Jena: 6 you should care about

The 'white' tree at Jena (La.) HS, from which nooses were hung
after Black students sat under it.

Having spent time in Mississippi in the 1960s, I had come to assume things had changed over the past forty years. They may have, but not everywhere, as the following story shows (thanks to Pastor David Trawick of Cathedral International for bringing it to my attention).

Bill Quigley, a law professor at Loyola U. in New Orleans, writing in Truthout, sums it up briefly as follows (full story here) --

In a small, still mostly segregated, section of rural Louisiana, an all white jury heard a series of white witnesses called by a white prosecutor testify in a courtroom overseen by a white judge in a trial of a fight at the local high school where a white student who had been making racial taunts was hit by black students. The fight was the culmination of a series of racial incidents starting when whites responded to black students sitting under the "white tree" at their school by hanging three nooses from the tree. The white jury and white prosecutor and all white supporters of the white victim were all on one side of the courtroom. The black defendant, 17-year-old Mychal Bell, and his supporters were on the other. The jury quickly convicted Mychal Bell of two felonies - aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. Bell, who was a 16-year-old sophomore football star at the time he was arrested, faces up to 22 years in prison. Five other black youths await similar trials on second-degree attempted murder and conspiracy charges.

Yes, you read that correctly. The rest of the story, which is being reported across the world in papers in China, France and England, is just as chilling. ...

You know what a news junkie I am, and I confess I cannot recall seeing a full-length article in the mainstream media. Ever. The most I could track down was an old story in the Chicago Tribune. Shame on them!

Esther Iverem, of SeeingBlack.com, was interviewed for a recent USA Today story and posted the following on her blog (full story here) --

Judge Reduces Charges in Jena 6 Case But Refuses to Overturn Mychal Bell Conviction

A Louisiana judge has refused to overturn the conviction of Mychal Bell. Bell and five other African American teens were arrested after a schoolyard fight in which a white student was beaten and suffered a concussion. The fight followed months of escalating tension in the town of Jena, Louisiana. Nooses had been hung from a schoolyard tree where the black students had sat. The Jena Six, as they've come to be known, were initially charged with attempted murder. Bell is the only student tried so far. An all-white jury found him guilty of second-degree battery and conspiracy in June.

On Tuesday, Judge J.P. Mauffray let the conviction stand -- despite ruling Mychal Bell was improperly tried in adult court instead of as a juvenile. Bell's conspiracy charge was dismissed, but he still faces up to fifteen years in prison. Thousands of supporters from across the country are expected to gather for a rally in Jena when Mychal is sentenced on Sept. 20.

Meanwhile prosecutors also announced they've reduced the attempted murder charges against two others among the Jena Six. Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw are also now charged with aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. Two other students, Robert Bailey Jr. and Bryant Purvis, await trial for attempted murder.

Mychal's sentencing is set for September 20 -- a week from today -- and a large demonstration is planned in support of the six on that day.

Mychal Bell's sentencing is set for Sept. 20.

Meanwhile, defense of the six high school students has been enormously costly, and a fund has been set up to defray expenses. Contributions may be sent to --

The Jena 6 Defense Committee
PO Box 2798
Jena, LA 71342

OR

Use https://secure.colorofchange.org/jena_fund/ to donate online.

---

Further info, including two YouTube videos --

• Wikipedia (updated frequently): "The Jena Six"
• "Friends of Justice" -- A blog where you can read hundreds of messages of support from around the world.
  
• USA Today (9/6/2007): "La. beating case stirs racial anger" -- With an amazing 981 comments!
• YouTube: "Community Defender TV"
• YouTube: "Collateral: Unfiltered News"

-- Dan Damon

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ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
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