Brain Drain Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Democracy Now’

It’s been a couple of months since I wrote about the racially charged contraversy surrounding the?Jena Six.?My?writing was nowhere near timely?as precipitating events and racial tension in this small community began more than a year ago?with arrests made as far back?as December,?but the story was just then beginning to?percolate above ground. Coverage came from independent media sources such as Democracy Now! while mass media outlets wouldn’t touch it.

Yesterday, 20,000 activists marched in an act of civil disobedience through Jena, LA. People across America who could not make the journey wore green and black in support. And aside from one instance of “aggravated ignorance,” where nooses were displayed in neighboring Alexandria, LA, the result was impressive.

Today the media is BUZZING. “The Jena Six” is now a household phrase.?One can only hope that?increased knowledge and awareness will allow these boys to be treated fairly.?

America is watching.

photo: apathy by DiscoWeasel

APATHY
NOUN: 1. Lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference.
- American Heritage? Dictionary

In the past two days, the number of visitors to this ridiculous little blog?has been?impressive.?”Nooses in the White Tree,” received 103 recorded hits as of this morning. This number is a bit elusive as it does not count additional feed stats or?hits?that aren’t?”post specific.” The much increased traffic brought the rank of Brain Drain to 81 on yesterday’s Blog of the Day. In a sea of 1,184,970 WordPress blogs, that means something… Or so I thought.

For a brief moment, I thought I was raising awareness. I thought people might be incensed at the in-your-face racial discrimination against the young black boys known as The Jena Six. I thought more people would find black boys accused of conspiracy to commit murder for allegedly participating in an unarmed school fight to be ridiculous. I thought people would be outraged that the school fight stemmed from three white students hanging nooses in a shade tree?reserved for themselves. I thought people would?object to those?whites weilding a beer bottle and sawed off shot gun to beat and threaten them. I thought people would be inspired to ask the Department of Justice to investigate the vindictive DA who published a threat to?the boys prior to trial, the?defense lawyer who called no witnesses and cross examined no witness for the state, the white judge and all-white jury made up of the DA’s friends. I thought the link I provided made it easy enough. I thought one click wasn’t too much to ask. I thought sending the post to family and friends would result in comments of dismay and?horror. I thought I could join forces with those who responded, that we could, at the very least,?organize a letter writing campaign in support of?justice for those boys and their families. In my wildest imagination, I hoped somebody would care enough to act. Boy, was I an ass.

According to the stats on internal blog activity, stats which tend to be a bit more accurate than external hits, one person clicked the transcript?I added on?Democracy Now! and one clicked the collection of articles on AfroSpear. Several looked at some pictures. That was it. Not one single comment was left. My email produced zero personal replies. What is most disappointing is that the link to the DOJ petition was never clicked.

Maybe I should have been more passionate than factual. Maybe I didn’t pick the most compelling quotes to transcribe from Democracy Now! — even before their official transcript was posted. Maybe my writing sucks when blinded by emotion. If any one of those reasons is the sole cause of getting nearly zero response, so be it. Unfortunately, I think the real problem is that the majority of people just don’t care.

People who care DO something.

Please read, share and do your thing, whatever it may be. Just DO something.

photo: Jena Six (1 of 6)
by whileseated

Jena, LA – It began when a black high school freshman, Justin Purvis, asked permission to sit in the cool shade of his school’s courtyard tree, one that?only white kids usually sat under.?The school told him to do what he liked. The following day, three nooses hung from the tree in school colors. The school superintendent dismissed the nooses as a prank and gave the three white students who hung them?three days suspension. Parents were never told.

(The?majority of this post comes from my?notes on two Democracy Now! segments:?The Case of the Jena Six: Black High School Students Charged with Attempted Murder for Schoolyard Fight After Nooses Are Hung from Tree?and “A Modern-Day Lynching” – Parents of Jena Six Speak of Injustice, Racism in Sons’ Prosecution.)

Robert Bailey, 17 year old safety receiver for the football team and one of the “Jena Six” facing life in prison, explained his reaction to the nooses:

It was in early morning I seen them hanging. I’m thinking the KKK hanging nooses, they want to hang somebody…. We do little pranks. Toilet paper, that’s a prank. Nooses hanging? Nooses ain’t no prank.”

Caseptla Bailey, Robert’s mother, found out a week later. To her, the nooses meant? hatred.

It meant that ‘we’re going to kill you. You’re going to die.’ You know, it sent a message. ‘This is not the place for you to sit. This is not your damn tree. Do not sit here. You are to remain in your place, know your place and stay in your place.’

