The Jena 6 Blog

Jena Drug Raid: Looks Like We're Going To Have To Go Back

2010-05-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

Classic style false drug raid conducted against Jena's small Black community in apparent revenge for Jena 6 protest.

One love to the JesseMuhammad blog for sending us drum beats on this one via twitter.

Jordan Flaherty, an independent [and for what it's worth, white] journalist who was on the front line of helping break the Jena 6 story in 2007 with web articles and video; now brings us the story of last summer's evidence-less drug raid on Jena's tiny Black community.

Jena Sheriff Scott Franklin

By Jordan Flaherty
Posted: May 13, 2010 03:22 PM

Jena Sheriff Seeks Revenge for Civil Rights Protests

At 4 am on July 9 of last year, more than 150 officers from ten different agencies gathered in a large barn just outside Jena, Louisiana. The day was the culmination of an investigation that LaSalle Parish Sheriff Scott Franklin said had been going on for nearly two years. Local media was invited, and a video of the sheriff speaking to the rowdy gathering would later appear online.

The sheriff called the mobilization "Operation Third Option," and he said it was about fighting drugs. However, community members say that Sheriff Franklin's actions are part of an orchestrated revenge for the local civil rights protests that won freedom for six Black high school students -- known internationally as the Jena Six -- who had been charged with attempted murder for a school fight.

One thing is clear: the sheriff spent massive resources; yet officers seized no contraband. Together with District Attorney Reed Walters, Sheriff Franklin has said he is seeking maximum penalties for people charged with small-time offenses. Further, in a parish that is eighty-five percent white, his actions have almost exclusively targeted African Americans. In a town with just over three hundred Black residents, he sent his 150 officers only into the town's Black neighborhood.

Downtown Baghdad

According to a report from Alexandria's Town Talk newspaper, LaSalle Parish Sheriff Scott Franklin prepared the assembled crowd for a violent day. "This is serious business what we're fixing to do," said Sheriff Franklin. "If you think this is a training exercise or if you think these are good old boys from redneck country and we're just going to good-old-boy them into handcuffs, you're wrong. These people have nothing to lose. And they know the stakes are high."

"It's going to be like Baghdad out in this community at five am," he continued dramatically, explaining that their target was 37-year-old Darren DeWayne Brown, who owns a barbershop -- one of the only Black-owned businesses in town -- and his "lieutenants," who Franklin said supplied eighty percent of the narcotics for three parishes. "Let me put it to you this way," declared the sheriff, "When the man says, 'We don't sell dope today,' dope won't get sold."

Sheriff Franklin said that option one is for drug dealers and users to quit, option two is to move, and option three is to spend the rest of their lives in prison. And this day was all about option three. "They will get put in handcuffs, put behind bars today and never see the light of day again unless they are going out on the playground in prison," he boasted.

At the end of the day, a dozen people were arrested on charges that ranged from contempt of court to resisting arrest to distribution of marijuana, hydrocodone, or cocaine. Despite catching the accused residents by surprise with early morning raids, in which doors were battered down by SWAT teams while a helicopter hovered overhead and then search teams were brought in to take houses and businesses apart, no drugs or other physical evidence were retrieved -- other than small traces of marijuana at one house.

Virtually all evidence in the cases comes from the testimony of twenty-three-year-old Evan Brown of Jena, who also wore a hidden camera during the investigation that parish officials have said provides powerful visual evidence. "We're completely satisfied with the results," said LaSalle Sheriff's Department Narcotic Chief Robert Terral, who refused further comment on the operation.

...see full article here

Unbelievable! Looks like were going to have to go back to Jena.

These trumped up drug raids, based on little to no evidence, and usually on the word of a single snitch is an un-talked about abuse-of-power epidemic in the United States.

Just this past weekend I watched the renowned 2009 independent movie on a fictionalized version of just such a case. This is the same kind of setup and case that happened in 1999 in Tulia Texas; which led Alan Bean to act there, and then later be instrumental also in bringing the Jena 6 situation to the fore front.

I wonder how are we just now hearing about this case, though? Why did they not reach out to those of us who helped last time. Hmm, wondering if they're not wanting outside help, again. They were all thanking us for coming when we were at the march; and talking to Michael Bell on the phone last year, he expressed gratitude for our assistance.

Maybe they feel that those activities three years ago having caused this act of revenge now, has now turned out to be more of a harm than good. I don't know. I would submit that with there again being exaggerated ridiculously high bails set, and the cost of lawyers; at the least they would need the financial resources that we brought to bear before, and could again bring; even if there is not physical protest in Jena. In which case we would probably need to defer to the consensus view of Jena's Black community on that, or maybe just to the views of the defendants in this drug raid case.

I know that the protest was powerful, though. We were 30,000 deep down there last time. Blanketed the whole city; it was something beautiful to behold.

Tens of thousands of dollars were raised. I know my donation went to Michael Bell's lawyer, because though I donated it through a local business man who was doing a collection at the march, I got a receipt in the mail from the lawyer's office about a month later.

I also helped raise money here in Nashville before I went.

I'm going to call Mychal Bell or his mom in the next few days and see if I can't find out more about what's going on. Hope their numbers haven't changed; it's been about a years since I lasted talked to them. Will also call Alan Bean, and other organizers and reporters from the last Jena stand, and report back.

Jena 6: Where Are They Now - September 2009

2009-08-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Quick Where are they now list of the Jena Six, per Friends of Justice:

Jena Six “” Where are they now?

¢ Robert Bailey Jr. is enrolled at Grambling State University and will attempt to walk on to the football team.

¢ Mychal Bell is enrolled at Southern University and will attempt to walk on to the football team.

¢ Jesse Ray Beard is finishing high school in Connecticut.

¢ Carwin Jones is planning to go to college in Texas starting in August.

¢ Bryant Purvis is enrolled at a community college in Texas and plays on the basketball team.

¢ Theo Shaw is enrolled at Louisiana Delta Community College in Monroe and was elected vice president of the school’s student government association for the 2009-2010 school year.

Former Jena 6 student Robert Bailey Jr. is taking classes at GSU [Grambling State] and will try to make the football team in the fall.

I will add

Justin Barker, the student for who's beating they were charged; was expelled for bring a gun to school in 2007. Last I could confirm he had dropped out of school, and simply went to work. If that's changed since I cannot find info to that effect.

Jena Six's Robert Bailey, Jr. Attends Grambling State University

2009-08-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

Per Alan Bean at Friends of Justice, the local newspaper; which I believe is the News Star, did a piece on Bailey. Monroe is about 30 miles East of Grambling from my recollection of driving it this past January, and is also the city in which fellow Jena 6 member Mychall Bell resides with his grandmother.

The piece is not available online, but here is some of the text Alan provided:

Former Jena Six student hopes to overcome past, look to future
By Stephen Largen

slargen@monroe.gannett.com

GRAMBLING — What might have sucked most people into a downward spiral only seems to have made Robert Bailey Jr. more determined to turn his life around.

Bailey, 19, is one of the Jena Six — six black Jena High School students initially charged with attempted murder in connection with a Dec. 4, 2006, assault on white student Justin Barker at the LaSalle Parish school.

The controversial case drew attention across the nation after many called the arrests and subsequent charges racially discriminatory and excessive. A massive civil rights demonstration ensued on Sept. 20, 2007, when at least 20,000 people marched through Jena to protest.

Bailey wrapped up his legal issues late last month when, along with Carwin Jones, Jesse Ray Beard, Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw, he pleaded no contest in a Jena courtroom to misdemeanor simple battery. Bailey and the others were sentenced to seven days of unsupervised probation and a $500 fine, but were given no jail time.

They also reached a confidential settlement out of court with Barker.

The only member of the group to serve time was Mychal Bell, who pleaded guilty in December 2007 to second-degree battery and was sentenced to 18 months.

Now, after graduating in May from Shaw High School in Columbus, Ga., Bailey is taking summer classes at Grambling State University, where he plans to major in marketing. Bailey also will attempt to walk onto the football team as a wide receiver...

[According to Bean Bailey attained a 4.0 in his summer courses]

Can’t go back

Robert Bailey said he has only been back to Jena for a total of three or four days since the controversy exploded.

He said he’s made the choice to keep a low profile.

“When people ask me where I’m from, I don’t like to say Jena,” Bailey said.

“People say ‘You know that’s going to stick with you for the rest of your life, right?’ I’m like, ‘For real?’ And I think about it, like, ,you’re gonna be 40 years old and people are going to look at you like you’re that Jena Six boy. I think it is going to stay with me, but it depends how you look at it. I just choose not to suck myself back into that environment where I know I’m going to get the finger pointed at me. I just choose to stay away.”

Bailey also chose to stay out of the spotlight at Shaw, where he enrolled in January 2008 and stayed with family after being kicked out of Jena High.

For his first six months at the school, Bailey didn’t even use his own name.

Instead, he went by the pseudonym “Xavier Lee,” until a local media outlet identified him as a member of the Jena Six.

“The media found out I was in Columbus,” Bailey said.

“I had people coming to me like, ‘Dang, that’s one of them boys. You seen one of those Jena Six boys?’ I was like, ‘Nah, I ain’t seen him,’” Bailey said with a laugh. “I keep to myself, I try to stay to my own business.”

Redemption Story For The Jena 6's Jesse Ray Beard

2009-08-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

This is what we fought for...and this is why I don't listen to activist who only want to fight for model citizens in model test cases.

Had we followed that ideology and listened to the naysayers, this kid would still be roting in Juvenile Jail probably becoming disaffect, and learning to be a real criminal.

Attorney gives Jena 6 teen counsel, chance at new life

By Eliott C. McLaughlin
CNN

(CNN) -- Jesse Ray Beard said he was constantly in trouble, even when he behaved. It took being accused of the racially charged attempted murder of a white classmate in the Deep South to turn his life around.

Beard, 18, now interns at a New York law firm as he prepares for his senior year next month at Canterbury School, a Connecticut prep academy where Beard is highly regarded among peers and teachers.

"I didn't change the way I act. I didn't do nothing different. It was just that I was at Canterbury instead of Jena," he said. "It was like Jena was out to get me -- and not just me, but other people, too."

If not for the controversy surrounding the Jena Six and the palpable racial tension in the Louisiana town, Beard never would have met the attorney who changed the course of Beard's life by removing him from everything he knew. Watch Beard describe his reaction.

[David Utter, Alan Howard and Jesse Ray Beard in Jena - picture curtesy of Alan Bean]

Alan Howard met Beard, the youngest of the African-American teens who made up the Jena Six, in January 2008 when he began representing him in a lawsuit filed by beating victim Justin Barker.

The fight followed months of disquiet among Jena High School students, including off-campus skirmishes, a school arson and nooses hung from a campus tree.

In September 2007, thousands of protesters, alleging the teens were treated harshly because they were black, converged on middle Louisiana.

Protesters were particularly angered at the jailing of Mychal Bell, one of the six, who was charged as an adult. Later in September, he was reclassified as a juvenile and released.

The Jena Six were lionized and vilified; donations for their defense poured in, as did threats on their lives.

Howard said his first impression of Beard -- that he had "tremendous character, tremendous resilience and tremendous potential" -- was so strong he invited the teen to live with his family in New England.

It's been a tidal shift, Beard said, moving from a Louisiana town of 3,000 to Bedford, New York, a well-to-do city of 18,000 situated an hour north of the Big Apple...

Justin Barker Settles Civil Suit In Jena 6 Case

2009-06-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

I had this saved for you guys last week; but then went on vacation and didn't get a chance to publish it for you al. I'm at the library in Alabama putting it up. Anyway, the latest in the Jena 6 situation:

Secret settlement reached in 'Jena Six' civil suit

By Robert Morgan

JENA -- A settlement for an undisclosed amount of money was approved Friday, June 26, by ad hoc Judge Ronnie Lewellyn in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the family of "Jena Six" beating victim Justin Barker.

Barker was attacked Dec. 4, 2006, at Jena High School in an incident that led to charges against six black fellow students who became known nationally as the "Jena Six."

The criminal case was resolved earlier Friday when the remaining five defendants -- Carwin Jones, Jesse Ray Beard, Bryant Purvis, Theodore Shaw and Robert Bailey Jr. -- pleaded no contest to simple battery and agreed to fines and seven days of probation, among other stipulations.

Terms of the civil lawsuit settlement were not released due to a confidentiality clause in the agreement.

See full story

The Jena Six Case Ends With Plea Deal

2009-06-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

An Alexandria Louisiana Town Talk article states:

"JENA -- More than 2½ years after six black teenagers were charged with beating a white fellow student at Jena High School, criminal charges against the remaining five defendants were resolved Friday.

In a plea agreement that had been approved by both sides ahead of time, the defendants -- Carwin Jones, Jesse Ray Beard, Robert Bailey Jr., Bryant Purvis and Theodore Shaw -- pleaded "no contest" each to a charge of simple battery, a misdemeanor."

In other words, we won. I think that's the specific charge I stated in past postings that they should have been charged with; not attempted murder with up to 100 years attached; and not calling a tennis shoe a deadly weapon to promulgate such a charge.

Again, as I said with the Michael Bell deal a year and a half ago, District Attorney Reed Walters agreeing to this charge proves he couldn't prove and didn't believe his previous abusive charges; for if he did, there's is no way he could agree to a charge that carries only a maximum of 6 months in prison. To agree to such minimal charges for what was truly attempted murder would be dereliction of duty at the least.

Truth in sentencing and charging is all we ever wanted; and we've gotten something like that.

I may have more commentary in the near future.

The full Town Talk article

Jena 6 Prosecutor Appeals To Get Judge Back On Case

2009-02-24T15:51:00.000-08:00

Judge J.P. Mauffray was removed from the Jena 6 case last year by a district court for making prejudicial statements about the defendants. Not racially prejudice statements (that very well may be what drove them); but judicially prejudiced in that a judge is suppose to act as an unbiased arbitrator of the law. Yet, before the they went to trial he was practically proclaiming the accused guilt from the bench.

Our good friend District Attorney Reed Walters, who first charged the 6 with attempt murder; yet within a year had offered an 18 month plea deal to the one defendant he's defendant that he's yet bothered to prosecute, is fighting to over turn this ruling.

Just one thing though; the Judge Mauffray has since resigned!

