Thin Black Duke of Slant Truth has created a Facebook group and cause for the Jena Six. Much obliged, man; much obliged. There are a couple of other groups dedicated to the Jena Six too, if you’re interested in joining them. The most important thing is to spread the word.
THE PETITION IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR SIGNING HERE.
The way we deal with problems on a smaller level often affects the problematic situations we have on a larger level. It becomes difficult to view isolated incidences of racial inequality — isolated because it affects one person, a small group of persons, or a small area — without considering the larger framework we as individuals, groups, and communities operate within on a daily basis.
Shawn Williams has directed my attention to a recent article by Howard Witt of the Chicago Tribune about Jena, Louisiana. In this story, we see the refusal to grapple with the severity of racial animus, symbolic representations of that animus, and the legacy of mutual mistrust and hatred left today from failing to grapple with the unreleased tension. Entangled in these sentiments is miscarriage of justice, patterns of retaliatory violence and intimidation, and a pervasive sense of futility that amidst so much action and emotion, nothing substantial was felt or expressed except the stinging pain of old and gangrenous wounds.
Here is Shawn retelling of Witt’s rundown of the events:
In his May 18, 2007 story, Mr. Witt tells of an incident that happened at the local high school in Jena where black students decided they wanted to sit under a tree whose shade had been reserved for white students only for years. When campus officials gave their blessing to the students request to sit under the tree, a series of events began that have apparently launched the town into a downward spiral.
According to Mr. Witt’s article the following events have occurred since the initial action by the black students last September:
* The next day three nooses were hanging from the tree
* Once three white students were identified as having hung the nooses on the tree, the school superintendent suspended them for only three days. (The principal had suggested expulsion). The superintendent felt the nooses represented a “youthful stunt.”
* Fights broke out at the high school between black and white students.
* Unknown arsonists set fire to the central wing of the school (November)
* A white youth beat up a black student who showed up at an all-white party
* another young white man pulled a shotgun on three black students at a convenience store
* A group of black students at the high school allegedly jumped a white student on his way out of the gym, knocked him unconscious and kicked him after he hit the floor (December)
* LaSalle Parish district attorney, Reed Walters, opted to charge six black students with attempted second-degree murder and other offenses (for their involvement in the above incident)
NOTE: The white youth who beat the black student at the party was charged only with simple battery, while the white man who pulled the shotgun at the convenience store wasn’t charged with any crime at all.
In the midst of these incidences, Witt reports that the mayor offered this opinion of Jena’s order and direction:
“Jena is a place that’s moving in the right direction,” said Mayor Murphy McMillan. “Race is not a major local issue. It’s not a factor in the local people’s lives.”
I single out this quote because many people invoke it in areas where racial tensions aren’t constructed as high and for less severe reasons. Jordan Flaherty writes more about the demonstrations and reactions from the Jena community spawned from the events listed:
Many parents questioned why the noose and other threatening actions were not taken seriously by the school administration. “What’s the difference,” asks Marcus Jones, the father of Mychal Bell, one of the students, about the disparity in the charges. “There’s a color difference. There was white kids that hung up a noose, but it was black kids in the fight.” Sentencing disparity is a big issue in many of these small towns, where many see it as the modern continuation of the ugly southern heritage of lynching.
Jones explains a litany of reasons why the children should not be charged with attempted murder. “The kid did not have life threatening injuries, he was not cut, he was not stabbed, he was not shot, nothing was broken. There is no evidence of conspiracy to commit attempted murder. You talk about conspiracy to attempt second-degree murder, you think about the mafia, you think somebody paid a sniper or something. We’re talking about a high school fistfight. The DA is showing his racist upbringing, his racist acts and his racist nature, and bringing it into the law.”
I can’t help but think Flaherty’s right when the District Attorney releases statements to this effect:
I will not tolerate this type of behaviour. To those who act in this manner I tell you that you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and with the harshest crimes that the facts justify. When you are convicted I will seek the maximum penalty allowed by law. I will see to it that you never again menace the students at any school in this parish.
I highly recommend checking out this detailed rundown at Listen To Me For A Minute to get your bearings about what’s taken place, and I also encourage you to stop yourself before distancing away from Jena and painting it as a special place with special problems. Our actions affect others’ realities. It is highly likely that if the school officials took decisive action after the nooses were placed on the tree, the resulting incidences would not have occurred. Perhaps I should say: we need to pay attention to those small matters and discuss them seriously before they escalate.