According to her, the sheriff, the police department, and the superintendent said one incident had nothing to do with the other. Not everyone agreed. Parents congregated and contacted political leaders. The entire black student body staged an impromptu and civil demonstration, standing?under the tree a few days later. For this, the school called the police and the district attorney. According to Michelle Rogers, one of the few black teachers at the school, DA Reed Walters called an assembly, “held a pen in his hand and told those kids ‘See this pen in my hands? I could end your life with the stroke of a pen.’”

Anger escalated. In October,?Robert Bailey?was beaten for?attending a party after asking permision to enter. Later that month, a young white?man pulled a sawed-off shotgun on a group of black students at a gas station claiming self defense. The black students wrestled the gun away and called the police only to be charged with assault and robbery of the gun. The white man was?charged with nothing. In November, someone tried to burn down the school, an unsolved crime. On December 4th , a white student was allegedly attacked in a school fight. The victim was taken to the hospital, released with a concussion, and was well enough to attend a school function that evening.

The school fight required discipline. Six black students were charged with attempted second degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder on charges that leave them facing 20-100 years in jail with bonds set at $70-138 thousand dollars. When the local paper published the story as fact, DA Reed Walters published the following statement, “When you are convicted, I will seek the maximum penalty allowed by law.” Robert Bailey has no criminal record, the only weapon claimed to be used in the fight were a pair of sneakers, yet he?sat in jail for two months until his mother was able to raise bail.

Mychal Bell?, another promising student and a football player with scholarship opportunities, also faced charges. Mychal’s lawyer put?his father, Marcus Jones, on the witness list. The judge instated?a gag order,?preventing?Jones from speaking to the press?or asking for help.?Jones was never asked to testify. Further, Mychal’s lawyer never contested?an all white jury. He didn’t call?any witnesses. Nor did he cross examine the state’s witnesses. He?told Mychal?to plea bargain. Mychal refused, believing he would appear guilty in such an emotionally charged town. Today, Mychal?was convicted of 2nd degree aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit same for his role in?the unarmed school fight. Mychal’s father says this will teach Mychal “what it means to be black now.”

When?Robert Bailey?sustained a head injury from a beer bottle at?a party before the December 4th school fight, his white assailant received a “simple battery” charge. In Louisiana, simple battery is a misdemeanor. Comparatively, Bell faces 22 years in prison.

The family is unable to hire another lawyer at this time.?Democracy Now! posts that financial support can be sent to:

The Jena 6 Defense Committee
PO BOX 2798
Jena, LA 71342.

They also need legal volunteers and activists to demonstrate locally. According to Caseptla Bailey, those members of Jena?s white community who are in support of justice for the Jena Six are afraid to come forward.

While this story is not prominent in mainstream media, AfroSpear: A Think Tank For People of African Descent has compiled a vast collection of facts and resources.?They also provide an update and more documents here. These families need our help. Please educate yourself, spread the word, and?add your name to the following petition:

To: Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice

We respectfully request that the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice review events surrounding the prosecution of six Black students in Jena, Louisiana, to determine whether the civil rights of Jena residents have been violated.

In a May 20, 2007 Chicago Tribune article titled “Racial Demons Rear Heads,” Howard Witt reported that the six students faced prosecution for charges including second degree attempted murder — and possible prison sentences of up to 100 years — for allegedly participating in an unarmed school brawl that resulted in no serious injuries. The alleged brawl followed months of racial tension after hangman’s nooses were hung from a tree at the students’ school.

From the same Chicago Tribune article:

?There?s been obvious racial discrimination in this case,? said Joe Cook, executive director of the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, who described Jena as a ?racial powder keg? primed to ignite. ?It appears the black students were singled out and targeted in this case for some unusually harsh treatment.?

The prosecution of these young men represents a gross miscarriage of justice, punishing Black students for opposing segregation of their schools while ignoring the threatening and provocative acts of those engaging in segregation.

We respectfully request that the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice launch a full investigation into events in Jena, Louisiana, beginning with the noose incident of August 31, 2006, and culminating in the alleged fight of December 4, 2006 to determine whether the civil rights of Jena residents have been violated.

Sincerely,
The Undersigned

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

NPR – Searching for Justice in Jena 6 Case
?News & Notes, July 5, 2007 ? Six black teens have been charged with the beating of a white high school student in the rural town of Jena, La. Jordan Flaherty, a journalist living in New Orleans, and Caseptla Bailey, the mother of one of the defendants, give an update on the case.

The Jena Six
? Michael David Murphy, 2007
This video was made with audio, video, photographs, and scans of court documents on June 25, 2007, in Jena, Louisiana.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za4B4KhIVTE]