Talk about the ultimate moot point. But this is Reed Walters showing who he is. His vindictiveness, unwillingness to back down, to reassess, to be told anything, or be moved in anyway has him fighting to get a judge put back on the case who is no longer a judge.

Jena 6 attorneys: Judge's removal should be upheld

Here's a report from www.katc.com

NEW ORLEANS -- Attorneys for members of the so-called Jena Six on Tuesday asked an appeals court to uphold the removal of a judge because of statements he made about the defendants in the case.

The attorneys also argued that Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr., who was removed from the case, has since retired.

"We simply pointed out again why Judge Mauffray is not an appropriate person to hear this case, and that it is moot anyway," said David Utter of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, who represents one of the defendants accused of attacking a fellow Jena High School student in December 2006.

After Mauffray called the teens "trouble makers" and "a violent bunch," District Judge Thomas Yeager found there was an appearance of impropriety in the statements. Yeager was appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to handle the cases after Mauffray was removed.

The five defendants, Robert Bailey Jr.; Jesse Ray Beard; Carwin Jones; Bryant Purvis; and Theo Shaw are charged with aggravated second-degree battery.

Mychal Bell, the sixth defendant, pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge of second-degree battery and was held in custody for 18 months
...

LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters appealed the removal of Mauffray, who retired in January.

The six black teens were arrested and initially charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with a Dec. 4, 2006, attack on fellow student Justin Barker, who is white. The charges were later reduced.

Mychal Bell Says Suicide Attempt Was Due To Being Distraught Over New Charges

2009-01-15T18:30:00.000-08:00

Bell talked to CNN about his suicide attempt. I may try to get in contact with his lawyer early next week to see what he says about it, since he granted me an interview before.

Mychal bell suicide attempt
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/15/mychal.bell/index.html?eref=edition_us

MONROE, Louisiana (CNN) -- Mychal Bell says he felt pressure to be perfect after his part of 2006's "Jena 6" assault case was over. When police alleged last month that he wasn't, the Louisiana teen took his Christmas money and sought a gun to kill himself.

Distraught after being arrested on suspicion of shoplifting and battery, the 18-year-old Bell says, he pointed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger.

The gun misfired, and he aimed at his chest and tried again. The bullet ripped through his body, and he fell to the floor of his grandmother's home in Monroe on December 29.

"It just got to the point where I just couldn't take it anymore," Bell, who is recovering from the wound, said in an interview with CNN...

"I just wanted to show everybody that I really wasn't the type of kid that everybody was making me out to be," said Bell, who worked out with his school's team even though he couldn't play in games. "Nobody will ever be perfect, but it's like that's where my mind was. You need to be perfect."

Bell said he felt people were constantly watching him, hoping he'd fail: " 'Just mess up, just mess up.' There was a lot of pressure on me..."

In his CNN interview in Monroe, Bell -- who is back in school despite being in pain from his wound and subsequent surgery -- didn't comment on the shoplifting allegations because the case is pending.

But he said he "cried every day" after the arrest and "could never get back right."

I personally think we have someone here who is somewhat criminally inclined, attracted to bad boy behavior; and yet though has tried to do better and often times succeeds, he retreats back into familiar territory impulsively.

But witnessing his farther's foul, abbrassive, reckless, and dishonest behavior the last year and a half; I again say he didn't have much of chance to start with. Hopefully he starts to take responsibility to rise above what he comes from to be a better man. He's grown now, it's on him. Talk about a guy running out of second chances.

Mychal Bell Shoots Himself After Shoplifting Arrest

2008-12-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

I guess I'll go ahead and post on the latest with Michael Bell since so many of you are coming to this site all of a sudden; I'm sure for that purpose. I'd unoffically retired this blog (which means I stopped actively working to update it even semi-regularly); but was leaving it up for historical reference.

So here it is, from Thetowntalk.com

Mother says Bell still in hospital
By Barbara Leader • Louisiana Gannett News • December 30, 2008

MONROE - Jena Six chief figure Mychal Bell’s mother Melissa Bell says that Michael is “fine” but confirmed that he remains hospitalized Tuesday morning as a result of what police said is a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.

Melissa Bell said she did not know whether Mychal would be released from the hospital today and declined further comment.

Melissa Bell, Bell’s sister Carlissa Bell and grandmother Rosie Simmons told police at 109 Grayling Lane, Monroe, on Monday night that Mychal Bell had said because of media attention resulting from his Christmas Eve arrest, he did not feel like he could live anymore.

Bell had been arrested Christmas Eve and charged with shoplifting, resisting arrest and simple battery following an incident in Dillard’s department store at Pecanland Mall in Monroe. He was freed on $1,300 bond.

Police reports said, “Once at E.A. Conway, Mychal stated that he shot himself because he was tired of all the media attention.”

Bell’s Dec. 24 arrest occurred less than one month after he completed a sentence for his role in the beating of a fellow classmate, Justin Barker, at Jena High School in 2006. That case — Bell was charged with five black cohorts in the beating of the lone white student — led to national attention and a massive protest march in Jena, where it was alleged that the defendants, charged with attempted second-degree murder, were charged too severely because of racial bias.

Bell later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and moved from Jena to Monroe, about 80 miles north, to live with a foster family. He enrolled at Carroll High School and has sinced moved in with his grandmother in Monroe.

Louis Scott of Monroe, a former defense attorney for Bell, said that because Bell’s previous criminal convictions happened when he was a juvenile, he was considered to not have an arrest record.

Lt. Jeff Harris of the Monroe Police Department said despite previous convictions as a juvenile, Bell’s access to handguns was not legally restricted. Harris said today police do not know where he obtained the handgun he used to shoot himself...

You Know How We Stop Political Abuses Such As Seen In Jena...

2008-09-28T09:03:00.001-07:00

....political power.

We must get our people registered, and then vote y'all.

As posted on BlackPerspective.net on September 19th:

Afrosphere Action Coalition
National Voter Registration Push

Black folks, we need to register our people to vote, and there's not much time left. From what I can tell October 6th is the beginning of voter registration deadlines in many states; including the all important battle ground states of Pennsylvania and Florida.
The Afrosphere Action Coalition is calling upon our partners in net-activism to help rally our folk to the cause of getting our people registered; especially in the important battle ground states where our voices can make a difference. As recently as August 20th, it was reported that a third of eligible Black voters (8 million) still aren't registered. http://proudblackvoter.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-08-27T16%3A26%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=7

We need a persistent push for the next month, as all the voter registration deadline dates that I've seen are between October 6th and 15th. We are asking bloggers not to just blog on it, but to organize registration in their communities, and when they do blog, to ask their readers not to only register themselves, but to at least pass the word on to people in their circles, volunteer with local groups do registration, or even organize their own efforts.
See here: http://proudblackvoter.blogspot.com/2008/09/state-by-state-voter-registration-links.html

and here: http://proudblackvoter.blogspot.com/2008/09/tennesseepennsylvania-you-have-til.html

For some information on voting deadlines.

Will you commit to use your medium, from here through October 15 (the last day of registration deadlines); to urge readers in people in your sphere to not only register themselves but to participate in registering others as noted above?

Will you commit to a combination of 3 post or mass emails a week for these next 4 weeks? (note: these do not have to be elaborate productions. As a matter of fact, functional and informative is more important than poetic appeals. How much time does it take to jot down a few lines of reminder, and a couple of links to resources? The point is to keep beating the drum).

Also, will you commit yourself to register voters, if it's nothing more than carrying around some voter registration cards in your car, and keeping some at you office, or with in your books as you go to class, and registering the people that you run across and know?

Of course, nobody can force you to stick to the commitment, it will be up to you to follow through. But here is where we can put our politics to work. Here's an opportunity to make a tangible difference by doing. If enough of us follow through we can use this medium of the internet to affect and outcome. We can do more here than blog about a problem or it solutions; we can create a solution.

If you're with this commitment please comment with your email letting me know so that I can have you on our list of participants and make sure you receive information updates as the campaign goes forward.

Or, email me at lionrunner777 @ yahoo dot com

Remembering The Jena 6 March With Urban EpiCenter's Keith Caldwell

2008-09-19T18:58:00.001-07:00

The following is an interview I conducted tonight with Keith Caldwell, fellow community organizer here in Nashville, and one of the principle parties that I worked with in helping to organize 10 free bus of some 500+ people to go down to Jena 1 year ago tomorrow.

We discuss how it all started with a conversation over breakfast; and what we've taken from it and have built on that mobilization since.

The Evonne I reference in the convo is Evonne Tisdale of Center for Community Change.

http://www.urbanepicenter.org/

http://www.blackperspective.net/

Redux - The Jena 6 March In Rewind

2008-09-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

You can see again my thoughts right after returning from the Jena 6 march last year.

In the coming days I will have a number of post and podcast of interviews and commentary on the organizing of the march, and what has come out of it.

The Jena March for Justice: My Experience and Perspective
My perspective and the sights and sounds that I experienced as a participant in the historic march for justice in Jena Louisiana for the Jena 6.
View more »

Also, this is the Jena 6 Blogs 100th post. Thanks all those who stopped by over the past 11 months

Michael Bell's Farther Accused of Assaulting His Son's Lawyer

2008-09-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

Mychael Bell never had a chance with a farther like this. It's a wonder that he does as well as he does.

As I said in my last post where I discussed Marcus Bell deriding his son's lawyers and fund raisers; this guy has problems. He's simply not a decent person; and acts very much like a maniac. He can bet there will be no marches or defense funds for him.

This is a picture from earlier this year, with Marcus Bell pulling on another of his son's lawyers, as reported by TownTalk.com: "Marcus Jones (second from left), father of Mychal Bell, pulls Peggy Sullivan, one of Bell's attorneys, away from a press conference in Jena on Monday following a court hearing in which Bell pleaded guilty in the attack on a fellow student at Jena High School a year ago today."

TownTalk.com reported on August 29th that:

The father of "Jena Six" member Mychal Bell has been accused of assaulting his son's attorney Wednesday morning after a hearing in Baton Rouge.

Marcus Jones is alleged to have confronted Carol Powell-Lexing in an elevator right after she finished in her "official capacity on behalf of his son" at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association building in Baton Rouge. The association on Wednesday morning denied Bell athletic eligibility to play football during his fifth year of high school.

Reading from a report filed by Lexing, Baton Rouge Police Cpl. L'Jean Mckneely said via telephone that a "very upset" Jones began blaming Lexing for the hearing's outcome. Jones then spat in Lexing's face after pointing his finger and "yelling profanities," Mckneely said, quoting the report.

Jones then pushed Lexing down, although a witness reported seeing only the spitting incident, Mckneely said.

Lexing said Thursday that she visited a doctor's office after the altercation, but she did not elaborate on the type or extent of any injury.

Jones said Thursday that he did blame Lexing and pointed at her during the argument, but he said he would never get into a physical fight with a woman.

"I didn't touch her," Jones said. "She shoved me."

The only witness in the elevator was Mychal Bell's mother, Melissa Bell, Jones said. Melissa Bell could not be reached by phone Thursday...

Reed Walters Set To Appeal Recusal of Jena 6 Judge

2008-09-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

I posted previously about Judge J.P. Mauffray being removed from the cases of the Jena 6.

Reed Walters, the Jena 6 prosecutor is set to appeal that ruling. From TheTownTalk.com:

Appeal of 'Jena 6' recusal ruling set
August 14, 2008

LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters is appealing the recusal of 28th Judicial District Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. in the "Jena Six" case.

Walters has until Sept. 5 to submit the appeal to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal, according to court documents signed Tuesday by 9th Judicial District Judge Thomas Yeager of Rapides Parish.

Yeager ruled that Mauffray could not hear the cases against Robert Bailey Jr., Jesse Ray Beard, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw. The five are accused of attacking a fellow Jena High School student in December 2006 at the school. Mychal Bell, the sixth defendant, has pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge.

The Louisiana Supreme Court ordered that Yeager handle the Jena Six cases after Mauffray was recused.

In his notice of appeal, Walters said the decision was not based on evidence presented at the hearing.

http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/NEWS/399990238

Killer Cop of Mychael Bell's Cousin Enters Plea

2008-09-03T06:42:00.001-07:00

I got a heads up from The Black Cross on this.

If you're not familiar with the Tasering to death while handcuffed of Barron Pikes, read here.

According to the Chicago Tribune, a couple of Thursdays ago "A former Winnfield police officer pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of manslaughter and official malfeasance in the racially explosive case of a 21-year-old African-American man who died after being shocked with a Taser nine times while handcuffed and in police custody.

Scott Nugent, 21, will remain free on $45,000 bond. He faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted.

Nugent, who is white, was fired from the police force four months after Baron Pikes' death."

Post Jena March Noose Hanger Gets Sentenced

2008-09-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

While in Alexandria after the Jena 6 march, myself and the group I'd helped organize to go down to the march from Nashville Tennessee where circled by two white males in a pick up truck who brandished nooses. I wrote about it here later that week.

In July, the adult offender plead guilty. 19 year old Jeremiah Munsen will do 4 months.

Man gets 4 months for threatening 'Jena 6' protesters with noose

(CNN) -- A Louisiana man was sentenced to four months Friday for using hangman's nooses to threaten and intimidate civil rights marchers near Jena, Louisiana, officials said Friday.

Jeremiah Munsen, 19, pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges for dangling nooses from the back of a pickup in September and driving past a group of protesters at a bus depot in Alexandria, Louisiana, about 35 miles south of Jena, where the marches took place.

The protesters, who were awaiting buses to return to Tennessee, had taken part in demonstrations over the "Jena Six" case, in which a white student was said to have been beaten by six black classmates in 2006...

Munsen, of Pineville, Louisiana, must also complete a year of supervised release and 125 hours of community service after his prison term.

He pleaded guilty in April and admitted that "he and the other person had previously discussed the Ku Klux Klan and how they thought the Klan would have responded to the rally in Jena," the Department of Justice said in a statement Friday.

"The defendant used a threatening and offensive tactic to intimidate peaceful civil rights marchers who were in Louisiana to rally against racial intolerance," said Grace Chung Becker, acting assistant attorney general.

"Our civil rights laws protect the civil rights of all Americans, and they emphasize the reality that we are all members of one particular race: the human race," said Donald Washington, U.S. attorney for the western district of Louisiana.

Munsen faced a maximum sentence of a year in prison.