More general news articles, commentary and coverage:
BBC coverage
The Guardian (UK)
The Baltimore Sun
New Zealand Herald
KATC 3 snippet
Author’s Den article from Eddie Thompson
The News Star article about victim of crime facing expulsion for bringing a firearm to school; initial article about being caught with the firearm
A post from African-American Political Pundit
A post from Professor Zero
Two posts from Vox ex Machina: one and two
A post from Rolling Back the Tide of Extremism, One Post at a Time
A post from Dvorak Uncensored
A post from CenLamar (hat-tip to Dr. Elle, Sistorian Extraordinaire)
A post from Friends of Justice which appears to be run by Alan Bean! (He’s one of many people I tried to find contacts for so people can ask how to support the situation; stream of consciousness, sry) Here’s a few posts from the Friends of Justice blog. (And he’s right in the latter entry; that Flaherty article is popping up everywhere.)
Article from the Louisiana Public Defender’s Association (Thanks, Elle!)
Kim Pearson’s post at Blogher
Ilyka’s post at Pandagon
Second article from Rev. Eddie Thompson in response to the Tribune article and the reaction (thank you, Nordette and Kim at Blogher)
Vox offers another update with links to a commentary by Mother Jones and an article in BBC News (thanks, Vox)
A post at Trying to Follow (the blogger has also set up a Facebook group you can join relating to supporting the Jena Six)
A post at it’s all ashes in the end…
A piece from The INDsider, an independent weekly based in Lafayette, Louisiana
An interesting forum post from “J-Town Lady” at Snopes.com
The Town Talk appears to have local daily updates; it covers the Alexandria-Pineville area. I found an article with an update of the trial which is going behind the cut. Dr. Elle also found the weekly local newspaper for the area, The Jena Times.
For helping specifically with this matter, I think it’s important to contact someone close to the action first to figure out what people on the netroots and private citizens can do to help ensure justice will be served adequately.
Joe Cook, Executive Director
ACLU – Louisiana
P.O. Box 56157
New Orleans, LA 70156
(504) 522-0617
(866) 522-0617
admin[at]laaclu[dot]org
Here is the general donation page to the ACLU in Louisiana.
UPDATE: I found the National Action Network contact information for Reverend Raymond Brown, who was present at the rally mentioned in the Flaherty article:
Reverend Raymond Brown
737 Cohen Avenue
Marrero, Louisiana 70072
revraymondbrown[at]yahoo[dot]com
(504) 710-3649 NAN Office
(504) 710-3744
Through the Friends of Justice blog, I found some contact information for Alan Bean (updated with a mailing address and another contact number; thanks, Ilyka):
Alan Bean
Friends of Justice
507 N. Donley Ave.
Tulia TX 79088
(806) 996-3353
(806) 729-7889 (This is a cell phone number, so don’t go blowing it up all crazy.)
bean_alan[at]yahoo[dot]com
You can send donations to this organization here.
Ilyka also found information for the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Southern Juvenile Defender Center:
Karpad, thanks for reminding me about the SPLC. There’s a form people can use to contact them here, or use their phone and/or address:
(334) 956-8200
400 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36104But the Southern Juvenile Defender Center administered by the SPLC might be the better approach for this; I’m not certain. They can be reached at the same telephone number above, or by mail to
PO Box 2087
Montgomery, AL 36104
I need help with this aspect, so if anyone knows contacts for grassroots organizations in Jena, please let me know and spread the word. Shawn also mentioned developing some way to contact the Department of Justice (for the net, perhaps a petition and letter writing campaign?) and letting them know that we need a stringent and definitive action taken on cases based on inequitable treatment among races in the criminal justice system, using this case and others as examples.
Lastly, we should figure out ways online to raise money for the legal defense of these three young men, and we should write letters to our hometown papers and media about the situation so that we can keep these discussions in the forefront of people’s minds. We can’t table them until the Next Big Case; our dedication and our awareness must remain ongoing.
(I’m not in the greatest mood, so I hope this post doesn’t seem lackluster. I appreciate any and everything people can contribute.)
