Congressional Black Cacus Calls For Pardon of Jena Six

15 Black Congressmen led by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston are supporting the call.

A letter to Louisiana Govorner Kathleen Blanco reads "In our view, as citizens, parents, and Members of Congress, we believe Mychal Bell and the Jena 6 have paid a sufficient debt to society for any transgressions they may have committed...

We believe that they and their families have suffered enough, as has the state of Louisiana and the town of Jena."

According to the associated press:

"Ms. Blanco's press secretary, Marie Centanni, issued a statement Friday saying the state Pardon Board would have to make a recommendation for the governor to grant a pardon or commutation. And Ms. Blanco will be leaving office three days before the Pardon Board is next scheduled to meet, Jan. 17."

Yeah, nice of Gov. Blanco to drag her feet all this time knowing this, when she could have put this issue before the board earlier. So lets not pretend she's not happy that they don't meet until after she's out of office; because she simply wasn't going to doing anything about this issue if she didn't have to, as I've reported on her obstinacy in this regard previously.

I'll give her a bit of credit with helping to get D.A. Reed Walters to back of challenging the ruling that overturned Michael Bells conviction as an adult.

Blanco, a Democrat is being replaced by Republican Govenor-elect Bobby Jindal after she chose not to run for re-election.

White Supremist Sue Louisiana Town of Jena

Well, if you here you know about the Jena 6 so I don’t need to rehash
that, and I’m sure you know about the now Historical September 20th
march.

Well monkey see, monkey do, some fake Klansman want to immolate us and have their own march; on Martin Luther King Day of course.
http://slanttruth.com/2007/12/19/racists-sue-jena/

Can’t we at least get the real Klan anymore? They didn’t go whining to the federal courts. No, those illiterates just did something retarded to prove our point and hence further our cause.

The Political Circus around Rape-Torture Victim Megan Williams

I’ve already reported here about Megan Williams do to some related and intersecting issues to the Jena Six saga, so I’ll continue to update on her here.

West Va. Attorney General Wants Rape-Torture Case
by Cash Michaels
Special to the NNPA from the Wilmington Journal

What started out as one of the most horrendous racial rape/torture cases in recent memory, has now devolved into a legal circus, as the prosecutor in charge of the Megan Williams case, and the West Virginia State Attorney General, are engaged in a very public power struggle not only over the issue of whether hate crime charges should be leveled, but which office will actually try the case if it ever goes to trial.

The state AG has made it clear that he doesn’t think Logan County prosecutor Brian Abraham can handle the racially explosive case.

In return, Abraham has called state Attn. Gen. Darrell McGraw’s position on the matter “half-assed.”

Meanwhile the alleged victim and her mother are scheduled to meet this week with Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee [D-Texas] and members of the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C. to tell her story, gain support, and push for a strengthening of federal hate crime laws.

That scheduled meeting will take place one week before Megan Williams’ attorney, Malik Zulu Shabazz, and Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, hold a rally and fundraiser for Williams’ on Dec. 18 in Charleston in a continued effort to garner more support for her cause. The prosecutor says he’s now worried about the impact of that event on a possible and probable predominately White Logan County jury.
Go Here for full story

Plea For Michael Bell Is Not the End of Fight For Equal Justice

For Immediate Release
Mychael Bell Plea Not the End of Fight For Justice
Contact: D. Yobachi Boswell 615-478-5204 * LionRunner777@yahoo.com

On yesterday, Monday December 3, District Attorney Reed Walters offered a plea deal to Mychael Bell in the Jena 6 Case, dropping the conspiracy charge; leaving Mr. Bell an 18 months sentence on second degree battery. The sentence also includes time served, and is to run concurrent with his present parole violation incarceration.

While we are delight that an overzealous and malicious prosecution that brought charges which would have made Mychael Bell eligible for approximately 100 years of incarceration will now see the young man out of Juvenile corrections by next summer, to resume his young life; let it be understood that the Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition remains steadfast in our position that this prosecution was unjust, we remain steadfast in fighting against injustice in this particular case for the other 5 young men, and we will continue to fight against unequal justice in the legal system across the country; which are primarily racially and socio-economically based.

Attorney, and noted “AfroSpear” Blogger Francis L. Holland, Esq states “AfroSpear bloggers and our audiences will continue to assert our role as forceful advocates of equal justice for Blacks in the American justice system…we will continue to insist that ALL ADULT AND JUVENILE CHARGES AGAINST ALL 6 DEFENDANTS be dropped and foreclosed for the future, and that de jure and de facto segregation be ended at Jena High School...we have to ask ourselves whether the final result in this criminal case is what it would have been if Mychal D. Bell were white. We know that it isn't. Black young people in Jena should not go to jail while white students commit the same acts with impunity."

There is a greater issue highlighted here of how the legal system overcharges people to force them into a corner to take a lesser deal, in order not to risk being convicted on higher trumped up charges, and to point the finger at others who may very well be innocent; in order to save themselves.

It highlights the criminalization of Black youth to get them in the system, because once there in the system of incarceration and parole they are virtually a ward of the state; and this provides needed bodies for the for-profit prison industrial complex to make money. They can’t profit unless they have a continued stream of bodies in the cells.

What’s most interesting here is if D.A. Reed Walters actually believed that Bell and others attempted to kill Justin Barker, how could he possibly settle for 18 months? He tried to lock Bell down for 100 years and then when that didn’t fly legally; 22 year.

In Reed Walters own Op-ed piece in the New York Times on September 26, when defending his actions as being from a purely legal standpoint, he states himself that “a district attorney cannot take people to trial for acts not covered in the statutes.”

If he doesn’t really believe, and further did not have the evidence to support the charge that six Black students attempted to commit murder, and that there was a conspiracy; how could he have ever rightfully charged the former, and how could he have ethically and legally tried Mychael Bell on the latter.

Those of us in the Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition and others will continue to stand up against unequal justice. We will Fight, and we will Win! video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7253600219767288651


Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition

D. Yobachi Boswell, Coordinator

BlackPerspective.net and TheJena6Blog.blogspot.com

In Jena 6 Case Mychael Bell Makes Plea Deal

I reported earlier today on The Jena 6 Blog that Bell was probably near a deal; now it seems official.

According to this CNN article the deal should have him out by june of ’09 – a far cry from the 100 plus years district attorney Reed Walters initially wanted, and even from the 22 years he wanted when he was forced by lack of a case to drop the conspiracy to commit murder; but still illegally prosecuted Bell as an adult.



Bell was convicted of felony aggravated battery by an all white jury containing members with alleged ties to the Judge and the DA, back in July. While waiting on sentencing, facing 22 years, the conviction was overturned by the 3rd circuit court of appeals because Bell was not eligible to be tried as an adult, but they ruled he could be retried as a juvenile.

After Judge Mauffrey, the same Judge who allowed Bell to be illegal tried in the first place, tried to deny Mychael Bell a release on bail for a week; he was then freed 13 days after the overturning of his conviction.

Then, in a surprise to all legal watchers of this case, Bell was put back in jail by yet the same judge for a parol voilation based on the same actions his conviction was overturned on. He was out for only 15 days on house arrest. He went to a routine hearing for his parol in relation to an earlier case than the Jena 6 incident, and Judge Mauffrey surprisingly revoked his parole and put him in jail for 18 months on October 11th.

I spoke with Alan Bean of Friends of Justice, this evening; the social advocacy organization for the falsely accused who pushed the Jena Six story into the public eye. He says from what he's heard from direct contact with people in the court room, he was in Lafeyette today, not in Jena as I had thought; that the CNN reporting that Bell would be out by June sounds about right. He's being told 6 - 8 months. I'll have more of my interview with Mr. Bean in the next day or two either here at The Jena 6 Blog or at BlackPerspective.net

Having recieved conflicting reporting, I'm not sure if it is a misdemeanor deal for the 6 to 8 months, or a felony deal that is adding 6 to 8 months to the 9 plus he's already served from the time he was arrested in December 2006; where he is getting credit for time already served.

Mychael Bell May Be Near Plea Deal

I got this from Friend's of Justice. I plan to talk with Friend's of Justice Director Alan Bean some time today. He's in Jena Louisiana for todays Court Proceedings.

Lawyer: ‘Jena Six’ Teen Near Plea Deal
By MARY FOSTER

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A black teenager whose prosecution in the beating of a white classmate led to one of the largest civil rights protests in years is close to a deal that would allow him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and avoid a second trial, his attorney said Sunday.

Mychal Bell, 17, could enter the plea as early as Monday, said attorney Carol Powell Lexing. He has been charged with aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy.

“We were prepared to go forward with the trial, but you have to do what’s best for the client,” Lexing said.

LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters did not return a call Sunday evening requesting comment.

Bell, who is black, is scheduled to go to trial Thursday on the felony charges for his suspected role in an attack on Justin Barker, a white student at Jena High School in central Louisiana.

Barker spent several hours in the emergency room after the attack but was discharged and attended a school event the night after the attack, which occurred about a year ago.

Bell was originally charged as an adult with attempted murder. That charge was reduced before a jury convicted him in June of aggravated second-degree battery. In September, that verdict was thrown out by an appeals court that said Bell should be tried as a juvenile.

The charges against Bell and five other black students led to a civil-rights demonstration in Jena in September. Felony charges against the other students are pending.

Critics said prosecutors have treated blacks more harshly than whites in LaSalle Parish, pointing to an incident three months before the attack on Barker in which three white teens were accused of hanging nooses from a tree at the high school. The three were suspended from school but never criminally charged.

