gather
intelligence inside the United States, including recruiting
citizens as informants. We spend the rest of the hour taking
a look at government spy operations here in the United States.
In the 1970s, army intelligence agents were caught spying
on antiwar protesters and Congress passed the Privacy Act,
which requires officials seeking information to disclose who
they are and what they want the information for.
Now, a provision buried in an intelligence appropriations
bill moving through Congress would exempt Pentagon agencies
from the Privacy Act, vastly expanding their ability to conduct
domestic spy operations.
But recent events show how domestic military intelligence
gathering can lead to a government assault on free speech.
In February, Army intelligence officers visited the University
of Texas law school days after a student-organized conference
on Islamic Law and Women's Rights. The agents questioned participants
and demanded a non-existent roster of attendees. The Army
later apologized for acting outside its jurisdiction, but
under the new intelligence provision, such investigations
may become more common. The intelligence bill is scheduled
to go before the House Intelligence Committee tomorrow.
- Michael Isikoff, investigative correspondent for Newsweek
who first reported this
story in this week's issue.
- Sahar Aziz, Student at University of Texas Law School
and organizer of a conference on Islamic Law and Women's
Rights held in February 2004, which was visited by an Army
intelligence officer, prompting an apology from the Army
for operating outside their jurisdiction.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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