Mychael Bell Denied Opportunity To Play High School Football

2008-08-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

In my report on my interview with Mychael Bell's attorney Lewis Scott last month; I notified you that Bell had been attending public school since last January, and was awaiting to see if he'd be granted eligibility to play this fall during his senior year.

Apparently not.

'Jena 6' defendant Mychal Bell won't play for Carroll High
Gannett News Service • August 28, 2008

BATON ROUGE — Despite impassioned pleas from his parents, attorneys and Carroll High School officials, Mychal Bell was denied an extra season of athletic eligibility by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association on Wednesday.

The LHSAA's five-member hardship committee unanimously voted not to grant Bell permission to play this season at Carroll High School in Monroe.

Bell, one of the "Jena Six" defendants accused of beating a fellow Jena High School student in December 2006 and the only one to be tried so far, has been attending classes at Carroll since January as part of his plea agreement.

After being arrested and charged as an adult for attempted second-degree murder in the attack on Justin Barker, Bell spent 10 months in prison awaiting trial. He was convicted of second-degree battery, only to have that conviction overturned on the grounds that he shouldn't have been tried as an adult.

Bell took a plea agreement as a juvenile and was sentenced to 18 months as a ward of the state.

Marcus Jones, Bell's father, pleaded for the hardship committee to give his son one more chance to play football.

After the decision, Jones laid the blame at the feet of Bell's lawyers.

"If it weren't for his attorney, Mychal would be able to play football," Jones said. "They coerced him into taking that plea agreement. If he wouldn't have taken that plea, he wouldn't be in the position he's in now."

What the hell is his dad talking about, this guy is nuts. If he hadn't taken the plea agreement he'd still be locked up, so how would he play football? This guy just dogs everybody who's helped his son. First he turns on Color of Change who raised most of the money for all the Jena 6's defense, now he's attacking the lawyers.

Alan Bean, the first activist to take up the Jena 6 case in a major way and is the one who got it out to the national media initially; has told me that Marcus took a disliking to Color of Change president James Rukur back in the early summer of last year; for reasons that aren't apparent.

Marcus Bell appears to have a problem with anyone who participates but doesn't jump for him. I don't think the guy is all there.

After Removal Of Judge, Jena 6 Defendants Look To Remove Prosecutor

2008-08-28T06:18:00.000-07:00

I was one of the first to report to you Reed Walters conflict of interest regarding being the school board lawyer that recommended the noose hangers receive lighter punishments, then being the prosecutor at the same time.

Also, we made you aware that Judge Mauffray, Reed Walters personal buddy was thrown off the Jena 6 case by a court last month.

Now both come into play as Walters is target for removal.

With judge dismissed, Jena 6 backers now target prosecutor
By Howard Witt | Tribune Correspondent
August 6, 2008

HOUSTON - Fresh from their successful effort to remove a local judge on the grounds that he was biased against them, the defendants in the racially charged Jena 6 case in Louisiana are now seeking the recusal of the local prosecutor for similar reasons.

Attorneys for the five remaining black youths, whose prosecution for beating up a white classmate at Jena High School sparked a civil rights march through the Louisiana town last September, contend that LaSalle Parish District Atty. Reed Walters has a conflict of interest because of his dual role as local prosecutor and counsel for the local school board.

Moreover, the lawyers assert in a motion to recuse Walters that his "bias became clear" when he declined to prosecute three white students who hung nooses from a tree in the high school courtyard in what was seen as a threat directed at black students. Many black residents of Jena regarded the act as a hate crime. The noose incident set off months of racial fights in the town, culminating in the beating incident.

Walters has disputed allegations of bias. But he'll be denied a friendly local judge when the recusal motion comes up for a hearing. That's because Rapides Parish District Judge Thomas Yeager was picked to preside over the Jena cases, following Yeager's decision last week to recuse LaSalle Parish District Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr.

Jesse Ray Beard To Use Jena Six Defense Money For School

2008-08-18T06:57:00.001-07:00

Hmmm, don't know how I feel about this yet. Check the story:

Beard using Jena Six defense funds for school
The Associated Press
Published: Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 11:31 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 11:31 a.m.

JENA, La. - The youngest defendant in the Jena Six case is using his share of money donated for defense attorneys to attend a private boarding school with a focus on college preparation.

Attorney C. David Utter said that since Jesse Ray Beard's defense was donated, the money was available for his education at Canterbury School in New Milford, Conn.

Beard is one of six black students who was accused of attacking a white student at Jena High School in 2006. He has been living with an attorney in New York, and was released from house arrest on unrelated juvenile charges earlier this month so he can attend the boarding school.

The white student's lawyer says the defense fund money - from donors including rocker David Bowie, who gave $10,000 - could go for restitution, rather than Canterbury's tuition, which is almost $40,000 a year.

Harry Lemoine Jr. represents Justin Barker and his parents in a lawsuit against the parents of all six Jena High School students accused of beating Barker and the four students who were legally adult at the time of the alleged attack.

"I am following up on this," Lemoine said Thursday. He said he will look into legal uses of the money.

Beard is among five of the six students awaiting trial. Mychal Bell pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge.

The charges originally filed against the six youths brought international attention and more than 20,000 people to the rural LaSalle Parish town for the largest civil rights march in decades.

In the summer's last months, Yeager let Beard live with attorney Alan Howard while taking English, working as an intern at Howard's firm and participating in a physical fitness routine.

Beard "is an engaging young man, with none of the negative qualities attributed to him by certain media reports," Howard wrote to Yeager.

He participated in a football camp led by Canterbury's coach, and applied to the school.

"Jesse Ray impressed me as a respectful and clear-thinking young man," coach Tom Taylor wrote to Yeager.

Utter said Beard also has a scholarship and more money is being raised for the rest of the cost. He is director of the Juvenile Justice Program of Louisiana and said that program held the money for Beard.

http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20080816/APN/808160907

Some things that come to mind:

1. Doesn't he still need the money for legal defense seeing as apparently the right to a speedy trial has been stricken from the constitution, and he's still under the prosecution of an open case?

2. How much of the defense funds is he using for school?

3. How much defense money does he have?

4. At least the money is going towards something productive, such as education, and I don't think in general people mind that? But still, why such an opulent school?

Judge Mauffray Thrown Off of Jena 6 Case

2008-08-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

From the Associated Press:

NEW ORLEANS - The judge overseeing the criminal cases for the remaining Jena Six defendants was removed against his will Friday for making questionable remarks about the teenagers.

Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. had acknowledged calling the teens "trouble makers" and "a violent bunch" but insisted he could be impartial. Judge Thomas M. Yeager, who was asked by defense attorneys to review the case, found there was an appearance of impropriety and recused Mauffray.

"The right to a fair and impartial judge is of particular importance in the present cases," Yeager wrote.

As Jarret at Jarett-Carter.com says:

Mauffray’s removal comes not a moment too soon. While most of the attention is focused on his remarks, the matters of inappropriate charges being levied against the teenagers and the unlawful trial of Mychal Bell fly relatively under the radar. While these charges and decisions were ultimately overturned, it took thousands of black folks across the country rallying for justice to inspire movement; an accepted practice in 2008 by both sides, but one that should only be used in cases of emergency in 2008 and beyond.

This is exactly right, and I will add the infraction of Mauffray having been overturned for his illegally allowing Bell to tried as an adult. Then Mauffray first still wouldn't let Bell out of prision, then when he was forced to; Mauffray vindicatively revoked Bell's parole based on the same incident that he was tried on, which had been overturned. He does this 10 months after the incident, for which he had been the presiding judge all along; only after he could not get Bell any other way. His prejudice and personal animos are evident.

This is all a great vindication of what we the Jena 6 protestors have said all along. This was a biased, narrow-minded, over-reaching prosecution; in which the defendants had little chance of a fair trial from day one. This proves, contrary to the naysayers, why our fight was right, and that it was productive: Bell's free, and racist/biased judge is off the case. That's our money and pressure that facilitated these things.

Barron Pikes Tasered While Handcuffed - It Needs To Stop

2008-07-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

I've been posting here about Mychael Bell's Cousin, Barron Pikes being tazed to death in Winnfield Louisiana; so I wanted to duplicate the text of a post that I did at BlackPerspective.net here:

We have followed some incidents of tazing at BlackPerspective.net for awhile now.

Now with the Afrosphere Action Coalition and other blog comrades, we’re making a concerted push to make sure the public is aware of the abusive, liberal and unnecessary use of tazering that is causing damage and death to people who are not even engaged in violence – from pregnant women, to suicidal bridge jumpers, to handcuffed nearly unconscious victims, to the wheelchair bound victims.

Extra-Judicial Electracution should not be the first resort everytime somebody doesn't jump as fast as a cop would like; it should only be the last resort short of needing to use a gun.

We have had a number of recent incidents that have pushed this issue to the forefront:

Tazering an unarmed sucidial man off a bridge

Man tazed to death after shoptlifting a grocery story gift cared because he was speaking too "loudly".

Louisisna man tasered to death while in handcuffs; 9 times

Enoght Is Enough

Stop the Electrocutions and Executions! (175px)great free widgetsWidgetbox

A Polish man going to Canada to live with his mother was tasered to death just because he didn’t speak English and was dazed and frustrated after spending almost an entire day in airport customs with no direction on where to go so he could be picked up by his mother. Instead of helping him, police killed him:

Officer To Be Indicted In Tazering Death of Barron Pikes (Jena 6 Cousin)

2008-07-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

Ten day ago I posted about Mycheal Bell's Cousin being Tazered To Death In Louisiana; in which I posted a piece by the Chicago Tribune's Howard Witt.

Witt's follow up piece came out yesterday about the pending indictment hearing of the police officer who tazed Barron Pikes to death; which you can see below.

But first I want to encourage any bloggers to participate in tomorrow's Day of Blogging Against Extra-Judicial Electrocution and to post this widget on your website:

Stop the Electrocutions and Executions! (175px)great free widgetsWidgetbox

Indictment sought for police Taser death in Louisiana
By Howard Witt | Tribune correspondent
4:53 PM CDT, July 28, 2008

HOUSTON - Seeking to defuse growing racial tensions in the small Louisiana town of Winnfield, the local district attorney announced Monday that he will seek an indictment against a white police officer for the death of a black man who was shocked nine times with a Taser device while handcuffed in police custody.

Winn Parish District Atty. Chris Nevils said he would convene a grand jury Aug. 12 to consider possible charges against the officer, Scott Nugent, 21, who was fired from the Winnfield Police Department following the death of Baron "Scooter" Pikes.The grand jury will also examine the conduct of two other officers who were present during the incident, Nevils said.

Pikes, 21, died Jan. 17 within 39 minutes of being arrested on a drug possession warrant. Winnfield police claimed Pikes told them he suffered from asthma and was high on crack cocaine and PCP, but the local coroner found that Pikes had been healthy and had no drugs in his system. He ruled the death a homicide.

"Now is the time to take this case to the grand jury for a determination about whether charges should be brought," Nevils said in a statement. "I know there are strong feelings on both sides of this matter. But my obligation, and that of the grand jury, is to objectively sort through the facts and make a decision that is in the best interest of justice. That is what we intend to do."

Nevils' decision came a little more than a week after the Tribune published the first full account of the case amid fears expressed by the victim's family and civil rights groups that the incident would be covered up in a town with a florid history of backroom dealings and political corruption.

Read the rest of the article here.

Yobachi On Black Talk Radio To Discuss Jena Six Update

2008-07-28T06:28:00.000-07:00

"Have You Forgotten the Jena Six?"

If the player above doesn't work for you for some reason, you can go here to hear it off of the source website.

I was interviewed in this radio broadcast by Scotty of One Black Man's View. He also intertwined some good audio clips from the Congressional hearing on nooses and from other things.

Below are links that I reference in the interview from The Jena 6 Blog and else where:

My interview with Mychael Bell's lawyer: Mychael Bell Is Indeed Free – July 2008 Jena 6 Update

Mycheal Bell's Cousin Tazered To Death In Louisiana

Another Delay For the Jena Six - Judge Mauffray Hearing

Black Teens SIX Times More Likely to be Sentenced to Jail than White Teens

Here's a link to the Black Talk Radio network's site.

Mychal Bell Is Indeed Free – July 2008 Jena 6 Update

2008-07-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

...actually, he’s been free for a long time.

Before I get to this piece, you might want to see the notice in my previous post regarding my appearance on internet radio this evening to discuss the Jena 6, including the contents of this article. Edited to add: Here is that broadcast

Bell's lawyer, Lewis Scott, did me the pleasure of speaking with me yesterday afternoon.

Mychael Bell has been living in foster care with a family in Monroe Louisiana since January, and attending Carrol high school. From when I first heard the term "foster care" months back I thought and had it described to me as a half-way house or a group home; but Scott explains that Bell is "under the supervision of Office of Youth Development", which is a division of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

Scott detailed the different levels of custody that a convicted juvenile of Bell's status could be subject to from detention center incarceration down to release, and says that the foster system supevision is where Bell was appointed; describing him as having a curfew and other legal restrictions equivelent to what you would expect a teenagers limitations to be in a good home.

Scott reports that Bell's mother has regular visitation, and that his grandmother may be moving to the same Monroe neighborhood as his foster home soon.

School

As stated previously he's been attending regular public school since January, even going to the prom this spring. The once star running back for Jena High who'd receive numerous recruitment letters from universities around the country before the December 2006 beating of Justine Barker at Jena high, is receiving interest again from some schools within the state of Louisisana.

Better than his football fortunes though, he finished this past semester with a 3.1 GPA. He's already classified as a Senior, and if he were to take a full load in the fall, he can graduate in December. His natural graduation date would have been this May.

Speaking of fall plans, and returning to football, Bell is hoping to play at Carroll high; but still must receive clearance from the school system. Scott told me that there's "still an issue for eligibility" relating to the number of consecutive semesters in school. But he doesn't handle that type of issue, so he was not able to specifically recite the school system policy on that.

While some are not interested in having Bell around, and some Jena 6 supporters not interested in what he does athletically, just academically; Carroll High's Coach Jackie Carroll is pretty damn excited about the prospect.

Why we're just finding out

Now, as to why no one in the media or in the activist really knew Bell's status all these months; well, because that's how his attorney Lewis Scott intended it. He says he felt bad when he was often asked about it since he wasn’t revealing the information; because he felt it more important that Bell have the opportunity to become re-acclimated to normal life without the media in his face. He says he wanted to correct the misinformation out there but that, "the lawyer's duty is to the client and not the public. I felt a little hurt when people were asking."