Walters has said there was no state crime to charge them with.

Jena 6 Video from the Salt N Pepa Show

This is a video of extra; most of the video is footage that didn't appear in the show.

The Jena Six March on the "Salt N Pepa Show" Tonight

I remember it being announced from the podium that they were there, but I never saw them at the march. I'm interested in seeing how it is portrayed and treated on this show.

Also another opportunity to relive the wonderful moment.

VH1's 'Salt-N-Pepa Show' tackles Jena 6
By Derrik J. Lang, AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK — Salt-N-Pepa are still pushing it. Cheryl "Salt" James was determined to march for racial equality in Jena, La., last September, whether or not cameras from her VH1 reality series, The Salt-N-Pepa Show, followed her.
"I just felt like as a mom, I wanted to be there," James told The Associated Press in a recent phone interview.

The Salt-N-Pepa Show documents the reunion of James and her former partner, Sandy "Pepa" Denton. James left the groundbreaking female rap group in 2002.

James, Denton, their families and reality TV crew journeyed for two days by tour bus to march alongside thousands of protesters and meet the families of the Jena Six, six black teens accused of beating a white high school student.

Their trip was to be featured in an episode of The Salt-N-Pepa Show airing Monday night (10 p.m. ET).

FIND MORE STORIES IN: James | VH1 | Salt-N-Pepa
James didn't think VH1, the cable network home of reality TV fare such as I Love New York 2 and America's Most Smartest Model, would be interested in capturing such an experience.

"I was surprised that they wanted to come and was very, very happy about it," she told the AP. "It's nice to entertain, but it's also nice to use your platform to bring awareness to different issues."

Upcoming episodes feature James and Denton working out their differences with life coach Iyanla Vanzant and performing at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. The series concludes Dec. 2.

James — who's "more open than ever" to recording a new album with Denton — said VH1 has ordered a second season of their show.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Justice That Jena Demands

Free The Jena 6 Tree Graphic

In the News: The Justice that Jena Demands
Posted by: Xochitl Bervera , November 06, 2007

The injustice we witnessed in Jena, Louisiana, should wake us up to blatant racism throughout the criminal justice system --- and tell us it's time for radical change.


I want to tell you about some young men I know. These are young Black men who have encountered Louisiana’s criminal justice system who I know because their mothers have become proud members of Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (FFLIC), the organization I have worked for over the last 7 years. These stories are about young men who have experienced incredible injustice, not unlike the Jena 6, only the national spotlight has never shined on them.

First, there is Emmanuelle Narcisse. He was a tall, slim, handsome young man who was killed by a guard at the Bridge City Correctional Center for Youth – a Louisiana juvenile prison – in 2003. Apparently, he was “fussing” in line, talking back to a guard. The guard punched him in the face, one blow, and Emmanuelle went down backwards, slamming his head on the concrete. He took his last breath there behind the barbed wire of that state run facility. The guard was suspended with pay during the investigation. No indictment was ever filed against him.

There is also Tobias Kingsley, sentenced when he was 15 to two years in juvenile prison for sneaking into a hotel swimming pool (his first offense). Tobias endured physical and sexual abuse inside the prison. He said that guards traded sex with kids for drugs and cigarettes, and sometimes set kids up to fight one another, making cash bets on the winner. His mama said he was never the same after he came home. She said the nightmares, the violence, the paranoia persisted years after the private lawyers helped him come home early. His battles with addiction and depression are not yet over.

And there is Shareef Cousin, who was tried as an adult and sent to death row in the state of Louisiana for a murder that he didn’t commit. Shareef spent from age 16 to age 26 behind bars, the majority of those years isolated in Angola’s Death Row, because an over zealous prosecutor didn’t care that the evidence didn’t really add up. After all, it was only a young Black man’s life on the line.

There are hundreds more. Thousands. Every day in the state of Louisiana (and in most states in this nation), injustices of epic proportions are taking place in our criminal and juvenile justice systems. We, those of us who live here, fight here, and organize here, know hundreds of families and young people – often our own - who’ve endured almost inconceivable levels of violence, abuse, neglect. And despite efforts to get someone, anyone to care and to act, these young people most often end up statistics in somebody’s dismal report, or an anecdote in an article just like this. Because people don’t care. Because these young people are not just poor, they are not just Black, they are criminals.

To read the rest go here

Michael Baisden Vs Black Bloggers

…A fight that shouldn’t even have to be.

I finally had to publicly address the Baisden situation today: Michael Baisden and The Family Kicked it at Atlanta Fundraiser As Controversy Swirls

A fellow blogger, I assume Black Blogger, chided the AfroSpear group with taunts such as “Dear fellow diplomatic and tactful Black bloggers”; and stated that “Y'all can be all "We Are the World" if you want to, but it is what it is. Old media is terrified of Black bloggers.”

She finished her tirade with “Ridiculous. Was there EVER any debate as to whether or not Black bloggers should publicly confront this idiot Baisden? Toughen Up people!”

I don’t repost her whole statement, because while the accusations contained there in regarding Mr. Baisden are probably more likely true than not, it is unproductive public rhetoric, and it’s beside the point of how we conduct ourselves in response.

As I noted in the BlackPerspective.net piece:

“I was always troubled that he hadn’t given any specifics on these points, but I kept quiet on it as to not unfairly disparage the brother; and as not to cause bickering and suspicion that would hurt the movement. I only wish Mr. Baisden shared my sense of prudence.”

See, the movement, not my personal ego is the issue for me here.

We had our own little behind the scenes drama amongst the organizers in Nashville right after the Jena trip; but most people have no clue any schism even existed; and we’ve been able to move forward, for the most part, working together with the collective effort that allowed us to organize 10 FREE busses to go to Jena in the first place; because we didn’t put each other on blast publicly to where our egos wouldn’t allow us to come back together. And, we didn’t destroy one another’s reputation to the public where we all may have ended up looking bad, and destroying all grassroots leadership credibility in the city.

That’s why my answer to the blogger who taunts the Afrosphere for not operating as bombastically as she, was as follows:

“The issue isn’t about taking vengeance as bloggers. It’s about protecting the cause from infighting that will discourage the masses who are hard to encourage to fight in the first place; and now finally having been turned on may subsequently be turned off by this.

Put your blogger pride aside for a second. If your pride as a blogger is the most important thing to you here then you’re just as wrong and as dangerous as Baisden and what he did.

And yes, responsible, intelligent people in a coalition such as the AfroSpear talk to each other instead of just going off half-cocked like a bunch of wild banshees.

We don't need internet gangsterism or teenage emotional retorting; we need thoughtful and calculating strategy to forward the movement.”

Judge Rejects Double Jeopardy Motion in Jena 6 Case

[of course this is the same judge that illegal tried Mychael Bell as an adult in the first place, got overturned, tried to keep Bell in prision with no conviction, got overturned on that, then 10 months after the incident violated Bell's parole in an act of revenge]

Reported by: Associated Press
Nov 9, 2007 07:15 AM CST

A state district court has rejected a motion to dismiss juvenile charges against a teenager at the center of a civil rights controversy.
Attorneys for Mychal Bell, one of six black teens accused of beating a white school mate, said that trying Bell again amounted to double jeopardy. Carol Powell Lexing says her client already has been tried in adult court and they contend he can't be tried for the same case twice.

State District Judge J.P. Mauffrey Junior rejected that motion yesterday. Lexing said they will appeal.Bell is the only one of the Jena Six to stand trial. He was convicted in adult court in June for aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. The convictions were later overturned and the case sent to juvenile court. Bell, now 17, was ordered to jail last month for a probation violation in an unrelated juvenile court case.

The beating of a white student at Jena High School in LaSalle Parish drew national attention, with civil rights leaders decrying the severity of the charges against the accused teens, who are black. The injuries to the white student were not considered life-threatening.

The school had been in a state of racial tension when the attack occurred. In one incident, a hangman's noose was hung in a tree on campus and the alleged culprits -- who are white -- were not charged.
http://www.kplctv.com/global/story.asp?s=7335487&ClientType

Jena 6 case sparks student organizing in Twin Cities

By: By Katrina Plotz

When tens of thousands marched for racial justice in Jena, Louisiana on September 20, Reverend Al Sharpton called it “the beginning of a new civil rights movement.” On November 2, more than fifty Twin Cities residents gathered in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis to call for an end to racism in the nation’s legal system and other institutions.

Organized by the ad hoc Twin Cities Jena 6 Solidarity Action Group, the demonstration drew a diverse group of participants and celebrated the talents of some passionate young activists. Tottiana Adams and Pierre Fulford, both students at St. Paul’s High School for Recording Arts (HSRA), performed a poem that asked the crowd to repeat “Let Freedom Ring” and “Let Justice Reign” in call and response style. Chantel Winn, another HSRA student sang a stirring rendition of “Amazing Grace.”

Local hip-hop artist, Alex Leonard then gave a detailed description of the events that recently thrust six African-American teenagers and the small town of Jena into the national spotlight. The now-famous “Jena 6” were arrested for a fight that sent a white student to the hospital last December. The student was treated and attended a school dance later that evening. The beating followed a number of racially charged incidents set off by an act usually considered a hate crime. In early September, three nooses were found hanging from a tree on school grounds the morning after a group of black students chose to sit beneath it. Traditionally, the area had been a gathering place for whites only.

“Those students sat under that tree as an act of protest,” said Leonard. “It was no accident. They chose to be there to protest the racism that is alive and well in 2007.”