First Town Talk article I found:
‘Jena Six’ Trial Continued to Next Month
By Abbey Brown
abrown@thetowntalk.com
(318) 487-6387JENA — Tears streamed down Melissa Bell’s face Monday as the judge ruled in favor of LaSalle Parish District Attorney J. Reed Walters’ motion to continue her son’s trial more than a month.
Across the courtroom, wearing a black-and-white striped jumpsuit and handcuffed, Mychal Bell’s head fell backward in frustration when he heard the ruling.
Bell is one of the six Jena High School students who have become known as the “Jena Six.” He and Theodore Shaw were scheduled for jury trial Monday on charges of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder in connection with a Dec. 4 fight at the school that sent fellow student Justin Barker to LaSalle General Hospital.
Bell and Shaw are the only two students charged in the fight who remain in jail, each in lieu of $90,000 bond.“(Walters) said they needed more time to get the witnesses together,” Melissa Bell said outside the LaSalle Parish courtroom. “If you ain’t found the witnesses yet or got together what you need, what’s another month going to do. What will they do next month if he still doesn’t have everything — continue it again?”
She said her biggest frustration is that her son has been sitting in jail “day in and day out” ready to go to trial while the state has continued to postpone things.
Walters told 28th Judicial District Court Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. that many of his witnesses had made plans months ago to be out of state this week and that several other witnesses were Jena High teachers or students with finals this week.
Walters also said in court that Dr. Gbolanan Sokoya, one of Barker’s emergency room physicians, can’t be located.
Both Bell and Shaw’s attorneys objected to the continuance.
“We are ready for trial,” Bell’s attorney, Blane Williams, said in court.
He said they would be willing to work around the school’s finals schedule and suggested having the trial in the evening hours to avoid a conflict.
Mauffray said that suggestion and Williams’ flexibility were “admirable” but said that if “the shoe were on the other foot, you’d be jumping up and down” requesting a continuance to have time to present material witnesses.
The trial was continued until June 25, with the caveat that Walters be able to produce all of his witnesses by that date, Mauffray said.
According to court documents, Walters has subpoenaed at least 34 witnesses for the trial, including Barker, a number of other students, Jena High teachers and staff and medical personnel from LaSalle General.
Robert Bailey Jr. also was scheduled for jury trial Monday, but a continuance requested last week by his attorney had been granted by the judge.
Trial dates haven’t been set for Carwin Jones and Bryant Purvis. If found guilty on all charges, all of the boys could face 25 to 100 years in prison. The sixth boy’s case is being handled by juvenile court, and records weren’t available.
The Jena Six have garnered national attention by both media and civil rights groups.
An article in Sunday’s Chicago Tribune with the headline “Racial demons rear heads” documented issues the school and city have been facing since September — including the hanging of nooses on school grounds that some parents of the “Jena Six” said started the whole ordeal.
During a “peace rally” earlier this month, Marcus Jones, Bell’s father, said “it’s all about those nooses” and said the charges are racially motivated.
The three boys accused of hanging the nooses — all white — were given a three-day suspension and faced no criminal charges, Jones said. Fights leading up to the December fight at the school weren’t handled in this manner — with attempted murder charges, he said.
“But this fight, with black boys against a white boy, there are attempted murder charges,” Jones said. “There are racial tensions, and it started with those nooses.”
King Downing, national coordinator for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Campaign Against Racial Profiling, said the organization is committed to supporting the “Jena Six” throughout the trial process.
“We want justice for these young men and their families,” he said. “We want to clear the air and know for certain if these boys were overcharged and see if there are any disparities in justice in LaSalle Parish.”
Downing said he has been encouraging the families to stay positive and strong.
“There is a smell in the air,” he said. “We have not completely identified it, but we are trying to make sure it isn’t the smell of injustice. … I think the world’s attention on Jena is growing. And I hope anything out of order gets in order quickly.”
After the continuance was granted, Theodore McCoy, Shaw’s father, said he was disappointed.
“We were hoping to get this under way,” he said. “I know (Theodore) is more frustrated than me. I can’t imagine what he’s going through. The charges are outrageous. We are just ready to put this behind us.”
Initial article about the trial being postponed:
Trials for three members of Jena Six postponed
Town Talk staffJENA — The trial of two former Jena High Schools students charged with attempted second-degree murder in a December fight at the school was continued today until June 25.
Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr., with the 28th Judicial District Court in Jena, made the ruling today, citing the unavailability of critical witnesses such as students and teachers, who through this week are still in school.
Students Theodore Shaw and Mychal Bell were scheduled to go on trial today on the attempted second-degree murder charges as well as charges of conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. The trial for another student, Robert Bailey Jr., that was scheduled to begin today also was continued.
The three students, along with Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and an unnamed juvenile, are accused of beating another Jena High School student on Dec. 4, 2006.
The victim in that fight, identified by his mother as Justin L. Barker, 17, was charged May 10 with possession of a firearm in a firearm-free zone after police allege he brought a hunting rifle onto the Jena High campus. LaSalle Parish Schools Superintendent Roy Breithaupt has said he is recommending that Barker be expelled.
The five students charged as adults in Barker’s beating each face 25 to 100 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Shaw and Mychal Bell remain in jail in lieu of $90,000 bond.
Pingback: Update on the Jena Six « Vox ex Machina
field negro said:
Great post, and I love how you explained that this smaller incident is symbolic of much larger issues here in the home of the brave and the land of the (not so) free.
I will be calling and e-mailing the NO ACLU forthwith.
I hope that everyone reading this post will do the same thing.
Peace.
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Pingback: Friends of Justice on the Jena Six « Vox ex Machina
C-dell said:
This is very strange I live in Winnfield Louisiana. Not far from Jena. We heard about this and it was a topic for awhile, but it faded. Not five minutes ago me and my mother were talking about it and then I get on my computer and here it is.
field negro said:
c-dell, what is the racial makeup of Jena?
RepubliKKKans said:
I believe the best action would be to dis bar Klansman and District Attorney Reed Walters and to look into the the other cases this coward has prosecuted while the world wasn’t watching him.
It’s time we start and demand that these white collar racist cowards serve some jail time of their own.
RepubliKKKans said:
If you haven’t heard there is another case in Louisiana concerning Gary Tyler. Please read about it and sign the petition at http://www.freegarytyler.com
Pingback: Jena, Louisiana — Meet the Grassroots « The Anti-Essentialist Conundrum
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yung jreds said:
now u can see what the law really trying to do to us.
bgf 2-7-6 black family
REST IN PEACE AUDREY
Rest In Peace George Jackson, Huey P , Bobby Seale , Bunchy Carter , Mark Clark all the Brothers of the Strong Armed Struggle
freedom unity struggle, one God one aim one destiny.
Power to The Black people.
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Kim Clune said:
Democracy Now! posts that financial support can be sent to:
The Jena 6 Defense Committee
PO BOX 2798
Jena, LA 71342.
They are also looking for legal volunteers and activists to demonstrate locally. According to Caseptla Bailey, those members of Jena’s white community who are in support of the Jena Six are afraid to come forward.
From the family in California on behalf of Our Neice and Cousin Melissa Bell's Child Mycheal Bell said:
We the Family send our thoughts and Prayers to Missy, and Family through out the trial. Keep faith in God, and the truth will come to light on behalf of the Jena 6. Gob bless all involved, and their family’s as well. Until then Love Always, California Family
George Cook said:
Listen to my interview with Alan Bean, an activist who was in the courtroom during the trial
http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/raceinamerica.html
On June 28 2007 a young black defendant Mychal Bell was found guilty of aggravated assault against a young white man by an all white jury despite conflicting testimony from witnesses. Alan Bean talks about the things below:
The weekend before the assault took place nooses were hung on a tree.
The Prosecutor threatened black students about protesting the nooses
A black man was assaulted, no charges were brought up.
During the trial the public defender put up no defense after the prosecution rested it’s case.
Listen to the interview and read about the case hear: http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/raceinamerica.html
Jean-Noël Mégoz said:
Hello,
I’m French, I’m white, and I feel totally appalled. I discovered the Jena Six affair 2 hours ago, in “Le Monde”, a French newspaper.
I can’t believe hanging nooses in a tree can seriously be considered as a joke, especially in Louisiana. Sticking yellow star badges on the chest of Jewish people for fun would be exactly the same.
Since I’m not a US resident, I can’t sign the online petition to claim for real justice. I would like to ask all the American people who read these lines to do it, on their behalf as well as on mine.