Scott continues, "he wasn't a kid really ready for all that" [the media exposure]. " He’s hoping to see Bell become more “outgoing” and “assertive” when talking to people. He feels that he’s not progressed in that regard to the degree that Scott would have liked to have seen at this point. I asked Mr. Scott is that due to his inherent personality, or to the trauma of the events of the last year and a half, and he replied “both”.

Scott relates that even in Jena, the racial stuff was not normally omnipresent, and not stuff Bell normally dealt with before the familiar litany of events that started with the tree controversy in 2006. Further Scott relates that Bell’s status as a star athlete made him somewhat of a town hero, along with “when you have a coach that doesn’t put up with it [racism], you’re kind of insulated from all that”.

“There is nothing in his life that would equip him to deal” with the media and so forth; so therefore Scott felt it was best to keep him out of that spot light and give him space to adjust.

Bell, though not incarcerated in neither on parole is not clearly of sentence either. As state previously, he’s custody status is one of being under the supervision of the Office of Youth development. Scott hopes to have clear within the next month.

Also, in regards to his plea bargin, Bell is not required to testifying against other Jena 6 members.

Victory

This pleasant outcome for a young man who just over a year ago was looking at charges amounting to 100 years; is certainly about his life, and not we the activist and protesters.

Nevertheless, there is a lesson here for both naysayers who said we couldn’t help him in the first place, and even for the ones who thought we could; but because he wasn’t freed the next day thought that we ended up wasting our time.

A simple equation for you: Prosecutor wanted 100 years. When that didn’t fly, he still tried for 22. We said free now.

He got out 4 months after the march. 22 years * 12 months = 264 months. 4/264 = 0.015

That is, 4 months is 1.5% the time of 22 years. That means we got 98.5 percent of what we wanted. That’s not only a win, that’s a land slide of epic proportions; an overwhelming thrashing; and elephant stepping on an ant. Even if you want to count in these next 6 months of him being under corrections supervision, it’s still an epic land slide of 96.3%.

I, my blogs, and the Afrosphere Action Coalition remain committed to seeing a just resolution in the cases of the other 5 Jena 6 members – and I am proud to have stood up for them and what was right, whether they be model citizens or not.

We will fight, and we will (already have) win. [great march pictorial put to music]

The Jena 6 Blog Will Appear on The Black Talk Radio Network

2008-07-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

I will be on appearing on the Black Talk Radio network's internet radio program tonight via blog talk radio; by invite of One Black Mans Veiw.

We will be discussin up dates on the Jena Six and related issues, including my recent posting of the NAACP's financial disclosure on the issue, and yesterday's interview with Mychael Bell's attorney Lewis Scott.

Click here to listen to the show. You can also call in and join the discussion.

It starts at 8 easter, 7 central this evening, Wednesday July 24.

Show Info:

Time: July 24, 2008 from 8pm to 9:30pm
Location: One Black's Man View
Website or Map: http://www.blogtalkradio.co...
Contact Info: 1-(646) 478-5242
Event Type: Live, Internet, Broadcast
Organized By: One Black Man

Mycheal Bell's Cousin Tazered To Death In Louisiana

2008-07-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

Taser death ignites racial tensions
Not far from Jena, La., suspicions rise of a cover-up mount
By Howard Witt | Tribune correspondent
4:16 PM CDT, July 19, 2008
WINNFIELD, La. — At 1:28 p.m. last Jan. 17, Baron "Scooter" Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old man. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead.

What happened in the 39 minutes in between — during which Pikes was handcuffed by local police and shocked nine times with a Taser, while reportedly pleading for mercy —is now spawning fears of a political coverup in this backwoods Louisiana lumber town infamous for backroom dealings.

Even more ominously, because Pikes was black and the officer who repeatedly Tasered him is white, racial tensions over the case are mounting in a place that's just 40 miles from Jena, La.---site of the racially explosive prosecution of six black teenagers charged with beating a white youth that last year triggered one of the largest American civil rights demonstrations in decades. And in a bizarre coincidence, Pikes turns out to have been a first cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena 6 case.

No novelist could have invented Winnfield, a place so steeped in corruption that they built a local museum to try to sanitize it all.

Here in the birthplace of two of Louisiana's most colorful and notorious governors — Huey and Earl Long—the police chief committed suicide three years ago after losing a close election marred by allegations of fraud and vote-buying.

Four months later, the district attorney killed himself after allegedly skimming $200,000 from his office budget and extorting payments from criminal defendants to make their cases go away.

The current police chief is a convicted drug offender who got a pardon from Edwin Edwards, the former Louisiana governor who is serving time in federal prison for corruption convictions.

All of that tangled history is now wrapped up in the Pikes case, because Scott Nugent, the officer who Tasered him, is the well-connected son of the former police chief who killed himself—and the protege of the current chief, who hired him onto the force.

For the rest of the story...

The New Jersey 4 Winning Victories

2008-07-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

The following article will be a repost from my main blog www.BlackPerspective.net

But first, just to let you know, I'm working on Mychael Bell is free information. If he's not officially free right now, which it seems that he is; it's more than evident that he will be soon as the local High School in Carroll Louisiana is talking about him joining the football team. He was a star athlete at Jena High before all this; getting recruitment letters from major football programs across the country.

Convictions Overturned for 2 of the Jersey 4

Before the Jena 6 there were the Jersey 4. Last summer I brought you their story .

Here is the short of it, you can read the long version in the link above.

As Imani Henry wrote "Venice Brown (19), Terrain Dandridge (20), Patreese Johnson (20) and Renata Hill (24)—received sentences ranging from three-and-a-half to 11 years in prison. None of them had previous criminal records. Two of them are parents of small children." Their were charged in response to defending themselves against an attack by a man who's advacnce they had turned down on a Grenich village street.

Two of them have now had their convictions overturned.

Angry Brow Butch has the story of two of the victims release:

An appeals court on Thursday overturned the convictions of two women accused in the beating and stabbing of a man who they said made unwanted sexual advances to them in Greenwich Village two years ago.

One of the women, Terrain Dandridge, whom a jury found guilty of second-degree gang assault, had her conviction reversed and indictment dismissed; as a result she can no longer be tried on those charges. A four-judge panel of the Appellate Division in Manhattan ruled that there was not enough evidence to support a guilty verdict for Ms. Dandridge. She had been sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

The second woman, Renata Hill, who was found guilty of second-degree gang assault and third-degree assault, had her gang assault conviction vacated, but she can be retried on the charge. The court ruled that the judge’s instructions to the jury on the charge were erroneous and that therefore her conviction could not be upheld.

She was sentenced to eight years in prison, but if the Manhattan district attorney decides against further prosecution, she is likely to be released because the maximum penalty for the third-degree assault is a year and she has already been in prison longer than that.

I'm glad the one can't be tried again. I've suggested to my blogging comrades that we need to go hard and provide political support and cover to help bring pressure on the DA not to retry the other; and for something to be done for the two still locked up.

Mychael Bell is out of jail right now instead of spending years on lock down because of what we did. Shaquanda Cotton http://freeshaquandacotton.blogspot.com/ is home because of our political cover. Determined advocacy works.

I say let's get to it!

NAACP Accounting of Jena 6 Funds

2008-06-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

The NAACP spent more than half the Jena 6 money they collected on themselves.

This is a copy and paste from an NAACP PDF file

You can read all of it if you like, but pay attention to the parts in bold. The words in brackets [ ] are my words.

Again, the report below is what the NAACP itself is say about how it spent the money, not what someone is saying about them.

THE NAACP’S ACCOUNTING OF FUNDS COLLECTED REGARDING JENA, LOUISIANA

Members of the NAACP, in keeping with the charge of our founders, stand against all forms of injustice.

Preamble, Constitution of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

For more than 98 years the NAACP has worked to ensure the equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and discrimination. The NAACP calls on all people to support democracy, dignity and freedom. Based on serious concerns about the events occurring in Jena, Louisiana, the NAACP took steps to make its units and members aware of the situation and to use its influence to assist the young men who were charged. Our efforts included chartering an NAACP Branch in LaSalle Parrish Louisiana in May, 2007, to tackle broad based issues affecting the larger African American community.
The NAACP undertook several initiatives:

• At the NAACP National Convention in Detroit, Michigan, delegates passed an Emergency Resolution expressing support and solidarity for the Jena Six, their families and the LaSalle Parish Branch of the NAACP; and demanding that the United States Department of Justice investigate and monitor the trial of the teenagers for any violations.

• On Monday, July 23, 2007, the NAACP began its internet campaign to draw national attention to the events in Jena.

• On Friday, July 27, 2007, the internet campaign was modified to give those visiting the website the option of donating directly to Jean Six defense funds established by the families and by other organizations. Visitors to the website were also given the option of donating directly to the NAACP to support its ongoing programs and initiatives. The modified site was introduced on Monday, July 30, 2007. Data on the webpage were updated as new developments occurred.

• More than 144,000 visitors viewed information about the events in Jena on the NAACP website.

• The NAACP started an on-line petition drive, to collect signatures to present to Louisiana Governor Katherine Blanco. Over 180,000 signatures were collected and presented to the Governor by the NAACP Louisiana State Conference President, Ernest Johnson.

• On September 19, 2007, a web link was placed on the NAACP website to allow visitors to view a live web cast of the historic September 20, 2007 March on Jena.

• The Louisiana State Conference of NAACP Branches led thousands of marchers to protest injustice in Jena. Joined by representatives of Rainbow Push, ACORN, The American Postal Workers Union, Alpha Phi Alpha, the faith community and

others, marchers made a bold and unified demand for justice. Dozens of NAACP units from Louisiana and from around the country, including Michigan, Arkansas, South Carolina and North Carolina, sent busses of NAACP members to participate in this historic event.

• On September 20, 2007, following the march, the NAACP sponsored a town hall meeting of national experts on the school to prison pipeline. The web cast was viewed by over 35,000 visitors.

Contributions received by the NAACP in response to the Jena Campaign include:

Internet Contributions: $ 8,782.00
Mail Contributions: $11,112.00
Total: $19,894.00 Mail contributions of $11,112.00 include a $10,000.00 donation from celebrity musician David Bowie.[So more than half their donation money came from one rich individual. Sorry, but that's not very effective fund raising by the old guard there]

Expenses related to support to the LaSalle Parrish Branch (travel, meetings and web cast) associated with the September 20, 2007 march and streaming video of the town hall meeting total:

$10,283.00 [I don't recall that site, which I viewed a few times back in the summer and fall of last year, notifying donors that there money would go towards support of branches and for meetings. The industry standard for over head is about 35% and many think that's too high.]

Excess of revenue over expense $ 9,611.00

The NAACP will provide a check in the amount of $10,000.00 in pro rata shares, to
the attorneys providing legal services to the Jena defendants. [So they took in 19,894 and spent 10,283 on themselves. That's 52% overhead. Even if you give the NAACP credit for the $389 they added to the pot, that's still 50% overhead]
Knowing that many young men and women of color outside Jena face discrimination in the criminal justice system, the NAACP has declared a State Of Emergency to call attention to the problem of unequal justice nationwide. We welcome the support and assistance of all likeminded individuals and organizations seeking systematic change and broad based solutions to racial injustice.

The NAACP and its members thank you for your continuing support and dedication to justice.

If I was an NAACP donor I’d be furious; but then again that’s why I’m not an NAACP donor.

Online Afrosphere organization Color of Change collected $212,000 dollars for the Jena 6, and they distributed $210,000 to Jena 6 lawyers.

And Jesse Jackson had the nerve to say:

“Internet bloggers can serve the meal better than they can farm,” Jackson said. “Farming requires tilling the soil, removing the debris, planting, being patient, letting it germinate. That’s the strength of labor unions and churches and civil rights organizations.”

I guess “serve the meal” also means distributing the money. Does generating the funds equate to "tilling the soil"; I think so?

The Black bloggosphere can pat itself on the back, becase we posted that Color of Change donation information all over the place.

Another Delay For the Jena Six - Judge Mauffray Hearing

2008-05-31T08:04:00.000-07:00

So whatever happened to the constitutional right to a speedy trial? Charges were first leveled against them more than 17 months ago, and now another month long delay.

Lawyers in Jena 6 case seek judge's ouster

By Howard Witt | Tribune correspondent
8:40 AM CDT, May 31, 2008

OUSTON—Lawyers for the five remaining defendants facing trial in the racially divisive Jena 6 incident in Louisiana presented evidence Friday of what they said was bias on the part of the judge presiding over the cases and sought his removal.

After four hours of testimony, a visiting judge appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to hear the recusal motion against LaSalle Parish District Judge J.P. Mauffray asked for more evidence and postponed a ruling until at least July.

Defense attorneys have long asserted that the white-dominated justice system in the small central Louisiana town was biased against their African-American clients: six high school students who were initially charged with attempted murder in the December 2006 beating of a white classmate...

According to some of those present during Friday's hearing, defense attorneys testified that Mauffray had made prejudicial comments to them about their clients on multiple occasions. David Utter, who represents defendant Jesse Ray Beard, said Mauffray had labeled the Jena 6 defendants "a violent bunch" and had asserted that "crime has gone down" in the months after the youths were jailed on the beating charges.

When he was called to the witness stand, those present said, Mauffray appeared to concede that he had made such statements, testifying at various points that "I probably said that" and "I might have said that." But the judge maintained that he had not formed an opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the accused youths.

Mauffray "has proven through his testimony that he does harbor prejudice and prejudgment in these cases," said Derwyn Bunton, an attorney for Theodore Shaw. "We want a fair trial with a fair judge, and the hearing illustrated we cannot have that with Judge Mauffray."

Chicago Tribune article

The Jena 6 DVD Is Now Avaliable

2008-05-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

Apparently there's a documentary out on the Jena 6 situation. I could find no background info about who produced it, or anything. It doesn't even have an IMDB page (Internet Movie Database)

The Blogger News Network has a short review saying in part that:

"The Jena 6 story is a disturbing one. This DVD explores the story in detail. When you examine the people involved, and the crimes committed, a rather disturbing trend emerges. If you are white, you are just exhibiting youthful exuberance, but if you are black, you are doomed.

The Jena Six story is one that everyone needs to understand, and this DVD gets right to the hub of the issue."