The response of school officials and the local district attorney outraged many Americans who view the Jena 6 case as an example of institutionalized racism. The white students who hung the nooses were suspended from school and not charged with any crime. The district attorney referred to the incident as “a prank” and warned black students that he could “end their lives with the stroke of a pen” for during a school assembly following the incident. The six black students involved in the fight were expelled from school and initially charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

According to Leonard, the Jena 6 case is just one example of racism that exists all over the country. “Recently, a noose was found hanging on an African-American professor’s door at Columbia University,” said Leonard. “Just this week, four racist threats were found by black students at the University of St. Thomas in a period of 36 hours. These incidents show that racists are feeling emboldened enough to come out of hiding. It’s up to us to push them back into hiding.”

Flyers passed out by rally organizers included some startling statistics about race and the criminal justice system in Minnesota. According to the Sentencing Project, a Washington D.C.-based research and advocacy group, Minnesota is the fourth worst state in the country for racial disparity in incarceration rates. People of color account for 11% of the state’s population but make up 45% of the prison population. According to the Council on Crime and Justice, blacks are 15 times more likely to be arrested than whites in Minnesota. Results of a 2002 study on racial profiling in traffic stops showed that Minnesota law enforcement stopped and searched people of color at a greater rate than whites, yet found contraband on people of color at lower rates than in searches of whites.

Cheryl Morgan-Spencer of the Minneapolis Urban League encouraged rally participants to take action against injustice everywhere. “As along as we don’t stand up, the bullies on the playground will keep having their way,” she said. “We had a lot of people at our first meeting. We need folks to stay committed so we can plan our next steps.”

The Twin Cities Jena 6 Solidarity Action Group is having their next meeting on November 13 at 7:00 in the Minneapolis Urban League building. On Saturday, November 10, the Triple Rock Nightclub in Minneapolis will host a hip hop benefit show featuring local performers. Organized by Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota and the Black Liberation Affairs Committee at Macalester college, all proceeds will benefit the Jena 6 Legal Defense Fund. The show begins at 9:30 pm. Cost is $6 at the door.
http://tcdailyplanet.net/article/2007/11/06/jena-6-case-sparks-student-organizing-twin-cities.html

African-Americans must rise to the example of our forefathers

By Frank M. Conaway

I once knew a proud man. He was called "black" or "Negro" - or worse. This man worked long hours to provide for his wife and five children. Rain or shine, he rose early and went to his job at the docks. It was a tough job, a thankless job. He didn't mind because he knew he had to provide for his family.

He didn't graduate from elementary school. However, he made his children stay in school because he knew an education would open doors for them that had been closed to him. He made sure he instilled in his kids a sense of values and good moral judgment. And, yes, he voted in every election.

When hard times came, he did not complain. This man was not angry, because he knew anger destroys the soul. Before civil rights became a reality, he dreamed of a better day. He dreamed that his children would become productive citizens.

Our forefathers, like the man I speak of, suffered, fought and died to make our lives better. As they look down on us, they must be so disappointed in what little we have done with our lives. They struggled to make black people equal, to get us the right to vote. What have we done with those hard-won rights? Many of us do not exercise our right to vote, much less become politically active. It is easier to sit back and complain about how unfair life is to African-Americans.

True, sometimes we are stirred to action. It was heartening to see how the African-American community bonded during the recent "Jena 6" ordeal. Black people from all walks of life went to Louisiana, or met at colleges and churches across the United States, to show their solidarity for the six African-American students who were unfairly charged in a racially motivated incident.

But such cases are rare. I have not seen this type of coming together of African-Americans for a long, long time - not since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. We, as a people, need to keep this momentum going. It is fine to support the Jena 6, but will we change how we run our own lives?

To quote Gandhi, "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems." We need to cure ourselves of our apathy. We need to rid ourselves of the collective chip on our shoulders and stop asking what's going to be done for us. If our noise-making isn't followed by action, it serves no purpose other than to grab headlines.

Many immigrants, legal and illegal, have arrived in the United States with little money in their pockets, not speaking English and with no transferable education. Yet they are industrious and find ways to make a living. Often, they work long hours in what others would call disagreeable jobs. However, within a generation, many become productive citizens who give back to the community. Many immigrants struggle to send their children to college. In turn, many of the second generation become professionals. Once immigrant families are established as citizens, they become politically active so their voices can be heard.

Many African-American dreamers have also turned their dreams into reality: people such as Booker T. Washington, Rosa Parks, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. These men and women and countless others paved the road for us with their blood, struggles and suffering. We need to get back on this road and travel together to keep their dreams alive.

The African-American community needs to wake from its collective sleep and begin to live its dreams. We began to wake up with the Jena 6. Now, we need to take a cue from the examples set by immigrants. If this is too uncomfortable, we should look back to our forefathers, who fought for our equality.

It will take hard work. Blacks are a strong force, one to be reckoned with - if we would only get our acts firmly together and stop lamenting what could or should be. African-Americans need to finally begin to be accountable for their lives and take action to improve their lot in life - like that man with the five children and almost no education, who yet managed to achieve a better life for his family.

He was my father.

The fact is that too often, we are our own oppressors. A strong dose of self-respect is greatly needed to cure the many social ills that plague the black community. We need to stop making excuses for our misfortunes and get on with it. These are tough words, I know. But sometimes the truth hurts.

Frank M. Conaway is clerk of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.blacks21oct21,0,1982419.story

As Michael Baisden Holds Fundraiser, Students To Rally In Atlanta

You're probably already familiar with the Fundraiser Michael Baisden is holding on Friday and Saturday nights for his UnEqual Justice Fund. You should also be familiar with what studnents at Georgia State are doing during the day on Saturday November the 10 in Atlanta.

Led by Professor Cindy Milligan, Students will hold a rally on campus, and speak to the issues.

"We Speak For Justice"
A Rally for focusing on the issues surrounding The Jena 6, put on by students

Where: Georgia State Unversity, Student Center, 44 Courtland Street.

When: Saturday November 10, 2007, 3:00 - 4:30


"GSU's Advanced Public Speaking class (Speech 3010) has taken on a very interesting project this semester called "We Speak For Justice." I offered them the opportunity to learn how to organize a rally and create a public forum to express their personal ideas and opinions. Without hesitation, each of them embraced the idea with enthusiasm and commitment and organized a rally focusing on the issues surrounding The Jena 6." - Prof Milligan

If you're in the Atlanta area, please support these students, these young adults in their effort. Also check out there webpage on the rally for more: www.myspace.com/wespeakforjustice

Rapper Bun B Speaks on Jena Six

Bun B would be known to most of you as a so-called gangsta rapper.

To me, he’s know as a highly underrated (at least outside the south) ill MCee, and half of the legendary Hip Hop due UGK or Underground Kings. They came up out of Port Author Texas in the early 90s, and me being a Louisiana boy of about 13, their shit got big play around my way; though they weren’t really known nationally.

People think rappers are dumb and pointless by definition, and truth be told, a lot them are. But many of them are not. So peep Bun speaking intelligently and articulately about the Jena situation and how he relates being where he’s from:




Also peep Mos Def on the situation again, going off on the punk-ass rapper community. Mos and Bun were at the Jena March:

The Jena 6 In Court - November 7th, 2007

Four of the Jena 6 Bryant Purvis, Robert Bailey Jr, Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw were arraigned today on charges of second degree aggravated battery. Purvis, who was previously charged with second degree murder had his charge reduced today.

According to the AP News: “Purvis is set to stand trial as an adult in March 2008. If convicted, he could be imprisoned for up to 22 years.”

Not at the Fight, and Not Arrested Until the Next Day:

Purvis has contended that he wasn’t even apart of the Justin Barker beating, and only saw the fight from a far. The fact that he wasn’t arrested on the spot the day of the fight tends to support this. He didn’t get arrested until the next day, from what I can glean is based on one witness saying they may have seen him in the fight. Though not at the fight, he was however the leader of the protest under the “white’s tree” that led this same DA, Reed Walters, to threaten to end protesting black student’s lives with a stroke of his pen.

I posted video of Tina Jones, Purvis’ mother, talking about this at the Jena March, with Purvis standing along side her.

According to the AP News article: Purvis' lawyer, Darrell Hickman, said Purvis was "30 feet away from the melee when it took place" and that the charges against Purvis should be dismissed. If they aren't, Hickman said he will seek a change of venue because of the intense emotions and attention tied to the case in Jena.
"There has just been too much that has gone on here in Jena," he said. "It would be impossible for everyone to put aside those feelings."

Purvis, who attended the hearing neatly dressed in a white shirt, black slacks and a necktie, was accompanied by his mother and brother.

Now a senior attending classes in Texas, Purvis said he's concentrating on his studies and basketball, and hopes to attend college.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LA_JENA_SIX_LAOL-?SITE=LABAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Tickets For Michael Baisden Unequal Justice Defense Fundraiser

I know people have been doing searches looking for said info because my blog stats show that those searches have been bringing up a post I did at BlackPerspective.net announcing the fund raiser.

So if you're trying to get info on that event, here's Baisden's page about it: http://www.minglecity.com/jenasix/index2.html

and

here's where you buy the tickets on ticket master: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E003F5186E18298?artistid=1168949&majorcatid=10005&minorcatid=0

and if you don't buy stuff over the internet like I pretty much don't do, I'm sure you can call ticket master, just use 411 information.