I can’t help “Strange Fruits” playing in my head for 2 hours. Strange nauseating fruits.
Stan Brown said:
I was just stunned when I read this article a couple of weeks ago. It goes to show you that no matter how far African American come in this country, there are still those that try to oppress us. I’m not sure if Oprah has mentioned anything about this on her show….. Oprah? I’m waiting…….hmmmm!
A Beautiful Aura said:
Its funny that Stan Brown mentioned Oprah. When I first heard this case which was today. I was like “what the hell?”. Why didn’t I hear about this sooner? It’s funny because it’s sad. Regardless of what others say the Rev. Al Sharpton type our not the leaders in our black community. The Rappers and Oprah are.
They are the ones with the real influence. Now I really can’t rely on the rappers to do anything (I suppose they are too busy shining their diamonds from darfur.) but you would expect at least Oprah to say something. The only reason I cam across this webpage is because I typed in “Oprah Jena 6” in my google bar to see if she has taken any action against this and this page came up… so far it doesn’t look like much anything has been done by her.
And its funny.
And its sad.
If anyone has ideas for real action hit me up.
Kalonji said:
I heard about this yesterday, 7.29.07, from the Jesse Jackson show about 9AM. Stunned as most of us have been, I did an internet search and from there I’ve been trying to spread the word to every available ear and began an email campaign targeted at those icons most likely to help bring about a positive outcome to this outrageous injustice!
Was it not Malcolm X who said, “By any means necessary”.
This injustice must be thwarted!
I’m willing to bet that if a worldwide boycott against LA were implemented, we’d see justice served!
shona said:
I recently sent an email to my local news station because believe it or not this story has yet to be heard.
I will be emailing the NAACP and getting in contact with congressmen in the grand ol’ state of VA. We can not stand for this injustice within the AA community.
I say that we rally on this issue because its a violation to “EVERYONE” especially AA as we and our ancestors have fought so hard for this and for it still to be going on. Granted we are not as far as we think we are but this incident amongst Katrina (which FEMA is still with holding over $1.1 billion funds to restore the lives of the hurricane victims), Don Imus this is the straw that breaks the camels back!!!!!!!!
Someone and Everyone that can get involved please do so!!!
Land of the Free should not have to cost this much!!!!
Dana said:
I am livid with this situation for so many reasons. To begin with the injustice that the Jena 6 are receiving. But what is almost as upsetting is that this happened almost a year ago and I am just hearing about it, and I live in NC. Now, I watch the news, read newspapers and surf the internet. Why did I just hear about this? Why isn’t the story being followed by news stations like CNN or Fox News? I don’t understand why gossip about famous people makes the headlines, but I have to search for news that I really care about. Then I search for updates on CNN’s website and I get this video that does not even tell the back story of the case. I am going to be sharing info on this case with anyone that will listen because this injustice cannot happen. These children do not deserve to spend 20 years in prision for a school yard fight.
Jake said:
Of course, this is an horrendous situation.
Unfortunately, when you have a public defender you get what you pay for. I mean no offense to the 1 or 2 public defenders out there who are actually working in an attempt to do the right thing, caseloads that are legion notwithstanding.
Assuming that these Jena PD’s actually attended and completed law school and passed the Louisiana Bar, there is virtually no excuse for this situation to continue. Allow me to explain.
Any idiot with internet access can locate and navigate FindLaw.com. Yet there was no mention of Batson v Kentucky which sets legal precedent for prosecutorial discrimination during jury selection, and also no mention of Georgia v McCollum which supports a person’s right to be included in the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of our Constitution particularly during jury selection. And Due Process is also required under the 14th Amendment.
In the case of the Jena 6 I find no indication that any prosecutorial misconduct was ever considered. Appalling!! This, alone, could have resulted in mis-trials for some and changes of venue for others. The judge is not allowed to be the first one to mention this kind of thing at trial, it must come from the “attorneys”.
Why, then, did the Jena PD’s never go that route when there is plenty of legal precedent (not only the two I mentioned)?? Could it be that the Good Ole Boy network is alive and well in Louisiana?? Were the PD’s “convinced” in one way or another that it was in their own best interests to “go along”. Do the PD’s have families that live in the area?? Or, perhaps, are the PD’s just as much Neanderthals as their legal counterparts?