You can purchase it here

Louisiana Court To Hear Arguments on Recusing Jena 6 Judge Mauffrey

2008-05-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

I told you about the motion to have Judge Mauffrey removed in my last post on May 8th. It Appears arguments will finally be heard on this on May 30th.

Lawyers accuse judge in ‘Jena 6′ trial of racial bias

(CNN) — A Louisiana appeals court has agreed to a request by attorneys for four of the “Jena Six” defendants to hear arguments that the trial judge in the case should be recused because of alleged racial prejudice.

District Judge Thomas Yeager will hear arguments next Friday for the recusal of Judge J.P. Mauffrey Jr., according to court documents released this week.

One of the attorneys, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the case in the small town of Jena, Louisiana, said the lawyers must prove “substantial bias” in their effort to have Mauffrey removed.

May Jena Six Update

2008-05-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

This Jena 6 update for May is brought to you by the folks at TownTalk.com:

Motions delayed for 3 'Jena Six' defendants
By Abbey Brown

JENA -- On May 2, 2007, close to 20 people gathered in front of the LaSalle Parish Courthouse shouting, "Free the Jena Six!" for the first time.

The crowd, mostly family and friends of the six teens charged in a December 2006 incident at Jena High School, vowed to continue protesting until the students saw justice.

But more than a year later, only one of those six has faced a jury. And Tuesday brought another delay when scheduled motions for three defendants were continued pending an appeal from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal filed by their attorneys.

Those representing Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw said that 28th Judicial District Court Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. had previously denied motions before him to recuse himself as the trial judge in their cases without a hearing. The attorneys feel Mauffray has an unfair bias in the case, according to motions filed.

His denial to their recusal request has been appealed to the 3rd Circuit, so Mauffray said he won't hear other motions until that appeal is decided.

Some of the motions scheduled by the attorneys and LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters included change of venue, permission to conduct a poll for change of venue and intent to use Purvis' Texas assault charge in his trial for the Dec. 4, 2006, assault on Justin Barker.

The attorneys said they hoped Jones, Purvis and Shaw's cases could be consolidated with the only pending juvenile case -- Jesse Ray Beard -- since all have the same recusal of Mauffray appeal pending. No trial date has been set for Robert Bailey Jr.'s case either...

Tina Jones, Purvis' mother, said her son is doing well and will graduate from his Dallas-area high school on June 8. Just last week, he went to his first prom, she said. Purvis has been looking at colleges, and the University of Kansas is currently his first choice, Tina Jones said.

Jena 6 Defendant Jesse Ray Beard Motions To Have Judge and DA Removed

2008-04-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

Jesse Ray is the defendent who was 14 at the time and was always being handle as a juvenile while D.A. Reed Walters attempted to try the others as adults.

I try to follow up with my contact at Town Talk about the on going status of this motion in the next week.

Motion to remove judge, DA in 'Jena Six' case filed
Town Talk staff

Attorneys for Jesse Ray Beard, the youngest of the six Jena High students who have become known as the "Jena Six," filed motions Tuesday to recuse 28th Judicial District Court Judge J.P. Mauffray and LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters.

The motion to recuse Walters said the prosecutor "has shown on numerous occasions that he is so prejudiced and harbors such personal bias against Jesse Ray (Beard) and the other five African-American youths now known as the Jena 6, that he is incapable of fairly and impartially performing his duties as the district attorney."

The motion to recuse Mauffray said he "has made numerous statements, on numerous occasions, in different procedural postures, to numerous individuals, which make clear he has pre-judged not only Jesse Ray (Beard's) guilt, but the disposition for Jesse Ray (Beard) as well."

In juvenile proceedings, as Beard's case will be handled, there isn't a jury, just the juvenile judge. In LaSalle Parish that person is Mauffray.
"Millions of people turned their attention to the Jena Six last year, but at the end of the day the system itself has to go on trial," James Rucker said in a press release.

Rucker is the executive director of ColorOfChange.org, the 400,000-member group that advocated on behalf of the Jena Six. "Reed Walters and Judge Mauffray have behaved outrageously at every turn and violated the most basic principles of justice. There can be no justice in Jena with these men as its agents."

Beard faces juvenile charges of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit the same in connection with the Dec. 4, 2006, attack on Justin Barker at Jena High that left Barker unconscious.

More Nooses: In Tennessee

2008-04-28T21:13:00.001-07:00

I told you yesterday about the post Jena march noose hanger pleading guilty.

A commenter at another blog, who goes by the name Pelmo, responded to a post about a Black politician defending the confederate flag said in part that the whole noose thing late last year was hyped based on some "innocent Halloween" displays. That's odd, when many of the most reported cases of noose hangings took place in August and September; and were no where near any Halloween displays; such as the one that was hung from a Black college professor's door for instance, that no one would take credit for (not to mention others).

I guess these 3 following noose hanging incidents recently in my local area are all "innocent Halloween" displays as well; because nothing says Halloween like Spring weather, blatant racism and denailst defending it.

I guess the Holocaust didn't happen either.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noose found in another Mid-State school

Another noose has been found in the bathroom of a Mid-State school

A student at Gallatin High School discovered the noose, which was made out of paper towels, Tuesday morning in one of the boys' bathrooms.

The school's principal told News 2 several racial slurs were also found, directed toward an African American administrator.

Schools officials sent a letter home to parents notifying them of the incident, as well as notifying local police.

The incident comes one week after a similar incident in Franklin.

A noose was found in a bathroom at Poplar Grove Middle School. Racist graffiti was also found written on the walls in two separate bathrooms, on two separate incidents.

Franklin police now patrol the school.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Go here and click on the link entitled "Racial issues arise at Williamson Co. school" for video about confederate flags and and a noose hung from a students vehicle at school this past Friday.

Here's an article about the same story's after effects: Confederate flag banned at Independence High

Jena 6 March Noose Hanger Pleads Guilty

2008-04-28T08:01:00.000-07:00

If you recall, after the September 20th march in Jena, we (the marchers) rendezvoused in Alexandria; about 40 minutes west. There that night a noose threat incident took place.

I was there when this incident happened, as myslef and about 100 others from Nashville were waiting for our bus drivers to finish getting some sleep before heading back to Tennessee. I wrote about it here, this blog did not exist yet. Now the 'adult' noose hanger has plead guilty

Teen pleads guilty in nooses display after 'Jena 6' rally
The Associated Press
12:35 AM CDT, April 26, 2008

ALEXANDRIA, La. - A teenager pleaded guilty Friday to using nooses to threaten marchers after the "Jena Six" rally last year, federal prosecutors said.

Jeremiah Munsen, 19, of Colfax, could get up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine, authorities said. Sentencing was scheduled Aug. 15.

Federal prosecutors dropped a felony conspiracy charge that carried up to 10 years in prison. Interference with the federally protected right to travel, the charge to which Munsen pleaded guilty, is a misdemeanor.

"The defendant today took responsibility for committing a federal hate crime by using a powerful symbol of hate to intimidate a group of interstate travelers because of their race," U.S. Attorney Donald W. Washington said in a statement.

On Sept. 20, Munsen and a juvenile from Dry Prong hung nooses off the back of a pickup truck and drove around downtown Alexandria near a crowd waiting for buses that would take them back to Tennessee after one of the nation's largest civil rights demonstrations.

rest of the article

Also, it's curious that there is never anything in the press reports; nor apparently in this indictment about the shot gun that they had in the truck. I have original video of police pulling the shoot gun out.

Howard University Paper Takes Students Lowered Temperature On Jena 6

2008-04-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

After High Temperatures, Jena Outrage at a Low Fever

Hundreds of students gathered in Cramton Auditorium to rally for teenage boys in Louisiana -- more commonly known as the Jena "6" on Sept. 5, 2007.

Student leaders, along with representatives from African-American progressive organizations gave stirring speeches. Adorned in "Free the Jena '6'" T-shirts, the campus of Howard University was reminiscent of the days of Stokely Carmichael and other revolutionary figures. The spirit to effect change was contagious as students embarked on their journey to Jena, La. But now, after Howard received such accolades for organizing the fight for the Jena "6," the fight seems to be over. Jerome Brooks, of Bay St. Louis, Miss. who was a member of the planning committee for the trip to Jena, said that Howard students are essentially over it. "It was great to see students around the nation mobilize in order to seek justice for the proper punishment for the Jena "6," but there has not been a push to end the clear segregation and mistreatment of African Americans in Jena," said Brooks, a sophomore biology and political science double major. "The politics are the same as they were before the case." Following the rally that had an estimated 20,000 people in attendance, a defense fund was established by Color of Change, an empowerment organization with a desire to mobilize the black community. Close to $300,000 was raised in order to secure payment for attorneys and other legal fees.

But the segregated environment of Jena continued when the FBI became aware of a white supremacist Web site that listed the names, addresses and phone numbers of the Jena "6" and their closest family members and friends.

The FBI investigation surfaced after threats of lynching were received by the Jena "6" and their family members. Another member of the planning committee, sophomore finance major Brian Cox from Harrisburg, Pa. said conscious students are aware of what is currently happening with the Jena "6," as well as what is going on in Jena, La. "Students who were already actively involved with politics are aware of what is going on. For others, I think they were mainly involved only because of the hype surrounding the case, so they are completely over it now," Cox said. "But politically-aware students understand that Jena is still a conservative, Southern, Baptist town that has little to no plans on changing their politics."

The teens known as the Jena "6" have received less harsh charges and await trials scheduled for later this year.

http://media.www.thehilltoponline.com/media/storage/paper590/news/2008/04/04/NationWorld/After.High.Temperatures.Jena.Outrage.At.A.Low.Fever-3304453.shtml

March Update on the Jena Six

2008-03-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

There's an absolute dearth of information on the Jena 6 these days, but I'm still working sources to find out the latest.

Abby Brown of TheTownTalk.com informs me that the March 24th trial of Braynt Purvis is not happening.

I will be contacting more sources about other facets of the Jena 6 in the coming days, and will report back when I have other information.

Louisiana Case Overturned by Supreme Court Due To Racial Bias

2008-03-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Court decided in a 7 – 2 vote yesterday to overturn the conviction of a Black man tried in Jefferson County Louisiana, on the grounds that potential Black jurors were dismissed based on their race.

This case of racial discrimination in the jury selection in Louisiana highlights the very problem with an all white jury in the Michael Bell trial. All white juries may be appealed to on the basis of racial bias, as happened in this case; where such a tactic that has no place in the law, is not likely to succeed when a member of the racial minority is on the jury. Then, you actually have to argue the facts of the case.

At the very least jury's should not be gerryrigged to exclude certain races. It's illegal and violates democracy and justice.

Antonin Scalia and his lapdog Clarence Thomas are the only two justices to vote against overturning Snyder’s conviction.

Supreme Court overturns death penalty in Louisiana case
By James Oliphant | Washington Bureau
March 20, 2008

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the guilty verdict and death sentence of a Louisiana man convicted of hacking his wife's lover to death, concluding that an African-American juror was unfairly excluded from the panel. The court ordered that the defendant, Allen Snyder, get a new trial.

In a 7-2 decision written by Justice Samuel Alito, the court said the state trial judge erred when he allowed prosecutors to strike an African-American college student from the jury. Prosecutors said at the time that they thought the student worried too much about missing school to be an effective juror, but the court ruled that this justification was a pretext, noting that the murder trial lasted only two days.

Deborah Denno, a law professor at Fordham University in New York, said that the decision highlights a growing interest within the court in the fairness of the death penalty. "This has been an unusual court in that it has been looking at a lot of death penalty [appeals]," she said.

The justices also are currently considering whether the lethal injection method used to execute prisoners in more than 30 states is unconstitutional. "It's a sign the court is acknowledging the problems with the death penalty in this country," Denno said.

Invoking O.J. Simpson

Jefferson Parish, La., where the trial took place, has a long history of controversy over the dismissal of black jurors. On appeal, lawyers for the defendant claimed that the prosecutor in the case eliminated all of the potential African-American jurors in preparation for inflaming the jury's racial passions. Several times the prosecutor compared the case to O.J. Simpson's. Snyder's trial was in 1996, just after the Simpson case garnered global notoriety.

At the jury selection phase of the trial, lawyers questioned 85 potential jurors. In a parish where one in every five people was black, nine potential jurors were African-American. Four were dismissed for cause, and the prosecutor used his peremptory challenges to strike the others. Snyder was then convicted and sentenced to die.

The striking of those final five jurors formed the basis of Snyder's appeal. But because the Supreme Court had to find racial bias in only one instance, it did not address the exclusion of the other jurors. Snyder remains in prison pending his new trial.

Read the rest of the article here

University of San Fransico Examines Jena Six Case

2008-03-11T11:23:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a good bit of Universities disecting the Jena 6 situation still. I was part of a panel at Middle Tennessee State University a couple of weeks ago, that I still need to write about, and I received an information request on a list serve today from someone at the University of Louisiana.

Here's another examination from USF:

Justice Forum Examines Case of Jena 6

Feb. 28, 2008 -- A USF School of Law Justice Forum Feb. 27 brought together students, faculty, and a city official to examine the case of the "Jena 6" and its implications for racial and criminal injustice.

Professor Rhonda Magee moderated the forum, which featured Professor Sharon Meadows, USF Associate Professor of Politics James Taylor, and San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Eric Flemming. The event was sponsored by the Black Law Students Association, National Lawyers Guild, and the Student Bar Association.

The Jena 6 are six black teenagers from rural Jena, Louisiana, who in 2005 were charged with beating a white classmate. The fight followed an incident in which a noose was hung from a tree unofficially designated for white students on the high school campus after a black student asked to sit under the tree. Jena District Attorney Reed Walters drew nationwide criticism for the racially disproportionate severity of the charges and sentences for the Jena 6.

"The argument was that the white kids who hung the noose had been tried lightly while the other kids were slammed," Meadows said.

Taylor placed the controversy within the historical context of the African American experience, dating to slavery, and within the context of today's criminal justice system.

"Black criminality was woven into our Constitutional framework," he said. "Jena 6 is microcosmic for a social phenomenon. How did we get to a place where we have 2 million people in prison, and 700,000 are black, and that's okay?"