I'm trying to findout more about how the fund will be administrated and how it will work, and I also want to know is there any organize, networking, agenda building between activist going on during the day. As far as I can tell, the answer is no; but I'm still trying to get in touch with Pamela Exum to findout for sure. I've just got to remember to bring her number to work with me tomorrow.

Student Says Sorry for Jena Six Blackface Re-enactment

“A student who videoed a re-enactment of the "Jena 6" incident apologized and said the video was not intended to make fun of the six black students arrested in the beating of a white classmate, according to The News-Star newspaper of Monroe, Louisiana.”

My response: yeah right; you’re just sorry for getting caught and having to take shit. Though, it’s not hard to get caught when your dizzy, dimwitted ass puts it up on the WORLD WIDE WEB for the world to see.

But again, you didn’t care because that was the point; until you got hit with an avalanche.

"This is so not me," she said in the Wednesday article. "It wasn't that we were making fun of the Jena 6 incident. We were just fed up with it ... I have just as many black [friends] as I do white friends."

This is a contradictory statement. You’re fed up with it, but you weren’t making fun? Again, as Villager would says, WE SAW THE TAPE. Your narly friends are running around laughing, and mocking the incident - in black face! If that’s not making fun of, then what is? Damn, how dizzy does this broad have to be to lie about something we can watch her blatantly doing? She’s so like, not smart; and should so like, come up with better stories that aren’t like, such obvious lies, like.

The full article is here: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/04/jena.six.reenactment/index.html

You can probably go find the tape on TMZ or something if you never saw it. I’m not going to bother because I’m not trying to give it any more light. That’s why I just didn’t bother to post on it when the tape initially came to light; but I had to respond to this balderdash.

Rodney King All Over Again - It's Okay For Authorities to Beat Black People To Death

I guess this has nothing to do with race either.


What's Wrong With Florida's Prisons?

The shocking verdict came down despite a half hour of videotape that showed the guards hitting and kicking the 14-year-old, Martin Lee Anderson, and holding their hands over his mouth for as long as five minutes at a time, while the nurse stood by and watched. The jury seemed persuaded by the first and widely discredited autopsy report that blamed the boy's death on a sickle-cell condition, even though a second autopsy ordered by the state had ruled Anderson died from suffocation (the Justice Department has since announced it will investigate whether federal civil rights violations charges should be brought in the case). "It's wrong!" Anderson's mother, Gina Jones, shouted as she stormed out of the Panama City courtroom after the verdict was read. The Anderson decision was reminiscent of another bewildering verdict five years ago, when three Florida state prison guards charged with stomping 36-year-old inmate Frank Valdes to death in his cell in 1999 were acquitted — even though the guards' boot prints were found all over his back.

Both verdicts were vivid reminders of what critics call the rot of Florida's corrections culture. Despite its Sunshine State image, Florida's prisons and juvenile detention centers are often associated with the more troubled corrections systems of its Deep South neighbors. While no one is asking Florida to coddle its prisoners, adult or juvenile, many fear it has yet to break its dark habit of coddling abusive guards and other officials watching over those prisoners.
The rest of the story...

As Villager would say, we saw the tape; and he's completely limp while they're mandhandling him and slamming him to the ground. They did nothing wrong?

National Spotlight Causes DA Strategy Change In Jena Six Case

Apparently some white people are able to get it, and to be honest about race in the legal system:

From Kathy Gill,
From September 27
National Spotlight Causes DA Strategy Change
Update: Bell released from jail on $45,000 bond.

The Shreveport Times said last week that a lack of political leadership at the local and state level had created a vacuum for "Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the BBC" to fill. That (inter)national spotlight has kick-started Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) into action.

Blanco has persuaded LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters to re-try Mychal Bell as a juvenile, in conformance with two court rulings. Walters was on record saying he planned to appeal the Louisiana Supreme Court ruling that Bell was improperly tried as an adult.

Bell is the first Jena High School student to be tried after a December 2006 schoolyard fight with fellow student Justin Barker. Six students were eventually arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Four of the six were 17; Bell was 16; another student was 14.

Under Louisiana law, anyone who is 15 must be tried as an adult if the charge is attempted murder. However, the charge of battery -- the charge for which Bell stood trial -- is not on the "adult charge" list.

The DA called the attack on Barker pre-meditated. However, others assert that the attack was instigated because Barker was taunting Bailey about being beat up at a party a few nights earlier. Bailey was hit, by a white student, with beer bottles; that student was charged with simple battery and given probation.


The author responds to a comment: 7. To “unknown”

First, there are links in my timeline, I believe, that back up anything I said in comment #2.

No, I’m not a doctor. No, I didn’t examine Barker’s injuries. What I did was examine, in detail, probably a hundred “news” accounts of this case. Barker is described as having a black eye and a cut lip. No where have I read that he even needed stitches. He attended a social event that evening — suggesting his injuries were pretty minor.

Second, I am tired of a justice system that is not just.

Finally, I am QUITE tired of being accused of saying that I’m advocating no punishment — whether it’s for Bell or Genarlow Wilson. No Where … NO WHERE … have I made such a suggestion.

The punishment should fit the crime — and it doesn’t in either Bell or Wilson’s case. And I firmly believe that neither young man would be in the position they are in re the judicial system if they had been white. Both were A students; both were student athletes.

Kathy
http://uspolitics.about.com/b/a/208222.htm

Divided We Fall - Michael Baisden on Jena 6 March

Baisden address so-called divisions amongst leadership and what was accomplished by the march, as he prepares for Un-equal Justice Fundraiser


Divided We Fall:

By Michael Baisden

Within twenty-four hours of the most powerful civil rights demonstration since the 60’s the critics frantically rushed to their microphones and laptops. What should have been a national celebration of unity and peaceful civil demonstration turned into a barrage of negative commentary and ridiculous questions.

Questions such as: What was accomplished by going to Jena, LA? Why wasn’t the march better organized? Why didn’t Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson march together? Since I was the primary person sounding the alarm for millions of my listeners to organize buses and to wear black to symbolize un-equal justice, allow me to answer those critics, loud and clear!

Let’s begin with the question of why Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton didn’t march together. On the morning of September 17 my manager Pamela Exum arrived in Jena, LA for a site inspection to finalize plans for the march. Due to bad weather the prior week her flight into Alexandria was canceled twice so Monday the 17th was the earliest date she could arrange a meeting with the Louisiana State police, who had primary responsibility for security. When she arrived at Ward 10 Park, which was the proposed staging area for the march by the NAACP she immediately called me on my cell phone and stated, “I don’t feel this is safe.”

Ward 10 Park is surrounded by woods, there’s only one road in and out, and by her estimation there was only enough space for no more then 5,000 protestors. Now keep in mind, this did not include parking space for the hundreds of cars, buses and motorcycles expected to roll into this tiny town.

But here’s where the real problem arouse, their original plan was to meet at the Ward 10 Park, march 2 ½ miles from the park to the courthouse and hold speeches, then march back 2 ½ miles to the park. Later Monday afternoon on a conference call lead by the NAACP a decision was made to cancel the march and hold all activities at the Ward 10 Park. All parties were asked to sign off, those groups included Rainbow PUSH (Jesse Jackson Group), Realizing The Dream (MLK III group), National Bar Association, National Action Network (Al Sharpton Group), Congressional Black Caucus, and the SCLC.

It was my decision not to agree to this plan, mainly because I anticipated over 50,000 protestors. And because there was a rap concert planned in the park later that evening. This plan would have been feasible for 5,000 with no vehicles on site, but there was no way I would agree to putting tens of thousands of my listeners in a potentially dangerous situation. Everyone who saw the area located around the courthouse knows it could not hold 50,000 let alone 5,000, and then do an about face back to the park, I don’t think so!

My responsibility was not to any of these groups, my concern was the tens of thousands of listeners who were headed to Jena, LA because of the call I put out along with other radio personalities.

Ms. Exum made her objection, informed everyone that I was not agreeable to this plan and it would not be promoted on my show, but that we would not interfere with their plans. She then took a ride with the Louisiana State Police and mapped out a new route which started at the courthouse to the Jena High school, then to the Jena City Park where buses would be boarded to make a prompt exit. She e-mailed all parties involved as a courtesy. Rev. Sharpton, The Congressional Black Caucus, National Bar Association, and five of the Jena 6 families all agreed to OUR plan. We all felt it was imperative for the protestors to march passed the Jena High school, the scene of the crime. I announced the itinerary on the air and placed it on the minglecity.com banner.

There wasn’t any riff between Rev. Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, or any other organization; they were all free to go along with the original plan at the Ward 10 Park, if they so desired. Everyone chose the plan they felt best suited their organizations, period!

To the question of why the march wasn’t better organized, there is no way to effectively move 50,000 people in and out of a town where the entire population is 3,000, no one was at fault; it was simply overwhelming. Once the vast majority of people missed the original 9:00 a.m. speech at the courthouse, which by the way, was on time, they were left to march once they arrived, and I’m proud to say they all did without a single incident.

Lastly, to the critics who sarcastically ask, what was accomplished by marching on Jena? Over 50,000 men, women, and children of all races made a statement to the nation and to the world that we are fed up with the un-just legal system, that we will not allow our children to be locked away in prison for 20 years for a high school brawl, and the most important statement of all, we will fight for what we believe in; not just sit back on our behind and complain and criticize but actually do something! Every movement has to have a beginning, and this is it. So instead of asking the ridiculous question of why were we there, maybe you should be asking yourself, why weren’t you!!!

http://www.michaelbaisden.com/Article.asp?id=470156

While Jim Crow Defenders Tout Law Enforcement in Jena 6 Case, They Ignore the National Bar Associations

They can’t say the national group of lawyers knows nothing about the law; to the contrary, they’re experts.