We have Constitutionally guaranteed Rights to be represented by counsel at trial, but there is no requirement that said counsel be committed to fending off the allegations of the prosecution. This is why it is required that a person be able to “assist in his own defense”. Are these young men effectively capable of “assisting in their own defense”? They have no legal training or practical experience, and they can only request that their attorneys present a decent case. They cannot MAKE their attorneys do anything. Their attorneys, instead, choose/chose to present no case at all.
Can we say “RAILROAD”, boys and girls??
In parting, I must mention something that no one else has, to my limited knowledge. Why does a “whites only” tree even exist? Why does any student acknowledge the need to ask permission to sit under said tree? Why does Jena think cutting the tree down serves any real purpose?? Such symbolism is offensive to the sensibilities. Are we to think that if we don’t want lynchings then we cannot sell rope? Does the town of Jena really think people are that stupid? I suppose they do.
Will we continue to let them think so??
kiera said:
i think that the whole government needs to be fired and they need to find another one because the one that louisiana have now is triffilien and racist and should be behind bars to if i have anything to do with it thhose white boys that commited a crime and didnt get charged for nothing fair of what a black boy would be charged if the did it will be put behind bars espeacially the one that pulled the shot gun out i will bring that to justice if thats the last thing i do so yall government people need to straighten up and not act so cricket . i bet they white to though thats why they do what they do with racism.
Mad Mentality said:
FIGHT THE POWER!!!!
Racism is only awakening from its nap.
His angry head has been quietly kept
With one eye opened the other eye closed
Who it arouses next, most everyone knows
From grandmother past grandmother
and granddads great
The other side of the line
will never segregate!
Each one reach one
Teach your children now
When they are confronted
They too will know how
Remember Hisstory
Never forget Our Story
About the boundaries crossed
about the victory and the glory
still we rise from the ashes inside
Walk tall and strong, on our backs
Stamped PRIDE
Our fathers stood and mothers laid down
Not because they were helpless
because therein lies the crown
By the hands of Kings and Queens
this country was made
across seas for mere rice
our dignity made to trade
Our Papa’s compelled to watch
as mothers fought and cried
Yet and Still on our backs
stamped the marvel of PRIDE
beyond all of this
stronger than ever before
Still we rise, while opening even more doors!
Still we rise
Still we rise
Fighting the power!!!
And we shall rise again!!!
Mad Mentalityâ„¢
08-27-07
360
A Word From The Lord said:
Psalms 27
…The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?……………………………………..
…For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock……………………..
…Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemiesDeliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty…………………………………………..
…Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
bb said:
This bears a faint resemblance to the Scottsboro case of the 1930s. The circumstances are only different, but young black men being railroaded into jail because racism is the same.
randall said:
Please send this to as many people as possible to sign for the Prosecution of the Jena Six… White kids need to be protected from these thugs..A message needs to be sent so more incidents like this doesn’t happen..
Prosecute the Jena Six
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/102179RC/
Carol said:
Please forgive my spelling…
This really scares me…this is not the first time this has happened in this century and surely will not be the last…Until we as a Black Nation the true Native Americans rise together and get back to who we truly are and define what we like and remember our ancestors. Others will contine to divide and conquer us and feed us false dreams, by that I mean the american dream…to make a lot of money…nothing about helping one another…
It has been long enough for us to have defined who we are as a nation and to stop living out another race dream of whom we are and whom we should be…all our rights were taken away and we are still fighting to get them back…the battle will never be over against discrimmination…just because the march ended does not mean the fight has…we, (as a nation who has been sought out to be destroyed) should be marching on the streets each time someone openly discrimminates against one of ours and are gunned down like an animal…and yet we do nothing
Older generations have not taught us how to fight the way we are suppose to…arm ourselves with knowledge and learn our rights love ye one another as thy self…let’s take it back to the streets our people are still opressed unto this day…just because many have made it to the top does not mean they will not be discrimmated against…and when the enemy starts to chaise one we usually allow them to until they have destroyed that person at the very core…and those who can help with money and knowledge usually will sit back and allow it to happen, many are quick to say I got mine they have to get theirs…but what about our children and our grand children and just children in general…who will watch out for them and keep them from being sent to jail for foolishness things children do…we sit and watch as countless lives are being destroyed…I would love to see a march take place on Washington D.C. allowing law makers know we refuse to sit back and watch lives be destroyed any longer…I am so passionate about this thing I can go on and on…it is just that all it took to get us here and now we think the fight is over…that was just in the early 60’s not many years ago…and a lot of those who openly discrimminated are yet still alive and teaching it to others…the only difference today is, racist have taken off the hoods and have put on ties and use a pen and paper to beat us and lock us up for long periods of time for no reason at all…laws that are written by them but broken by them as well and they walk away…and yet we do nothing…