Mychal Bell, the only member of the Jena Six who has been tried, was originally charged with attempted murder, but the charges were reduced and he was convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy. Both convictions were overturned on the grounds that Bell should have been tried as a juvenile. Bell pled guilty in December in juvenile court to charges of second degree battery and was sentenced to 18 months. Charges against four defendants who are adults under Louisiana law remain pending. The status of charges against the sixth defendant, who was a juvenile at the time of the attack, is not known.

Flemming said he disagreed with the Jena district attorney's handling of the case. "It was just a fight," he said. "Our function is to be fair, not to see white, black , male, female. It is to see justice."

Flemming quoted Frederick Douglass: "In a composite nation like ours, made up of almost every variety of the human family, there should be, as before the law, no rich, no poor, no high, no low, no black, no white, but one country, one citizenship equal rights and a common destiny for all."

"That was not the case with the Jena 6," he said.

http://www.usfca.edu/law/news/stories/jena6.html

Still Wondering About Baisden's Unequal Justice Fund

2008-03-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

Do you remember Michael Baisden’s “Unequal Justice Legal Defense and Education Fund”

Do you know where the money is? Have you heard anything about it in months?

For me, the answer to both is no, so I did a little checking. On neither of the two still standing web pages about the Unequal Justice Fund can I find:

1. How much is being collected?
2. Who’s receiving it?
3. How it’s being administrated ?
Or
4. What is the method of accountability and where can we check to see that donors money is going to where it is said it would go?

There are no minglecity.com pages found about the fund, just a residual Jena 6 page. There once was a page dedicated to the fund when he was promoting his November Atlanta fundraiser and immediately afterwards. But apparently all information about the fund are now gone from mingle city.

Even at his Michael Baisden dot com site the “web-a-thon” graphic only shows money collected up through the end of September.

I can find nowhere on either of his websites where information is given about the collected money.

Also isn’t it funny, but have you heard him talk about the Jena 6 much, if at all since he unsuccessfully tried to run down Color of Change in the week leading up to his own fundraiser?

Maybe I’ll call his offices after while and see if we can’t get any info; but one shouldn’t have to do that when he has two websites that he used to raise the money from. If he can put fundraising information on there, he can just the same put information about where the money’s been going since he got it.

But if you have any information, by all means, please inform me. I’ll correct the record promptly.

Here are the two remaining sites discussing the Fund's existence and how to apply:
http://www.michaelbaisden.com/Article.asp?id=513166

http://www.michaelbaisden.com/Article.asp?id=513144

Bunkie Louisiana, Jena's Sibling

2008-02-29T14:18:00.000-08:00

The following article is by Alan Bean of Friend's of Justice. Alan was one of the original 2 or 3 civil rights activist who aggitated for Jena Six and got the story out to the world after going there about this time last year.

By the way, he's a White preacher from Texas; not one of us Black people "playing victim" or "playing the race card".

Hard Times in Bunkie, Louisiana

At a glance, Bunkie looks like any other cash-strapped central Louisiana town. It’s a jumble of crumbling shacks, modest bungalos and a clutch of picturesque mansions straight out of Gone with the Wind. Bunkie used to be a predominantly white community, but as one old timer told me, “the old whites are dying and the young whites are movin’ out–pretty soon you got yourself a black majority. Used to be the east side was black and the west side was white, with Highway 71 as the divider. But now a lot of black folks are buying homes on the west side. That causes conflict; a lot of whites don’t want to live around blacks.”

I first visited Bunkie on February 22, 2007; exactly one year ago. I had been organizing the families of the Jena 6 and Tony Brown, a radio personality in nearby Alexandria, had interviewed me on his morning talk show.

“You’ve got to come down to Bunkie,” Denise Atkins told me, “we got it real bad down here.”

Denise arranged a public meeting in an old restaurant that was in the process of renovation. A crowd of thirty showed up for fried chicken and conversation. Everyone wanted to talk about Chad Jeansonne, a detective with the Bunkie Police Department who had learned every trick in the drug war manual.

Moments into the meeting, several participants noticed a shadowy figure lurking in a darkened corner of the room. A middle aged black woman in the uniform of the Bunkie Police Department emerged from her hiding spot and confronted her accusers.

“What you doin’ spying on us?” somebody asked. “I’ve seen you on those raids where the cops come busting in without no warrant. You know how they do us!”

The officer was unrepentant. “If ya’ll would quit doing drugs and hanging out on the street corner you wouldn’t have nothing to worry about!”

”We all work hard for our money,” a young woman shot back. It was a familiar conversation: Mos Def meets Bill Cosby. The disgruntled officer sauntered out of the room.

A few days later, I got a phone call from an officer with the Louisiana State Police. “Hello Dr. Bean,” a pleasant voice said. “I hear you’ve been down to Bunkie talking to some folks and I was just curious about your business.”

“I was invited to Bunkie by some concerned citizens,” I replied.

“What were they concerned about?”

“Oh, the usual,” I replied. “Racial profiling, warrantless searches, and coerced testimony and plea agreements. But the conversation kept coming around to one officer in particular: a fellow named Jeansonne; Chad Jeansonne.”

“Well, I’m sure your investigation will lead you to the conclusion that Mr. Jeansonne is a fine officer doing really good work for us down there in Bunkie.”

This prophecy has gone unfulfilled. After chatting with four ex-Bunkie police officers who had worked with Jeansonne I started taking the complaints emerging from Bunkie’s poor black community much more seriously.

Read the rest of the article here

Clearing Up The Current Mychael Bell Situation

2008-02-16T17:50:00.000-08:00

When I posted this article a few weeks ago, I expressed my surprise that Mychael Bell had been released, wondering how I could have possibly missed that. Well I didn't. The lazy professional media that Steven A. Smith thinks should be the only ones allowed to report on issues, simply got some basic facts wrong.

I just spoke with Alan Bean of Friend's Of Justice, and Bell isn't living with foster parents in Monroe Louisiana, he was transferred to some sort of "half-way" house there, pending his release around June.

I'll try to get in touch with one of his lawyers next week to see if I can get a little more detail and clarification of his status. Lord knows I'm not going to get it from the mainstream media. Yahoo and Google news searches have had nothing listed on Mychael Bell for weeks now, and next to nothing on the Jena 6 in general.

It's clear that the main stream media has retreated back to it's pre-September 2007 dearth of coverage of this case. And these are the people we’re supposed to trust the dissemination of information to.

Thank Holy God in Heaven for the internet (not withstanding it’s potential to be used for evil)

More Detail On Bryant Purvis' Arrest

2008-02-15T14:27:00.000-08:00

Police still investigating Hebron fight involving Jena 6 student
By Chris Roark, Staff Writer
(Created: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 10:25 PM CST)

Carrollton police continue to investigate an incident in which Hebron High School senior Bryant Purvis’ tires were deflated last week.

The incident, according to police records, ignited a fight between Purvis and Hebron senior Christopher Jones on Feb. 6. That led to police arresting Purvis, who was one of six students known as the Jena 6 accused of assaulting a white student in Jena, La., in 2006.

Purvis moved to Carrollton last year and lives with his uncle, Dallas Cowboys player Jason Hatcher.

“There is no indication that this is a racially-biased crime,” said Sgt. John Singleton, spokesperson for the Carrollton Police Department. “It just stems from an altercation between two students.”

According to police records, Purvis believed Jones deflated the tires to his vehicle, so he approached him Wednesday morning, grabbed him by the throat and threw him down. Singleton said Jones has visible marks around his neck and bruises around his left eye.

After being questioned, police arrested Purvis and charged him with assault causing bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor. Purvis was transported to the Denton County Detention Facility, where he has posted bond, Singleton said. Singleton said simply letting the air out could lead to a substantial inconvenience charge, which would be a Class C misdemeanor. Using a device to cut the tires could lead to a higher charge.

Meanwhile, Purvis is facing discipline at school. Lewisville ISD spokesman Dean Tackett said Purvis will face the same disciplinary action at school as any other student in this situation would, which is a three-day suspension and seven to 10 days at the Lewisville Learning Center.

“If this was a scuffle, the police wouldn’t have gotten involved,” Tackett said. “But, the police get involved when it’s an assault.”

Tackett said this is the only incident Purvis has been involved in at Hebron that he’s aware of.

Keith Owens, who has a daughter at Hebron, said the incident shocked him.

“When I heard about it, it surprised me,” Owens said. “But, I don’t think it’s isolated to Hebron, because these things happen at all schools.”

Purvis has played on Hebron’s varsity basketball team, and Owens said he has briefly talked to him following a game.

“He seems like a normal kid,” Owens said. “I guess he just lost control, and his emotions got the better of him.”

Purvis is the team’s leading rebounder and third-leading scorer. He will be unable to play while serving the suspension.

http://www.carrolltonleader.com/articles/2008/02/15/carrollton_leader/news/5front.txt

Why I'm Proud To Defend the Jena Six, Model Citizens or Not

2008-02-11T20:46:00.000-08:00

Concerning Bryant Purvis' recent arrest in Texas and the debate about defending those who are not model citizens, some valid points have been pointed out

In a list serve discussion another blogger states in part that "the way this issue was framed actually made it about individuals - You can't go back now and say well that really didn't matter."

She goes on to state

"Nothing wrong with standing up for people, but how you frame the issue is important. When you are dealing with cirminal defendants, you are almost always dealing with someone who exercised poor judgement at the very least and engaged in criminal behavior at the very worse. I mean as far back as two months ago, the CBC was attempting to get a FULL pardon for the six teens from Blanco.

It is almost as if people don't know how to disengage and will ride
this bad boy into the ground. You saved their youth. What other role
do you have to play now?"

Here's what I think in regards to these points.

Sure, we have to be careful about how a protest is framed, but some of how anything is framed is out of our hands, as the run-away media will say what it wants to it's echo chamber of whites (including liberals) who minimalism racism.

It was always a lie that Jena 6 supporters thought that the young men should receive no punishment; yet, that's the lie that was spread by mainstream media and white "progressive" blogs alike, from day one.

Calls for pardon were after they had all already spent months in prison, and the DA was digging his heels in on going forward on trumped up charges and illegal prosecutions and tactics. It was a response to the failure of the legal system to provide equal protection under the law, so at that point a pardon was right. They
had already been punished, and the legal system was showing itself ineffectual in responding to a malicious prosecution.

When we get down to deciding who's rights should be defended and who's shouldn't based on who they are, then we get to a point where it's going to be:

They came for the Jena 6, but I said nothing because I was a well behaved Negro, and not a criminal like they
When they came for me, there was no one left to speak up.*

That may seem dramatic, but it's really not. If they can trample criminals rights, then they can trample yours too; especially when they do so based on the criminal being Black, as this article shows that in Louisiana Black youth are sentenced 6 times more harshly than white criminals who commit the same crimes:
http://www.blackperspective.net/index.php/black-teens-six-times-more-likely-to-be-sentenced-to-jail-than-white-teens/

And when they get through with the Black "criminals", taking away their rights; you want to know who they're coming after next to feed the prison industrial complex; The rabble rousers, the protesters, the intellectuals; just as tyrannies always do.

So yeah, I've seen where some people have run out in defense of somebody Black who got tazered, and it turns out his black ass was in the wrong, and deserved to be tased; so we do have to be careful - get our facts first, and make our arguments based on good knowledge.

But at the same time we can't let the "good test case"/model citizen ideal be the determining factor in whether we defend against injustice being committed against someone. The "good test case" thing really only applies to challenging unjust laws, not in challenging unjust prosecutions, when the law itself isn't at question.

*This section of my exegesis is an allusion to a poem entitled First They Came

Jena 6 Defendant Bryant Purvis Arrested In Texas

2008-02-09T16:50:00.000-08:00

Slaps hand against forehead - you just can't help some people.

I'll get to the particulars of the arrest in a moment, but some folks, Jena 6 supporters, on a list serve I frequented are talking about that's why they used upstanding citizens for test cases back in the day to build the movement around and that's why they used the Rosa Park incident to launch the bus boycott verses other similar incidents.

That's good, well and understood; but here's my response to that:

People's lives are not test cases or a movement.

The boys deserved justice. If justice was 1 years in jail they deserved that, if it was no jail they deserved that, if it was a few months, they deseved that; but I know they didn't deserve 80 to 100 years (what the DA first tried to charge them with).They didn't deserve 20 years in jail (the amount of time charges would have carried once he was forced to drop the murder conspiracy).

Everyone's life and right to justice is worth defending. It's not acceptable to me to stand by and watch people have their lives taken away if there's something I can do about it, just because they're not saints. Non-saints deserve equal protection under the law too.

End of story for me.

Jena 6 defendant charged in Texas assault
By Howard Witt | Tribune correspondent
4:24 PM CST, February 7, 2008

Bryant Purvis, 19, was arrested Wednesday in Carrollton, Texas, and charged with misdemeanor assault after an incident with another student at Hebron High School, Carrollton police said. Purvis was released in lieu of $1,000 bond on Thursday and suspended for three days from the school, where he enrolled as a senior after moving to the area to live with a relative.

Purvis' attorney, Darrell Hickman, characterized the assault as a "minor shoving incident" and said it involved a student whom Purvis believed had vandalized his car a few days before. A police affidavit accompanying an arrest warrant alleged that Purvis choked the student and pushed his head into a bench, injuring the victim's eye.

Read the rest of the story here.

Jena 6 March Noose Perpitrator Charged

2008-01-25T15:52:00.000-08:00

I was there live in the flesh when this incident took place. It happened to the group that I helped to organize to go to Jena, as we waited for our buses to come back to Nashville that night after the March. I wrote about it here, this blog did not exist yet.

Feds indict teen for 'threatening' noose

ALEXANDRIA, LA -- It was one of the few blights reported by the organizers of a 20,000-person civil rights demonstration held last year in a Louisiana town at the center of a national race debate.

As a group of marchers waited for a bus to transport them from Alexandria, La., to Tennessee, a pickup truck allegedly cruised slowly by, a pair of nooses hanging from the back of the truck. Local police officers took notice and arrested the teen driver and his passenger.

Four months later, federal prosecutors have announced the indictment of Jeremiah Munsen, 18, on a federal hate crime, and civil rights conspiracy charges, for "his role in threatening and intimidating marchers" as they attempted to cross a state line.

Munsen and his 16-year-old passenger, who has not been identified by authorities, allegedly fashioned a pair of extension cords into nooses and discussed the Ku Klux Klan as they drove repeatedly past a group of marchers gathered at a bus stop, while they waited for Tennessee-bound transportation.