The NBA “has 84 affiliate chapters throughout the United States and affiliations in Canada, the United Kingdom, Africa and the Caribbean. It represents a professional network of over 40,000 lawyers, judges, educators and law students.”

http://www.nationalbar.org/news/releases/release091407.shtml
Bar Association President Vinita Banks sees the application of law and enforcement as abuse of prosecutorial power on the basis of race: “The public concern of abuse of prosecutorial power goes beyond the local legal issues of abuse. Instead, it goes to the national interest in fairness in the application of the law, and that the law is not selectively applied in contravention of constitutionally protected rights, --in this case on the basis of race.”

Also, with the fact that the FBI said the hanging of the nooses was a hate crime from day one, and recommended it as such to the Justice Department; and now the U.S. Attorney in Louisiana has finally admit himself that it's a hate crime, they can't hide behind that anymore.

Yet they feebly try. They including white so-called "progressives" who have now betrayed the Black community one time too many; but this time, the betrayal will not ride.

Nationalist Black Leadership Confrence...As We Go Forth From This Place

Taken from http://www.bringbackblack.org/

As I told you about here the weekend before last there was a Black Nationalist confrence in North Carolina. Here are, I believe, some words from the confrence on the purpose:

Now, I personally am not religious. I do however, consider myself to be a deeply Spiritual person, a “metaphysician” if you will. Notwithstanding that, I know that the Creator Spirit cannot be circumscribed by any belief system, even that which I have chosen for myself. Words in print are physical, the meaning that words are meant to convey are meta-physical; beyond the physical. Therefore, valuable lessons can be gleaned from any book, “holy” or otherwise…, if one knows how to discern the “moral-to-the-story” from the words. If I were speaking to an audience largely composed of people steeped in the Muslim tradition, I would use the Koran as a source-book; likewise, if I were speaking to a gathering of Original Hebrew Israelites I would endeavor to draw from the Torah and Talmud. However, knowing that the vast majority of those gathered here have been influenced by the Christian religion, it is appropriate that I use the Bible as my frame of reference. Those of you who are no longer of that tradition, bear with me.

Some 2,000 years ago, one of our great Ancestors (who might well have been history’s first victim of ‘identity-theft’), was reported to have said of his mission on Earth: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” And to distinguish himself from his opposites he said: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” I trust that you will agree with me that the National Black Alliance Network, the New MATTAH Movement, and the NATIONALIST Black Leadership Coalition, have joined forces that our people, The Elect of OUR Creator, WILL have life, and have it more abundantly! Ase and Amen-Ra!!

There are two ‘book-end’ themes for today’s birth-giving program: 1) “Bringing Back the Spirit of the Million Man March,” which Brother Jim Clingman addressed in his opening charge to us this morning and which guided us throughout today’s activities; and 2) “Strengthening the Weakest Patch,” which I will endeavor to encourage you all to commit to as we prepare to go forth from this place and this historic gathering. Those of you who have visited our web site are probably familiar with the paper I wrote entitled “The Patch-Quilt Analogy Explained,” a few copies of which were available here at my booth. If you have not read it in advance, I urge you to visit our site when you return home and study the document. What I will talk about for the next few minutes will make sense when considered in that context.

Twelve-Step programs for recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction maintain that a pre-condition to recovery is that the addict admit he/she is sick. I maintain that we Black folks are sick, and any hope for recovery from our illness requires that we too admit to our condition. Then we can decide on a regimen that can bring about a cure. Heretofore we have either been in denial about being sick, or we have settled for treating the symptoms. That is tantamount to putting the proverbial “band-aid on a cancer.”

The sickness we Blacks suffer from is not a ‘natural’ one. It is a dis-ease concocted by Europeans for the purpose of facilitating our enslavement for their economic gain. I insist that contrary to popular belief, NO slaves were ever brought to America or the Western Hemisphere. Hue-man beings were captured from different parts of Africa, brought to these shores in the holds of boats, and sold into bondage. After that began a process of converting those hue-mans into slaves. That slave conversion was a process, not an event, and the process extended some sixty to eighty years. In other words, those ancestors of yours and mine did not hop off the boat in Savannah or Charleston, and start saying “y’assuh boss! They had to first be “broken,” and conditioned to accept their predicament as being hopeless and inescapable. They had to be divested of their very humanity, and convinced that even their Creator-Spirit had abandoned them to the white supremacists and their racist vanguard!

Even then, many of them merely adapted to the circumstances into which they’d been forced, intending to bide their time until an opportunity presented itself to either kill their enemy, or escape from his clutches. Eventually, the slave makers decided to embark upon a scheme to selectively breed the bondsmen, in much the same way they do with dogs and cats to get the myriad combobulations of those two hapless creatures that we see today. Captives were bred for the right combination of physical strength and mental docility; big strong “bucks,” and hefty, buxom “wenches.” Bucks were valued for their virility and capacity to sire offspring; wenches for their fertility, their ability to have many babies, yet require minimum “down-time” from missed work. Success with this breeding approach enabled the slavers to discontinue the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, which had proved to be increasingly problematic due to the propensity of unbroken new captives fresh from Africa to resist bondage, and “make mischief” by inciting previously ‘conditioned’ slaves to revolt. Many Africans who refused to allow their humanity to be take away managed to escape, some to join forces with “tribes” of Native Americans who also had refused to succumb to servitude for the White man. An accurate depiction of one of the procedures used by slave makers is contained in the document titled: “Sixty Four Years to Make A Negro,” which should be required reading for every person of African descent in the world, but most particularly here in America!

It explained how Africans were to be “broken from one form of life to another;” to be “reduced from their natural state in nature;” “whereas nature provides them with the natural capacity to take care of their needs and the needs of their offspring, we break that natural sting of independence from them and thereby create a dependency state so that we may be able to get from them useful production for our business and pleasure.” With that “breaking” process completed, the slave-makers had successfully created a new creature, a slave or Negro, which he then described thusly: “Negro means one who has lost the knowledge of himself and is living an unnatural life contrary to his nature.” What can be more “sick” than a creature that is living an unnatural life contrary to its very nature? We are sick!

The process used to convert our African ancestors into slaves and Negros has never been reversed! I submit to you that it is impossible to reverse the effects resulting from a process, with anything less than an even more effective process. Black folks have tried to accomplish this feat by engaging in events. No matter how wonderful an event may be, or how often we engage in them, events cannot and will not reverse the effects caused by a process!! Slave makers used a process to make our people sick, we who have survived that travesty must now implement a process to bring about the long-overdue healing! This we CAN! This we MUST!! And this we SHALL!!!

Brother Jim Clingman initiated our healing process when he called out to Conscious Blacks across the country to join him in Cincinnati on December 9, 2006 for a day of deliberation about the condition of our people. Over 100 of us responded and traveled to that city at our own expense; something not heard of among Black folks since the early 1960s, before advent of the “War on Poverty” and our discovery of ‘conventioneering’ paid for by agencies funded by federal dollars! We sketched out a plan for action that included setting up ten (10) task forces covering major areas of human needs. Those task forces were to report back at a subsequent gathering in four months. That meeting was held in Atlanta, organized by Mwalimu Joe Seyoum Lewis and Brothers Saadiq Mance, Chike Akua, and Ashiki Taylor. Nearly 250 self-determinists participated in that event over the course of two days. The requisite reports were given by task force chairpersons, and the decision made to hold a birth-giving convention to launch a new national organization, a Black Nationalist, self-determinist organization which would develop the capacity to serve the needs, and advance the interests of Black people in much the same manner as the American Jewish Congress is known to do for our Jewish counterparts!

The “64 Years to make a Negro” document concluded by saying:
“Always remember that the purpose and intent was to create a slave consciousness. Now that this has been accomplished, he will do whatever you will him to do because your mind is his master and his desire is to please you. The time span of sixty-four years (1555 to 1619) has been well spent and should last for centuries until someone comes along and changes the consciousness. Beware of outside influences like their people looking for them or trying to influence their thinking, because once the slave chain of thought is broken by a higher power, then our control over the Negro will be lost. As long as they believe that we are God’s people, then we are secure.”

We have been made sick, mentally, morally, and emotionally sick; and spiritually bereft! As Brother Dalani Aamon would say, a transformation is in order! The Christian Bible advises us to “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind!” We can no longer allow our people’s minds to remain in the possession of our former slavemasters, with no stronger desire than to please that beast! The sickness imposed upon us has indeed lasted for centuries, four-and-a-half centuries as a matter of fact; most of which time we have mentally, emotionally, and spiritually wandered in the wilderness of a land not of our choosing. But ‘that old book called Bible,’ appropriated from our Ancestors, promises that: “Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye shall have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.” Sounds like Black folks to me!

Then the prophet goes on to say: “Yet behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their DOINGS: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.”

So, As We Go Forth From This Place…..

Brothers and Sisters, my fellow Nationalists, Pan-Africanists, Garveyites, Africentrists, self-determinists, ‘Conscious’ Blacks, and those who may eschew labels, but just love Black folks! YOU…, and I…, WE…, are the remnant prophesied in scripture!! “And they shall comfort you when you see their ways and their DOINGS.” Our Creator Spirit has conscripted all of us into Its service, and made promises to our people that they will be comforted when they see the ways in which we will conduct ourselves and our affairs, and by our WORKS! (“Doology” as my friend Minister Lawrance Lee Evans calls it).