There are enough black lawyers out there that these young men should not have to worry about a lawyer…
I refuse to vote next year as it will not matter anyway…I began to encourage others not to even turn out to the polls as the only one who seens to profit from the election are the ones in office…why will I continue to waste my time voting for people who don’t care about the people who put them in office, they make new laws to hurt us even more and we continue to vote, wake up…what good does it do to vote these days? Nothing seems to change…If we all stop voting and tell them it does not matter to us who is in office…maybe someone will listen…that is why we have to stop voting and start marching…if we as a nation can learn to love each other and accept who we are, were to seek out our own foundation and identify with what our people were about when they were coming along and how our people had their own customs and their own ways live off much less and were very happy…we would be much happier…but we have been following the white mans dream for to many decades…it time to define who we are as a people…our young have begun to identify with self and no longer other nations…they are smarter and are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in and I love them for that…and yet they still tell us we are the under dogs and our children are not learning as well as other races…that is where they are trying to keep us…as the under dog and truly divided…
Please forgive me for ranting on… but like I said I have a true passion for this…
Sincerely,
Carol Miller
paulette said:
I think things like this for along time. i think that we deserve better. we must stick together as a black family, to fight racial injustice. Kenneth Walker a unarmed black man, was gun down by a white sheriff. So i say no justice no peace.
Kaye said:
I believe that a white person will always receive better justice than black people (based on race). We need to take all the white judges off the bench because they are all racist.
tom- (ruff) diddy piddy dog said:
Yeup, Anyone who tries to convict a black person is an evil racist. Just wait until it happens to you or your kids.
LIL'Ashley Keys #1 said:
white people need to leave black people alone they really do
one day a black person will knock tha devil out of a white male or a female it does not make any sense white people is just fooling around with a black person a white female or a male
no mattter what color the white people are they can be yellow pink brown gray you name it like i said everybody need to wake up and pay attention one day some of this jena mess or what ever they are saying about the school one day it may happen to your kids if you dono’t wake up and pay attention and listen what’s going on around the world it is very imprortant that ya’ll listen and watch the news and that stupid attorney is crazy that attorney walter reed have no sense at all. that attorney need to get a lif and leave the black people alone i will say it agoind wake up and pay attention so many people around the u.s.a is being killied over some money that is so childesh some of these youngsters have guns and they donot understand how dangerous a gun is they just go off and shoot at anybody they donot care who the person is they just don’t care
all of this jena mess is a crazy situation
ya’ll adults teenager’s grandparents ya’ll better listen
or one day it might be you and your kids
this is real……………
John Wilkins said:
Where’s the outrage for the Black Entertainment Network? If we had a White Entertainment Network it would be an outrage. What about the Black “anything” of the Year Award? Maybe if blacks themselves would stop segregating themselves others wouldn’t do it.
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tom- (ruff) diddy piddy dog said:
America,World,Universe. Take a clear lesson from this. If anyone makes you give up slavery, never ever release the slaves alive in your own country.
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Steve said:
You may want to read this article re the various incidents in Jena:
Media myths about the Jena 6
A local journalist tells the story you haven’t heard.
By Craig Franklin
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1024/p09s01-coop.html
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Rev. Raymond Brown said:
Marcus Jones father of famous Jena 6 member Mychal Bell is facing five moths in prison for hitting his son’s attorney in a Baton Rouge elevator two years ago. Attorney carol Lexing filed charges against Marcus Jones alleging that he beat her in a Baton Rouge elevator. However, Marcus denied the charges and think that he is being set up. A Judge found Marcus guilty in late June, and plan to send Marcus to five months in prison on Nov. 19th.for more Info. email: brownfightback@gmail.com