The rest of the story: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/national_world&id=5911694

White Racist Protest In Jena Is A Complete Dud

2008-01-21T18:16:00.000-08:00

You can watch a video report from an area television station here: http://www.kalb.com/index.php/news/article/mlk-march-in-jena/2804/

They've been promoting this for months and all they could come up with is 30 to 50 people. That's it? There were more counter protesters there.

White separatists march in town of Jena 6By Mary Foster | Associated Press
5:23 PM CST, January 21, 2008

JENA, La. (AP) — About 50 white separatists protested the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday in this tiny town, which was thrust into the spotlight months ago by 20,000 demonstrators who claimed prosecutors discriminated against blacks.

Police separated participants in the "pro-majority" rally organized by the Learned, Miss.-based Nationalist Movement from a racially mixed group of about 100 counter-demonstrators outside the LaSalle Parish Courthouse. There was no violence and one arrest, a counter-demonstrator.

Chants of "No KKK" from the mostly college-age counter-demonstrators were met with a chant from the separatists that contained a racial epithet.

At one point, dozens of state police forced back about 10 people, dressed in New Black Panther uniforms, who had gathered around a podium where the separatist group's leader Richard Barrett was to speak.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-jena-ap-webjan22,1,5770931.story?track=rss

This was us on September 20th

Versus

Them today

AHHH, ha ha ha ha ha!

ROFLMAO!!!!

When The Hell Did Mychael Bell Get Out?

2008-01-17T07:37:00.000-08:00

Jena 6 Teen Now In Foster Home
Posted: Jan 2, 2008 11:11 AM CST
Updated: Jan 2, 2008 11:11 AM CST

Mychal Bell, the primary face of the Jena 6 is no longer in Alexandria.
The 18-year-old teen has been moved to Monroe to stay with a foster parent.

The teen pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge of second-degree battery in return for the deal which gave him credit for the 10 months he had already served.

The charges against Bell and five classmates, now known as the Jena 6, led to a huge civil-rights demonstration in Jena in September.

Well thanks to this elaborate report from my home town station, KSLA TV 12 in Shreveport, now I know all the details(rolls eyes @ lazy media).

My understanding was that he wouldn't getting out until around June, as I reported at the time

I guess I'll have to do some calling around to some insiders on this one. I'll get back.

Counter March To White Racist Supremist in Jena

2008-01-15T15:57:00.000-08:00

Thanks to AJ at the OverAnalyzeIt who brought this to my attention.

KKKluckers with NOOSES marching on MLK Day in Jena, unopposed? NO WAY!
by Revolution ( revolution.sfbureau [at] gmail.com )
Monday Jan 14th, 2008 12:19 PM

A white supremacist group that calls itself the “Nationalist Movement” plans to march in Jena on January 21. They’re telling people to bring signs calling for jailing the Jena 6, abolishing the Martin Luther King holiday, and “down with communism.” They’re openly encouraging people to DISPLAY NOOSES!! Around the country, when people heard about this, a lot of them said, “it’s time to go back to Jena.” And in Jena, many said, “it’s time for people to come back to Jena.”

The January 21st Committee has issued a Call to people of all nationalities to come to Jena on Monday, January 21 to say: Oppose the Lynch Mob Racists! No to Nooses! Free the Jena Six! We Want a Better World! (see Call in article below))

This Call already has a number of prominent and significant signatories including Black and white residents of Jena, some parents of the Jena 6, 60 people from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago, Cornel West, Herb Boyd, Cindy Sheehan, and Medea Benjamin. Endorsers are still being gathered. And this is shaping up to be very significant.

We encourage people to spread this Call far and wide, sign it, and get others to sign it. The Call puts out an important challenge to people of all nationalities to organize to be in Jena on January 21 to DROWN OUT these KKKluckers, whose message is about actually carrying out terror and murder against Black people.

Read the rest of the article here

White Nationalist Group Wins Right to March In Jena

2008-01-15T07:57:00.000-08:00

National Movement vs. Town of Jena-Update
By Farrah Reyna - Anchor 6 & 10
January 11 2008

There are new developments in the lawsuit filed by the Nationalist Movement against the town of Jena.

Federal Judge Dee Drell ruled on Friday that Jena’s requirement for an insurance policy is unconstitutional and a violation of the group’s first amendment rights.
The Nationalist Movement was suing the town because the organization did not want to pay an insurance charge for its planned rally on Martin Luther King Day.

With Friday’s ruling, the party will go forward with its plans for the march on MLK day on Monday the 21st. A hearing scheduled for Monday was cancelled.
Link to story

Podcasting On The Jena 6 Blog

2008-01-09T20:38:00.001-08:00

Mobile post sent by Yobachi using Utterz. Replies. mp3

Jena Six Resistance: An Example How Determined Activism Can Make A Real Difference

2008-01-07T12:11:00.000-08:00

If the Jena 6 prosecution had not been resisted by the pressure brought to bare by the outcry of millions against this injustice, and the physical demonstration of tens of thousands in Jena on September 20th and in demonstration across the country; Reed Walters would have railroad 6 Black boys into prison for decades.

Whites jump one of the Jena 6 and beat him with a beer bottle and only one gets prosecuted with probation. Blacks jump a white, and the same prosecutor goes for 100 years against them. And the worst part is that this is typical as this study I posted about, which comes from the Louisiana legislature, demonstrates that Black teens are punished 6 times more harshly than whites for the same crimes.

The folks at Friends of Justice, who have been on the ground in Jena since the spring of '07, have a post about how relentless activism brought this case to the fore.

Relentless Activist Digs into Racial Controversies
January 6, 2008

Many thanks to Wade Goodwyn of National Public Radio (and Craig Franklin of the Jena Times) for making this Weekend Edition piece sizzle. Franklin insists that no one was paying attention to the Jena story, nor would anyone ever have paid any attention, had Alan Bean stayed in Texas.

Midway through the almost ten-minute report Mr. Goodwyn filed this morning, Franklin quotes from a document from February of last year in which I predicted that the trophy for the “most racist town in America” would soon be transfered from Tulia, Texas to Jena, Louisiana. “The awards ceremony,” I said, ”is tentatively scheduled for soon after The New York Times, 60 Minutes and other national media outlets wake up to the doings in Jena, Louisiana.”

Franklin conveniently ignores the next line: “Tulia never deserved the Most Racist Town award, and I doubt Jena (pronounced JEAN-ah) does either. But, like the Texas panhandle community I call home, the isolated central Louisiana town in the pines seems determined to bring home the trophy regardless off the cost.”

The good folks in little towns like Tulia and Jena are frequently their own worst enemies. I can’t help liking these folks. They take their religion very seriously and most of them are trying to be the best people they can possibly be (something I can’t say for the city slicker cynics who routinely put them down). These aren’t snarling Southern bigots straight off the set of Mississippi Burning–for the most part, they’re kind, polite and gentle.

Unfortunately, they are also blind to their own blindness. A lot of people took DA Reed Walters for just another zealous prosecutor until he announced on CNN that the 20,000 black people who descended on Jena in September would have reduced his town to a smoking ruin had not the Lord Jesus Christ thwarted their evil designs. “You can quote me on that,” he announced (I have actually paraphrased–but I think I caught the spirit of his weird remark).

Reed Walters never understood that the folks who rode the buses to Jena were motivated by their devotion to the same Jesus he worships. The experiences of the last year have convinced me of the need for inter-racial dialogue, starting in the churches and moving out from there.

Craig Franklin makes it sound as if I snuck into Jena under false pretences. I attended the white First Baptist Church my first weekend in Jena and spent over an hour introducing my unorthodox ministry to pastor Dominic DiCarlo. The next day I spent a good part of the afternoon with Sammy and Craig Franklin at the Jena Times. I told them about my work in Tulia and said I intended to advocate for the Jena 6 and their families just as I had stood up for Joe Moore and his friends in Tulia. I told them that the media could not always be counted on to be fair, so it behooved them to talk Reed Walters into reducing the charges. They didn’t think that would be necessary.

Wade Goodwyn did an excellent eight-minute synopsis of the Jena story for NPR’s All Things Considered in July that became the most emailed NPR piece for several weeks running. Goodwyn’s reporting was remarkably even-handed; he just laid out the facts, featuring comments from people on both sides of the developing controversy. Black bloggers used Wade’s piece as a succinct-yet-thorough vehicle for spreading the word.

Craig Franklin is right about one thing: a lot of fluff and nonsense has been written about his home town. Wade Goodwyn is effective because he tells it straight.

Jena High School Fire Apparently Not Related To Racial Tensions

2008-01-02T06:59:00.000-08:00

I never understood why my fellow Jena 6 supporters made an issue of the high school fire. I never saw how their being arson, without knowing who did it or without any threat attached to it, proved anything about the racial strife. I never understood what the logic was that would assume that racists would burn their own high school as retaliation against Black people.

That’s why in my extensive writing on the Jena 6 I’ve never mentioned it; unless it may have appeared in a larger block quote about other issues, but that is it. I just never saw what there having be an arson had to do with anything. Actually, I was afraid if anything some black students might have done it in a misguided protest against the school's defacto discrimination and light handedness in dealing with the noose hangers.

From the mug shots I’ve seen it was actually a racially cooperative effort; with both Black and White suspects. Maybe there’s hope for Jena after all. If we can commit crime together, maybe, just maybe we can learn to live together :P

AP Photo via BlackVoices.com

Arrests made in Jena High arson case
Motive was to get rid of bad grades, shut down the school
Abbey Brown
The (Alexandria) Town Talk

JENA - Eight people, including three juveniles, will be charged with arson in connection with the fire that destroyed the main building of Jena High School in November 2006, authorities said today.

The motivation for the fire wasn't racial, as many suspected, but was to get rid of bad grades and shut down the school, said LaSalle Parish Sheriff-elect Scott Franklin, who is CEO of the Sheriff's Office.

The arson is not connected to the Jena Six case, none of the six defendants in that case are suspects in the arson, and the arson was not racially motivated, Franklin said. The group of suspects in the arson case is racially diverse.
An undercover narcotics operation led to information about the suspects in the school arson, Franklin said during a 1 p.m. press conference today at the LaSalle Parish Courthouse.

All of the arson suspects are males. Three Jena men have been arrested, and two more men are being sought. The other three suspects are juveniles.
Four of the eight suspects were students at Jena High School at the time of the fire, and two are currently students at the school, Franklin said.
The three adults arrested are Marcus Lee, 20, Joshua McGee, 18, and Dakota Graham, 19, all of Jena, according to Franklin.

The names of the other two adult suspects have not been released because they have not yet been arrested. The names of the juveniles are not being released.

For more read here

Congressional Black Cacus Calls For Pardon of Jena Six

2007-12-27T13:31:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-23T16:17:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-14T08:54:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-04T13:24:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-03T22:27:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-30T12:18:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-26T14:25:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-15T08:03:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-13T17:22:00.000-08:00

…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

2007-11-13T12:36:00.000-08:00

[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

2007-11-13T07:59:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-10T15:18:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-07T15:54:00.000-08:00

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

2007-10-31T12:01:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

“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

2007-10-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-22T20:28:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-21T16:18:00.001-07:00

Jena Hearings, What Was Accomplished

2007-10-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-17T08:12:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

[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

2007-10-15T10:07:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-12T17:14:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

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

Mos Def Video From Jena

2007-10-11T08:19:00.001-07:00

Mos gets amped about the injustice, even calling out he likes of Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, and Jamie Fox

Thanks to Zoe for putting me up on this one.

Mos from Jena being much politer on CNN. And that pick up truck with the large confederate flag, I saw them when we were marching. They were trying to provoke folks by driving right up to the march and trying to act intimidating. Nobody gave them the satisfaction by reacting to them at the time I saw them.

I think I spoke on it in this post about my experience there: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/392910/the_jena_march_for_justice_my_experience.html

Justice should be blind, but unfortunately, prosecutors are not

2007-10-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

[Another Message from the Color of Change Team]

After nooses were hung from the "white tree" at Jena High School in September 2006, the adults in Jena could have taken actions to reduce tensions and help the community heal, but their actions only further aggravated tensions. Reed Walters was one of the main instigators. He came to the school and threatened Black students who protested peacefully under the "white tree."2 He used his prosecutorial discretion to refuse to pursue incidents of white-on-black violence that preceded the beating of Justin Barker, and then abused that same discretion to overcharge the young men who allegedly beat Barker, claiming that tennis shoes were a "dangerous weapon" and the assault was attempted murder.3 From the day he threatened to "make [their] lives disappear with the stroke of a pen," Walters has had a clear agenda, and has followed it aggressively, unfairly, and outside of the boundaries of his position.

Now he's trying to cover his tracks. In a public statement on September 19, 2007, DA Walters claimed that there was no connection between the assault on Justin Barker and the hanging of nooses in the "white tree" several months before.4 In an op-ed in the New York Times, Walters claimed that the noose hanging "broke no law. I searched the Louisiana criminal code for a crime that I could prosecute. There is none." 5 But two attorneys we're working with easily found Louisiana Revised Statute 14:107.2, which creates a hate crime for any institutional vandalism or criminal trespass motivated by race. Walters was creative enough to turn a schoolyard assault into an attempted murder case; he surely could have figured out how to make nooses into hate crimes.6

After the massive protest on the 20th, Governor Blanco was forced to act, but sadly her only action was to give Walters cover to continue his aggressive prosecution. Blan co grandly proclaimed that Walters was not going to appeal the 3rd Circuit Court's nullification of Mychal Bell's conviction in adult court, and would instead prosecute him as a juvenile.7 Sounds good until you remember that 4 young men still face charges in adult court, and 2 are still facing charges as juveniles, for a fight that occurred at school. And Walter's "generosity" sounds even worse when you remember that only one of the young men who attacked Robert Bailey three days before Justin Barker was assaulted was even charged; that he was charged with a misdemeanor; and that he has never spent a minute in prison.8

It is outrageous that Walters is still pursuing charges against the Jena 6, and it's even more outrageous that he's being given political cover by the Governor, by Louisiana's District Attorney Association, and even by the New York Times. Anyone can file a complaint against an attorney by sending a letter to the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board, the organization that has the power to take action against Walters, and we want them to hear from as many of us as possible. We've prepared the letter. All you have to do is add your address and put it in the mail. When you send your letter, please let us know at walterscomplaint@colorofchange.org. If lots of you send letters, we'll use those numbers to get the media to cover the story, adding more pressure on the Disciplinary Board to act.