The Creator Spirit of the African Family has made a promise to Its people, and charged you and me with responsibility for keeping it! WE are the instrument by which our Creator will “…gather the remnant of my flock out of the countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I shall set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saiith the Lord.”

But if…, if you and I are to prove ourselves worthy of this celestial assignment, we must take heed of yet another scriptural injunction: “For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter the Kingdom of heaven.” I interpret this to mean that unless we Nationalists have greater spiritual conviction than the integrationists, assimilationists, and White folks, we cannot and will not succeed! After all: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

The remnant referred to in scripture, correlates to the “patch” referred to in my ‘Patch-Quilt’ Analogy. We have been rent-asunder, and become scattered and weak, but we have a charge to keep: We MUST ‘strengthen the weakest patch!’ No less a Force than our own Creator Spirit has ordained that it must be so, and “…of he to whom much is given, much is required;” and you and I Brothers and Sisters, have been given the “Keys to the Kingdom!!! Let’s start opening doors!

Baba Amefika D. Geuka
October 13, 2007
Kernersville, North Carolina

Here’s to this flag of mine,
The Red, Black and Green;
Hopes in its future bright,
Africa has seen.

Here’s to the Red of it,
Great nations shall know of it
In time to come;
Red blood shall flow for it,
Historians shall write of it,
Great flag of mine.

Here’s to the Black of it,
Four hundred millions back of it,
Whose destiny depends on it,
The Red Black and Green of it,
Oh, flag of mine.

Here’s to the Green of it,
Young men shall dream of it,
Face shot and shell for it,
Maidens shall sing of it,
Waving so high.

Here’s to the Whole of it,
Colors bright, and pole of it,
Pleased is my soul with it,
Regardless of what is told of it;
Thank GOD for giving it,
Great flag of mine!

CNN Video Interview with Jena 6 Defendant Bryant Purvis and Mother Tina Jones

Jena Hearings, What Was Accomplished

This is from Alan Bean at Friend's of Justice.

Jena Hearing Postscript
October 17th, 2007 at 3:46 pm (Uncategorized)

In the end, what was accomplished? Most committee members aimed their questions at US Attorney Donald Washington, the man who has been consistently unplaying the seriousness of the noose incident since mid-June. Washington initially felt pressured to side with Jena officials in this matter; now, with some pressure coming from opponents of the status quo, the political appointee has adapted his testimony . . . slightly. It is no longer possible for noose apologists to site Mr. Washington as an ally. So far, so good.

Tragically, most of the people interrogating Mr. Washington and his associate, Lisa Krigsten, seem to feel that the noose hangers should have been tried as adults under federal hate crimes law, even if this meant locking them up for ten years without parole (remember, parole has been eliminated from the federal judicial system).

There are two problems: (1) the limp response of Jena officials to the noose incident; and (2) an inept reaction on the part of the Department of Justice that, in the minds of most observers, appeared to validate the inaction of folks like Roy Breithaupt and Reed Walters.

The hearings represent a giant step forward. They would have been more effective, however, if more attention had been paid to the egregious behavior of Reed and Roy. When Mr. Sharpton focuses on the noose boys he lets Jena officials slip into the shadows.

But this is just a matter of emphasis. The significant fact is that hardly anyone, Democrat or Republican, made the slightest attempt to defend the indefensible. The very fact that most Republicans chose to be elsewhere suggests they have no appetite for this fight.

Unfortunately, proponents of a knee-jerk law-and-order, lock-em-up philosophy don’t have to fight–they currently control the public policy agenda. Nonetheless, we congratulate Mr. Conyers for convening an illuminating hearing on a timely topic.

http://friendsofjustice.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/jena-hearing-transcript/#comment-2480

Throwing Mychael Bell Back In Jail May Be Illegal

Judge J.P. Mauffrey has basically done an end around the legal system. He couldn’t preside over a prosecution in adult court like he tried. He couldn’t keep Mychael Bell locked up indefinitely with no conviction and no bail like he tried, after the conviction resulting from the illegal trial was thrown out. So in order to get Mychael Bell for the Justin Barker beating, and show us he’s Boss Hog of Hazard County, he has jailed Bell essentially for the same thing his conviction was overturned for.

His illegal trying of Mychael Bell as an adult didn’t hold up in real court, so instead he’s jailed Bell saying the fight was a probation violation. Which in essences means, Judge Mauffrey in an act of defiance towards the higher courts, has unilaterally convicted Mychael Bell of the charges still pending against.

Howard Witt has the story - Jena 6 teen's return to jail draws queries: Judge's probation ruling called 'revenge'
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-jena13oct13,1,316353.story?ctrack=1&cset=true


Also read about white "progressive's" ever changing story about why they're largely ignoring the Jena 6 issues, even when it's in congress.

Students Reppin For The Jena 6

From Nashville we took 3 studnet buses from
Tennessee State University and 2 student buses from Fisk University, as well as some students and others of that age spreadout on the other 5 general community buses.

Here's how some other students have been representin since September 20th.

Students Reppin for the Jena Six

Grenesboro Rally at Bennet College


North Carolina A&T Rally: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5319727890368065392

Student Walkout in Pittsburg on October 1: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7429886047963036373&q=college+students+jena+6&total=9&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Student Government Association To Sponsor Fundraiser for Jena 6 Legal Defense


And I’ve already told you about:

The student Suspended For Supporting Jena 6

and

The White Student Sues To Wear Her "Free The Jena 6" T-shirt

Regarding Jena 6, U.S. Attorney Donald Washington Finally Admits The Hanging of the Noose Was A Hate Crime

In an article by Howard Witt, the writer who broke the Jena Six case nationally; he reports that Washington finally makes this admission in hearings before congress today.



Guess what his porported reasoning for not doing his job and protecting black kids from racial intimidations is according to Witt's writing, "because of the ages of the white youths involved."

Ain't that a bitch!

White kids get off scott free because of their age, but there was no forgoing, or the least bit of measured temperment when it came to prosecuting Michael Bell, Bryant Purvis, Carwin Jones, Theo Shaw, and . I guess no justice for Negroes on either end of the spectrum.

Where are all the annoymous people and others who routinely run here to tell me about how the noose hanging wasn't a hate crime and had nothing to do with the tention's that led to the Barker fight, just because the government says so. The goverment is saying the opposite now.

As I noted in the post The Claimed Facts, Are Not Necessarily the Facts In Jena 6 Case; "in Washington’s case, even though the FBI investigated and recommended the noose hangings be prosecuted as a hate crime; Washington refuses to do so just because the noose hangers don't have a prior record." This is what he said in an interview that aired on CNN on the day of the September 20 march.

The Witt story is here: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/10/us_official_jena_nooses_were_h.html

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee asked the Uncle Tom, foot shuffling, Bush appointee, "Mr. Washington, tell me why you did not intervene? Six broken lives could have been prevented if you had taken action.”



Rep John Conyers summed up the whole issue of this Jena situation saying, “as we all know, it is illegal under the guarantees of our Constitution and our laws to have one standard of justice for white citizens and another harsher one for African- American citizens,”

Apparently, everybody doesn't know that; or, they simply don't care!

White Student Sues To Wear Her "Free The Jena 6" T-shirt

[Now this is what I'm talking about. It's good to see both someone White and someone Young getting down]

By TRAVIS LOLLER, Associated Press Writer
Tue Oct 9, 10:13 PM ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A student is suing her suburban Nashville school district for the right to wear a T-shirt with the words "Free the Jena Six," a reference to the black students in a Louisiana town accused of beating a white classmate.

According to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Nashville last week, Danielle Super came in to school late on Sept. 20 after having attended a march.

As she was waiting for her mother to sign her in, Smyrna High School assistant principal Jolene Watson told her she could not come into the school wearing the Jena Six T-shirt because it could "cause a problem."

After protesting the order, Super changed shirts and returned to school, the complaint states.

Super is seeking an injunction against the school that would allow her to wear the T-shirt. The complaint also asks for damages, although it does not specify an amount.

Rutherford County Schools spokesman James Evans said the only comment he was authorized to make on the pending litigation was that "we don't believe the school is in the wrong, and we are confident this will play out in our favor."

The T-shirt refers to six black students in Jena, La., accused of beating a white student unconscious in December.

The attack followed months of racial tensions after three white students were suspended, but not prosecuted, for hanging nooses from a tree on school grounds.

The case has garnered national attention and drawn protests from thousands, including civil rights activists such as Jesse Jackson. David Bowie donated to the teens' defense fund, and rocker John Mellencamp has written a song about it.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071010/ap_on_re_us/jena_six_t_shirt_1

I posted a video report about this here: http://thejena6blog.blogspot.com/2007/09/some-good-jena-six-video-from-day-of.html

From Jena 6 Rally to Nationalist Black Leadership Confrence

I wish I had seen this before the meeting this past weekend so I at least could have publicized it, if not gone myself.

From http://bringbackblack.org/

Amefika D. Geuka
National Co-Convener

MOVEMENT TO “BRING BACK BLACK”

Although there were detractors, the vast majority of Americans of African descent would no doubt agree that the tremendous turnout and show of support for the six young Black males and their families in the now infamous miscarriage of justice that occurred in the small rural town of Jena, Louisiana was a GOOD thing. We should give credit where credit is due to all the individuals, groups, and organizations that made the “Jena-Six” a “cause-celebre.” Michael (The “Bad Boy of Radio”) Baisden took promotion of the need to descend on Jena to support the boys ‘over-the-top;’ however, his efforts were probably matched by the less-well-known, but no less outspoken Black activists who permeate the “Blogosphere,” as many refer to the Internet. Taken together, these forces made sure that no person of African descent in America was left unaware of the travesty taking place in Jena. White America was made aware too, but most of them chose to remain in denial of the continuing persistence of racist practices in America.


