DB: Are you concerned? If you decide to surrender -- I don't know if you will or you won't -- but these days black men are in danger when they're in custody of law enforcement. And it doesn't matter which direction you are facing, you oftentimes end up getting shot in the back. Your concerns about your relationship with law enforcement, and the nature of racism in this country?
Baraka: Well, of course, there are those concerns. I mean, especially when we are talking about North Dakota. Are we're talking about parts of the country in which, you know, white supremacist activity has been part of their traditions. And a population where only 1% of the population is, in fact, African-American. Yes, there will be that concern. And we are in discussions with our legal team about how we're going to deal with this.
DB: Remind people what distinguishes your candidacy, and Jill Stein's candidacy, from the other folks who will definitely not be arrested, apparently in both cases, in major candidates, Clinton and Trump, no matter what they do.
Baraka: I think that's the most obvious distinction, that we are under arrest warrants as a consequence of standing in solidarity with people who are resisting injustice, people who are resisting the concentrated power of corporate America and the colonial state. That would never happen with the other major party candidates because, of course, they represent the elite. They represent the 1%. And that is the major distinction here.
Basically, we stand with the people. We are struggling for a real democracy and social justice, and an end to the colonial project. So the policies that we are advocating for, are representing, and our transitional plan, that is our platform...these are policies that we feel as important, important reforms on the road towards the kind of fundamental change that has to take place in this country for us to really begin to address the ongoing issues of oppression, and structural exploitation here in this country. So, those are the distinctions, that we are about fundamental change, and the other two parties are managing the status quo.
DB: Now, finally, What was going through your mind when you saw these folks release the dogs, use the dogs to attack the indigenous community while all they were doing was defending sacred burial grounds. What were some of the thoughts going through your mind? It must have got you going.
Baraka: It reminded me of all of the colonial struggles that we have seen and been a part of for decades. It reminded me of Birmingham, it reminded me of South Africa, it reminded me of all of these [UNCLEAR 10:49 audio spasm] concentrated white power has used the power of the state to try to maintain its dominance. And the use of dogs seems to be something that has been a permanent part of the process. Dogs were used in the South to run down slaves, enslaved people running from slavery, to run down people who had escaped from prisons, to intimidate Muslim detainees in these black sites and places like Abu Ghraib in Iraq. Dogs were used by the Conquistadors throughout the Americas. Now there's this relationship between the colonial project and Europeans, and the use of these dogs. So all of that flies through my mind as I follow scenes where these security guards are coming out and using these dogs in a very aggressive and dehumanizing way.
DB: All right, Ajamu Baraka, We're going to follow this closely. A very amazing presidential campaign takes another turn. Thanks so much for being with us.
Baraka: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
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