Some of the criticism directed at promoters of the bus-in and rally reminded me of the build-up to the original Million Man March when pundits lambasted Minister Louis Farrakhan for having the audacity to summon 1,000,000 Black men to Washington, D.C. for a well-deserved tongue-lashing for our past failures to be real men to our women, and providers for and protectors of our children. Their voices and recriminations were muted however, when 2.5 million of us showed up on October 16, 1995! Minister Farrakhan’s call was for Black men to stand up and be men; he did not see fit at that time to call for creation of an organization. We were called upon to take an oath of commitment to be better men; and agreed to return to our respective home communities and join some organization working for the betterment of Black people. Further, we were told that if no such organization already existed in our community, it was our duty to start one! In other words, there could be no excuses for lack of substantive follow-up to the March. Hundreds of thousands of those men kept true to their word, and did as we had been challenged to do. The story of those successes has yet to be told, and is one of the chores facing our Movement to Bring Back Black after we give birth to the NATIONALIST Black Leadership Council (NBLC) on October 13, 2007 in Kernersville, North Carolina.

Promoters of the Jena-Six support rally did not claim that they were trying to create an organization. Their intent was to demonstrate to the “powers-that-be” in Jena, Louisiana that Black folks around the country were furious about what was being done to the six Black boys under cover of law and so-called justice. It stirred memories of days (we thought had) gone by, when law-enforcement and the courts themselves were the means by which Blacks were routinely persecuted and abused on the slightest pretext. Though we have not said so as loudly or with the same resolve as Jews about their holocaust, the sentiment many of us feel is just as strong, if not more so! The Jena-Six protest rally sent the message to racists and white supremacists, that never again will they be able to heap violence and abuse on us, and not be made to suffer any consequences.

Where Should They Go From There?

The question being asked in the aftermath of the Jena-Six support rally is “what comes next?” Where should the thousands who responded to the call to descend on Jena go next, and what should they do when they get there? This writer suggests that the Jena-Six” support rally be considered as having been a prelude to the Nationalist Black Leadership Council’s Birth-Giving Convention in Kernersville, North Carolina next week, October 11-14, 2007.

While the gathering in Jena was not intended to create an organization, there are few of sane mind who would not agree that Black folks need a vanguard organization, one that can fill the role provided by the NAACP during the “civil-rights” phase of our search for freedom, justice, and equality in America. That era ended with the “Brown vs. Board” decision in 1954, and subsequent passage of landmark civil rights legislation and “Executive Decisions” of the early 1960s. Since 1965 the dominant theme among those who have “led” or been leading spokespersons for the Black community has been their quest for the “holy grail” of integration and assimilation with Whites. They deserve credit for most of the ‘gains’ made on behalf of Blacks on their ‘watch,’ and must accordingly accept responsibility for losses we have suffered as well. In other words, they must accept the “bitter-with-the-sweet.”

So integrationists/assimilationists (I/A’s) deserve the lion’s share of credit for legal rights they won for Black folks, and the relative freedoms afforded by laws against discrimination that we operate under today. But they are also responsible for causing us to abandon our sense of self-respect and mutual support. We need to do a comparative analysis of the gains and losses that can be attributed to the leadership, direction, and guidance provided by the I/A’s while they were the dominant influence with the Black masses, and determine whether the results warrant a continuation of I/A leadership.

This writer argues that it is past time for the I/A’s to “pass the baton” to Nationalists and self-determinists to run the next leg of our people’s “relay-race of life.” Indeed, they have held onto the baton well beyond the “passing zone” in this metaphor, and thus allowed the Whites who organized the “meet,” to disqualify our entire ‘team’ from the race! It is now time for us to organize our own track meet, complete with our own rules; and make our own determinations as to who will participate in which events, and in what positions.

A “Shadow Government?”

The convention in Kernersville is designed and intended to do this. A new national organization comprising a close-knit coalition of like-minded groups and organizations will emerge from that unprecedented gathering. The mechanism will boast its own array of leaders and spokespersons whose only loyalty will be to the Black Collective, at home and abroad! The organization will operate as a ‘shadow-government’ to protect, preserve, and advance the best interests of Black folks collectively, just as the government of the United States is supposed to do for citizens of this nation. Just as this (U.S.) government prioritizes whatever it claims is in the “national interest” of (White) America, and the federation of National Jewish organizations does likewise for the Jewish community and the State of Israel, so too will the Nationalist Black Leadership Council (NBLC) prioritize the interests of people of African descent, “those at home, and those abroad!”

The NBLC will strengthen the Black Collective in a way that we will no longer be so vulnerable and susceptible to the vagaries and vicissitudes of white supremacists, racists, and hate-mongers. When this is accomplished, there will be fewer incidents where Blacks will be the victims of capricious behavior and conduct by those who do not respect our humanity, or believe that we have any ‘rights!” The “90-pound weakling” will have “morphed” into a hard body-politic capable of protecting its women and children from any who would do them harm.

From Reaction to Pro-Action

The rally in Jena, Louisiana was a justifiable reaction to the racist action taken by White authorities in Jena; our convention in Kernersville will be the latest in a series of pro-active initiatives taken by Black Nationalists, Pan-Africanists, and advocates for self-help, self-determination, and self-reliance from around the nation and the Black Diaspora. All who agree that we must move from being reactionaries to being pro-active and preemptive, should plan to join us in Kernersville, North Carolina October 11-14, 2007. That is especially true for those who feel that their participation in the Jena-Six rally left a void that needs to be filled, one that can only be filled by constructive ACTION to preempt and ward off attacks by those who would do harm to us.

Where will YOU be October 11-14, 2007, and what will you be DOING?

Jena 6, Meet Spellman 5

KEN SUGIURA of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has done a story on five Spellman University Seniors putting in work on the Jena 6.



Women lead campuswide letter-writing effort to show their support.

Nyeema McCaskill put pen to paper, trying to make a difference. The Spelman College junior was making her voice count.

McCaskill wasn't signing a petition. It was a letter to be sent to one of the Jena 6, the black Louisiana teenagers whose arrests after allegedly beating up a white student spurred civil rights activists to protest.

Shaina Turner, Shayla Turner, Keshia Powell, Janet Williams and Kisha Woods. For their Advocacy in Urban Education class, they have collected letters that will be sent to the families of the six teens.

"I was really happy when I heard about it," said McCaskill, as she took a break from her letter. "I had some feelings I wanted to express."

Friday, the students set up shop at the Manley Student Center for a weekly event called Market Friday, a a bazaar for student groups. Wielding clipboards and candy, they flagged down classmates and encouraged them to sit down and write. In about two weeks, they estimate they've collected about 200 letters, which they'll put in scrapbooks. Students and faculty across the Atlanta University Center have contributed.

"I'm really, incredibly proud of them," said professor Franita Ware, who teaches the education class. "They've truly demonstrated leadership."

Ware's instructions were for the students to take on a social action project. These five students decided to do something related to the Jena 6.

The six teens from Jena, La., gained worldwide attention last month after thousands came to the town to protest. They initially were charged with attempted murder after beating up a white classmate last December, but the charges later were reduced. It was the last in a series of racially charged events that began when black students attempted to sit under a tree at Jena High School, where white students had typically sat.

The following day, three nooses hung from the tree. Critics of the case said the white students who hung the nooses were not punished as they should have been — they received a few days' suspension — while the Jena 6 were punished excessively. "We're not advocating a violent act," Powell said. "We're advocating equal punishment."

But rather than a march, they decided on letters.

"We wanted to be a little more personal," Powell said. "We didn't want to do the same thing everyone else was doing."

They made boxes and signs for every classroom building and dorm on campus. They asked friends, classmates and professors for contributions. Some professors, enthused with the idea, even offered students extra credit if they wrote. The response has overwhelmed the five women. Some contributors wrote multiple letters. One was four pages long.

"I was very pleased to see them become actively involved in something that was salient from their perspective," said Morehouse College professor Abraham Davis, who teaches one of Powell's classes. "This was student-initiated, and that's what impressed me."

Ware assigned the project to develop the leadership skills the students will need as teachers. All five students are education majors and plan to teach. Powell eventually wants to work for the U.S. Department of Education. Woods aims to be a superintendent of a public school system.

As their four years at one of the nation's most prestigious colleges comes to a close, the students have received a taste of the sort of leadership they can command.

"We didn't think it was going to be this big," Woods said. "We're thinking we're probably going to have to do a sequel of this."
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/10/07/jena_1008.html

Mychael Bell of the Jena 6 is Put Back In Jail

Just yesterday, October the 11th; Mychael Bell was sentenced to 18 months by the same Judge who was overruled in claiming that he had adult jurisdiction on some of the charges in the school beating, and who tried to keep Bell locked up without bail even after all his convictions were vacated by the 3rd Circuit Court.



J.P. Mauffrey sentenced bail on a violation of probation from juvenile convictions that Bell incurred before the December 2006 fight with Justin Barker that led to attempted murder and conspiracy charges by extra-zealous prosecutor Reed Walters.

It's unknown specifically on what basis a probation violation was determined, and with it being a juvenile case, details are hard to come by as no one is really allowed to talk about it.

It seems that after Mauffrey and Walters were defeated on trying to illegally convict Bell as an adult, and then keep him imprison indefinitely without a conviction, they've trumped up a way to get him regardless, and show the world that they'll damn well do what they want to do.

Bell is now sentenced to a juvenile "detention center". He's already done 9 months in adult prison and doesn't seem to be getting any credit for time already served. I think it's clear that the prosecutor and the Judge have a vendetta, and are going to do anything they can to keep this young man imprisoned.



This seems to be a Moby Dick story, where Captain Ahab pursues a whale to the ends of the earth for revenge. A repeat of the Hurricane Rubin Carter story as portrayed in the 1999 movie The Hurricane, where a low down Trenton New Jersey cop arrest and gets a conviction on Carter at 12 and then he and the state legal apparatus spend the next 30 years forging fraudulent charges against Carter and doing everything they can to keep him in prison, no matter the evidence, to satisfy a racist grudge and to get stripes on the uniforms of their careers.

For More on Social Justic issues go to BlackPerspective.net

CNN story: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/10/11/bell.jail/index.html

Local Inter-racial Groups Support Torture Victim Megan Williams

Sense I posted about the march centered on Megan Williams in West Virgina in November, but also highlighting the Jena 6; I wanted to still stay on that story here:

by Cash Michaels
Special to the NNPA from the Wilmington Journal

(NNPA) - A group of about 40 citizens – White and Black – came together Oct. 2 at a local church in Logan County, W. Va. to hold a candlelight vigil for Megan Williams, the alleged victim of a month-long racially-motivated captivity, rape and torture.

''We are joining together to show support for Megan and for our legal system and to encourage prosecuting attorney to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law and give justice to Megan,'' Eliza Dillard, a Logan County resident, said.

The group united, not only to show their abhorrence to the crimes allegedly committed by six White Career criminals, but to also let the world know that the residents of Logan County do not condone the racial tragedy that has cast a shadow over their community.

There were those, however, who said despite the show of support, there can be no denying that racism has been alive and well in Logan County long before the Megan Williams case.

“[We] deplore the violence and degradation inflicted on Megan Williams, the young African-American woman allegedly held captive for at least a week and tortured by a half-dozen white people at a Logan County mobile home,” said James Hagood, a spokesman for the Logan County Improvement League and the American Friends Service Committee’s Empowerment for Women Plus.

The rest of the article can be seen here

National March against Hate Crimes for Megan Williams, Jena 6, and Nooses

BLACK LAWYERS FOR JUSTICE (BLFJ)
www.Blacklawyersforjustice.org


For Immediate Release
October 7, 2007

NATIONAL MARCH AGAINST
HATE CRIMES:

MEGAN WILLIAMS: KIDNAP, TORTURE AND RAPE VICTIM IS FOCUS OF NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION

When: Saturday November 3, 2007 12:00 noon

Location: Charleston, West Virginia. Beginning in front of West Virginia State University and Marching to the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston.

March Purpose: To bring national and statewide support to Charleston resident Megan Williams, the Williams Family and victims of other hate crimes nationwide. The Jena 6 case, the rise in the hanging of nooses and other current acts of injustices and intimidation against Blacks/African Americans will all be highlighted at this National March against Hate Crimes. Families and victims of hate crimes that are occurring throughout the nation will attend. Black Lawyers For Justice, the Williams Family and organizers are demanding that Federal Hate Crimes charges be brought in the instant case. They are also demanding Congressional hearings on hate crimes against Black residents as well a wide range of actions to combat the growing attacks on Blacks in America.

Who are the Organizers? The primary march organizers are Black Lawyers For Justice (BLFJ) and the Support Committee For Megan Williams. This march will be endorsed by at least 100 Black organizations, student groups, clergy and leaders of every stripe. An initial endorsement list will be produced on 10-15-07.

Contact: Black Lawyers For Justice (BLFJ) / Malik Shabazz, Esq.
Attorney/ advocate for Megan Williams and the
Williams Family)

Ph: NATIONAL (202) 397-3577 local (304) 657-1493
E-mail: shabazzlaw@aol.com
Website: Blacklawyersforjustice.org

WHY A MARCH TO SUPPORT MEGAN WILLIAMS AND OPPOSE HATE CRIMES?

On November 3, 2007 a historic National March will take place in Charleston, West Virginia. This call to action is to support young Megan Williams, who is the victim of one of the worst hate crimes in United States history. The March is also called to address an unacceptable rise in hate crimes and incidents of injustices currently perpetrated against Blacks or African Americans. On September 12, 2007, and in subsequent preliminary hearings, it was revealed that Megan Williams, a twenty year old Black Woman, was lured into a nearby Logan county trailer house of hatred. Young Megan, who also has special disability needs, was repeatedly raped, choked, stabbed, forced to eat dog and rat feces as her six white tormentors berated her calling her “nigger” incessantly. According to evidence gathered, Megan was sodomized with a stick and a noose was tied around her neck for lengthy periods during this week long ordeal that is verified by several of co-defendants signed confessions. This is an this ugly and outrageous ordeal. Prosecutors said. "Every time they stabbed her, they called her 'nigger." Carmen Williams, the mother, told The Charleston Gazette. "She wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, 'Mommy.' What's really, really bad is, we don't know everything, and they did to her. She is crying all the time." No doubt, had she not been rescued they were going to kill her and throw her in a nearby lake.

Arrested are: Frankie Brewster, 49, and her son Bobby Brewster, 24., Karen Burton, 46; her daughter Alisha, 23; Danny Combs, 20, and George Messer, 27 –six whites from nearby Logan County, West Virginia. The suspects took turns beating, stabbing, choking and sexually abusing Williams, while consistently threatening her with death, according to criminal complaints. A rope was placed around Williams' neck, her hair was ripped out and she was made to eat dog and rat feces, drink from a toilet and lick up blood, the complaint charges. At one point, she was sexually assaulted while scalding water and melting hot wax from a candle was poured on her body. At another point she was forced to lick the toes of the sadistic defendants. She was stabbed in the leg at least four times and both of her ankles were cut by a female suspect who allegedly taunted her, saying, "This one is for Kunta Kinte, and that's what we do to niggers around here.”

“The Megan Williams case is beyond a doubt, one of the worst hate crimes in U.S. History. The Megan Williams case is even worse than the case of the Jena 6”…said Attorney Malik Shabazz Esq., Megan Williams Family Attorney and Spokesman for Black Lawyers For Justice, speaking at the October 3rd preliminary hearing in Logan County, West VA.

Shabazz also said, “The number of outright hate crimes and injustice cases against Blacks is rising so rapidly it’s hard for our office to keep track of. We are calling for every concerned person in our community to respond to this national crisis with vigor and due diligence. The November 3rd March in Charleston is a big step in the direction of organizing to challenge the tide of attacks occurring against Blacks”.

HATE CRIMES DOCUMENTED

In addition to the Megan Williams case, criminal acts of hatred and intimidation using hanging nooses have sprung up all over the nation. The hanging noose, central to the Jena case, is used by racists as an actionable threat to the safety and well being of Blacks, who have suffered innumerable historical injustices via hanging ropes and lynchings. On Sept 7th, a three foot noose was found hung at the University of Maryland, College Park, roiling the campus. On October 4th, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported that police were investigating several cases in which nooses were left at workplaces to intimidate black employees in the Pittsburgh area. The Tribune reported, “a supervisor at the Verizon Wireless Business Services Center in Marshall found a black doll with a noose around its neck and racial slurs directed at it.” Several similar hate crime incidents have been reported in the Pittsburgh area in the last month. In Long Island, New York last month, police found a noose hanging in the locker room. Many believed it was hung by a police officer and was in response to the newly elected Black police chief. Last month, in North Carolina, nooses were found hung at a public school. On October 3rd in Washington D.C., white students and historical Galluadet University for the deaf, reportedly held a Black student hostage for over an hour and repeatedly wrote “KKK” all over his body with markers. All over the U.S., Police assaulting and killing unarmed Black victims is on the rise again.


A FOLLOW UP TO JENA

The November 3rd National March against Hate Crimes is also an effort to end the continued persecution of the Jena 6. Mychal Bell and the Jena 6 are still facing jail after responding to racist persecution at the High school in Jena, Louisiana. Also the addresses and phone numbers of the Jena 6 Families were posted on Neo-Nazi/Klan websites, subsequently, white supremacists have committed acts of aggression near their homes and BLFJ has copies of letters from various Ku Klux Klan organizations directly threatening the Jena 6 families. Members of the Jena 6 are endorsing and are expected at this march.

Over 100 organizations, student groups, youth organizations, clergy, rappers, and leaders are set to endorse the November 3rd March (a list will be released on 10/15/07) Like in Jena, organizers going to get busses, travel the highway and organize to support Megan Williams and organize against these attacks.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday November 2nd 7:00 pm: A pre march remembrance/ prayer vigil will take place at the Logan County trailer home where Megan Williams was kidnapped and tortured

Saturday November 3rd 12:00 noon: National March against Hate Crimes, Charleston, West VA. March will begin in front of West Virginia State University.

Saturday November 3rd 5:00 pm: Fundraiser for Megan Williams and Town Hall Meeting on Race Relations to take place at Rehoboth Cathedral of Christ in Charleston, West Virginia- Bishop James Carter III is the host pastor.

To Endorse This March Or For Updates And Further Details, Visit The Website: Www.Blacklawyersforjustice.Org Or Call (202) 397 -4577 The Email Is Shabazzlaw@aol.Com