Justice should be blind, but unfortunately, prosecutors are not. They see color and it can impact how they exercise their prosecutorial discretion. This is the case for the Jena 6. Reed Walters' attacks have already damaged the lives of these 6 teenagers. He shouldn't be given the opportunity to keep at it a minute longer. Please send your letter of complaint requesting a thorough investigation into Reed Walters' conduct today.

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/walters/?id=2098-170534

Thanks and Peace,

-- James, Van, Gabriel, Clarissa, Mervyn, and the rest of the
ColorOfChange.org team
October 7th, 2007

REFERENCES

1. ColorOfChange.org Jena 6 Defense Fund information page
http://www.colorofchange.org/jena_fund/info.html

2. North Texans marching behind 6 young men in Jena. The Dallas Morning
News, September 20, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2ku47v

3. Injustice in Jena as nooses hang from the "white tree". Truthout.org,
July 3, 2007.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070307B.shtml

4. US Attorney: Nooses, beating at Jena High not related. CNN.com, September
19, 2007
http://beta.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/19/jena.six.link/index.html

5. Justice in Jena. New York Times, September 26, 2007.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/opinion/26walters.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

6. The Stroke of a Pen. Southern Poverty Law Center, September 28, 2007.
http://www .splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?aid=286

7. La. Governor says DA won't challenge ruling that sent Jena 6 teen's case
to juvenile court. Boston Herald, September 27, 2007.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/south/view.bg?articleid=1034518

8. See reference 5

________________________________

Subscription Management:

File Letter of Complaint Against Jena 6 Persecutor Reed Walters

2007-10-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks to ColorOfChange.org members like you, the chances for the Jena 6 to
achieve justice have dramatically improved.

Their story has been forced into the mainstream media, the Governor was
finally forced to speak on the issue, Mychal Bell is facing a new trial with
a maximum penalty of 4 years instead of 22, and the systemic problem of
unequal justice across this country is getting more attention.

As the fight moves to court trials, ColorOfChange.org members have helped
put the legal teams on solid ground by generously contributing $212,399 to
the legal defense of the Jena 6, $106,000 of which has already been spent at
the directi on of the families to help get investigators on the ground, bring
in expert witnesses, and to secure the best legal counsel available for
these young men.1.

Having well-funded legal teams and more media attention is important, but we
can't forget that these young men could be free of these charges completely
if not for one man: LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters. He is
still representing the State of Louisiana in the case and needs to be
removed and disciplined for his misconduct immediately.

Can you file a letter of complaint with the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary
Board asking them to investigate Walter's conduct?

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/walters/?id=2098-170534

Jena Six March for Justice Video

2007-10-08T16:05:00.000-07:00

This is from Annazette Taylor, from an Atlanta contigent I met at a gas station on the way down:

http://www.photoshow.net/watch/nI9Kj5ee

Suspended For Supporting Jena 6

2007-10-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

I showed you video previously of a student force to change out of her Jena 6 t-shirt on september 20th. Well also here in Nasvhille, at least 1 (and I've heard of more) were suspended just for wearing black on that day.

Video here

You'll have to scroll down the list under "TN Classroom Video" and click on the story entitled "Students Suspended For Wearing Black In Support Of Jena 6".

Dr. Phil, Jena Six Program Video

2007-10-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

Episode 1 - Friday September 29

Episode 2 - Monday October 1

I just watched the first episode, haven't watched the second one yet. I decided to go ahead and post this because I don't know when I'll have time to do in-depth commentary on it, so I think y'all should go ahead and see it.

One piece of commentary, the white woman from Jena in the episodes, who is the school assistant teacher, Bobbi Cornett, is the white woman I spoke about in this piece who tried to justify Reed Walters threat to the Black students, as just a friendly warning to help them; when I was in Jena.

I didn't bother to name her in the piece because she didn't deserve the recognition, but since she's going national, I need expose her frame of mind. At first I thought she might be a reasonable white person, since she started off talking about how "they have a right to be here, they can march, that's their constitutional right". But then she went on to show her true colors with that ridiculous Reed Walters comment, and I moved on.

The Claimed Facts, Are Not Necessarily the Facts In Jena 6 Case

2007-10-03T16:58:00.000-07:00

On the day of the march, CNN aired an interview with Tina Jones, mother of Jena 6 defendent Bryant Purvis(and aunt of defendent Carwin Jones), says her son wasn't even in the fight. I watched this interview from a bar in Alexandria Louisiana where all the marchers who didn't go straight home went to decelerate after leaving Jena.

http://beta.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2007/09/04/collins.jena.six.trials.cnn

Purvis wasn't even arrested on the spot after the fight, because he wasn't on the spot. He wasn't arrested until the next day. He wasn't at the fight, but he was one of the leaders of the silent protest under the tree where the nooses were hung; in response to the noose hangers getting the light punishment of in-school suspension. The protest that lead D.A. Walters to comeout to the school and threaten the Black students that if they didn't knock it off and stop making trouble, that he would "end your lives with the stroke of my pen".

Hmmm, not at the fight and not arrested, but was one of the leaders of the protest where he was threatened to have his life ended.

Rober Bailey, Jr told CNN that by the time he arrived at the fight, students and coaches had broken it up.

"When a fight breaks out, all the kids just run to see a fight. That's just how it was," he said. "You really couldn't see nothing. So when I'm running to see what's going on, I got down there to the fight, it was over."

Anybody who's been in high school at least during my life time (I'm 29), knows this good and well. I went to Junior High and High School in Bossier Louisiana, and anytime there was a fight there was a big croud around it, because everyone would run to see what was happening.

Other so-called facts taken for grant by those who have no interest in actually investigating the claims, nor an interest in dealing with the issue of the obvious racially intimidating environment that was fostered in Jena for months leading up to the fight:

1. Just becasue the big white man at the district attorney's office with the pen says that Justin Barker was attacked from behind for no reason, doesn't make it so. Where's the evidence of this? Many students have claimed that he was slanging racial insults while taunting the black kid that had been beat by whites and hit with beer bottles. (by the way, only one white person was charged in that attack and offered probation; not 80 years in prison)

As noted here, the story of a no reason attack makes no sense; and to believe that, you first have to believe that these boys are just natural born black savages who picked out a totally innocent white boy at random, to beat him up for kicks.

2. Just becasue D.A. Walter and U.S. Attorney Donald Washington claim that the nooses hangings had nothing to do with the fight, doesn't make it so. That's his opinion, and a self serving one for both, because neither of them did anything about that threat; which started the build up of tension that lead to the school fight. In Washington case, even thought the FBI investigated and recommended it the noose hangings be prosecuted as a hate crime; which Washington refuses to do just because the noose hangers don't have a prior record.

3. Further, Justin Barker was doing this taunting with one of the noose hangers. How do we know, because, besides the students who were there saying so; he testified in court against Mychael Bell as a witness to the fight.

There are other points that I may add as I think of them

How Representative Is Jena of the South

2007-10-03T08:59:00.000-07:00

Certainly the South has a special brand of racial disharmony, that being, that the color lines are a little more obvious than most elsewhere; particularly in the rural South. It’s more apart of the ingrained culture of things, yet; racial disparity and tension is all throughout the United States and always has been. North and Mid-western states owned slaves too; and as Malcolm X said, "the South is South of the Canadian border". And must we go into all the police brutality, unjustified police shootings of blacks, or the likes of white Boston adults throwing rocks at Black children going to school.

The Jena situation is definitely born out of Southern segregation that was never fully resolved, and Jim Crow ideals of justice that have persisted. I fear though, that non-southerners, when reading about something like this, think this is really representative of the South; i.e. that Black people are walking around down here bowing to white folk, or that we live in tolerance of obvious signs seen on a daily basis.

I've lived in the South most of my life and have never experienced anything remotely like what has transpired in Jena the last year. I was just telling a friend before the march, who is from Iowa (though she's lived in Nashville for a while), that I've never seen the Klan in my life, accept on television. I grew up in Louisiana (in Bossier City, about 2.5 hours from Jena)and she's asking me what was it like...and I'm like, hell if I know what living in a place like Jena is like; I've always lived in cities, not backwoods towns. Even with Bossier being the smallest one, I still don't relate to that stuff; at least certainly not on that level.

People outside the South have this ideal that we live like the television show In The Heat of the Night or some Eyes on the Prize documentary -- It's 2007; come on. The actuality is, whites often move over on the sidewalk and look down when we walk by. Some think that Jena stuff is prevalent even in big cities. I know because folks from up north have told me so; as if there's Klan riding their horses down the street in front of our 250 million dollar football stadiums.

Sista Souljah, who's from New Jersey spoke at Tennessee State a few years ago, and I was talking to her after the event. She had never been to the South before and was talking about she was worried about coming down here and that she didn't know if the KKK would be out in the streets - LOL. Again, I've never seen the Klan accept on t.v. Them fuckers would get they ass lynched; they don't want to see us.

I'm not saying there isn't all kinds of racist stuff, but in the vast majority of places it's nothing as overt or physical as what has transpired in Jena.

Though all around the country, to me it seems it’s starting to be become more overt; like beating up “Nappy Headed” Black girls over cake crumbs .

Nooses Are Not A Prank

2007-10-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

Nooses from a truck in Alexandria Louisiana after the march
As I posted about Here; this happened to my group from Nashville.

Chief Coutee calls it a prank. I'm disappointed by this. As I talked about in that post linked above, I met the chief at a bar in Alexandria about two hours before this happened; and though he seemed like a good ol' boy culturally, he seemed pretty cool, and was very cordial with us marchers , 3 of us - he knew we were Marchers from out of town.

I usually don't give people the benefit of the doubt, and the one time I do, I'm remind why I don't.

Apparently there is a large portion of white America who thinks nooses are funny! They are bolstered by a few of their Black lackeys like Bush appointee, U.S. Attorney Donald Washington, who defends that position.

If swastikas were being bandied about I’m sure much more of white America, particularly Israel supporting conservative white America, would see no joke in it.

Hanging nooses, particularly directed at African Americans who were the subject of mass lynching in this country for at least a couple of centuries; even into the lifetime of millions of people still living; is at best a deep seeded insult, co-signing that history, and quite often is an outright death threat.

Either way it is easily harassment and racial intimidation. No wonder these kids go around hanging nooses; their parents think its funny, like a woopie cushion in a chair or toilet papering a tree.

As I’ve been saying, Black folks better wake up and see what we’re dealing with out here.

The atmosphere of racial intimidation against the Jena High School teens was allowed to build because the school board, Jena High teachers, and district attorney Reed Walters wrote off the first salvo, the hanging of nooses, as prank. After all that has happen, how do some not get it? Or the better question is, why do some not want to get it?

Reed Walters Conflict of Interest In Jena

2007-09-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

I was recently told by someone that Jena District Attorney, Reed Walters, is also the School Superintendent that overturned the expulsion recommend by Jena High's principle for the noose hangers. I told him I didn't think that was accurate, but he insisted, and I just didn't respond after that; because I've learned not to argue with people who are dead set on believing something no matter how impossible or lacking in evidence.

Though I was hard pressed to imagine that even in a place as small as Jena, that one-person would be allowed to hold two public positions like that, and having read tons of resources on this story, I couldn't see how this factoid would have escaped me; I thought due diligence required that I investigate the claim.

This is one of those cases of "when there's smoke, there's fire".

No, Walters is not the school superintendent, I was right about that; but he did serve as the School Boards lawyer regarding the Jena 6.

Now Public has the article here

An excerpt reads:

"La Salle Parish school board member William Fowler tells Amy Goodman of Democracy Now that the lawyer representing the school administration is none other than the district attorney in charge of the case. This revelation is telling in that no DA's office anywhere in the United States would allow such a conflict of interest no matter how serious the case. The following is a brief transcript of a most shocking interview."

That's right. The guy who didn't bother to prosecute the death threat of the nooses, let black kids get beat down with a beer bottle and threatened with shot guns, and offered a probation in one case and no prosecution in the other, and who wanted to put 6 kids in prison, effectively for life; provided the legal representation that would mold the decisions of the school board in dealing with the noose threat, racial segregation and racial animus at the school.

But I guess the Jim Crow defenders, including the netroots-progressives, will continue to claim the deck wasn’t stacked against the Jena 6. Never mind that whole collision of power/separation of powers thing.

Some Good Jena Six Video From the day of The March For Justice

2007-09-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

White High School Girl Representin for Jena 6 In Smyrna TN
This is right out side of Nashville where I live - From the local news. Maybe the white "progressive" bloggers who "couldn't find information" on the Jena Six can ask this girl where she got hers from to be able to know about it and take a stand.

Let my people go – let’s go get’em
As I wrote about in this post this was easily one of my favorite parts of the whole day. At this juncture they singing "Free Mychael Bell" then "the let's go get'em" chant and then "Oooooooh, let my people, let me people go". Then they later (not in the video) they chant "let’s go get’em" to just the drums while the other musicians hold the instruments up in the air. Loved IT!
Waring: it's loud!

This video doesn't do the music, atmosphere, or the feeling of it, justice.

Setting Up Technorati

2007-09-28T18:20:00.000-07:00

Technorati Profile

Justin Barker, The True Victim in the Jena 6 Case

2007-09-28T18:02:00.001-07:00

More on Jena 6 @ BlackPerspective.net

This is the line we keep getting from the ‘status quo of racism’ defenders.

Sure, he’s the purist, most innocent kid that ever lived. He’s such a good kid he got expelled from school 5 months after the fight for brining a gun to school. Now he’s a high school dropout as I understand it.

Their should be some recompense for the butt kicking that was delivered to Mr. Barker, but some recompense does not = anything goes. The charges are way overblown! This is the issue here. The fact that the Jena 6 had to be disciplined is hardly in dispute by anyone. That doesn’t mean any discipline is okay. If somebody steals a piece of candy from the store, that doesn’t make chopping off their hand justified. If someone steals a car, they should be prosecuted, but it doesn’t mean they deserve 50 years in prison. The time should fit the crime. It is also a crime to try to kill an ant with a sledgehammer, metaphorically speaking.

Further, ignoring all the context of the incident, and accepting one sided stories that don’t make sense and don’t fit the facts, is egregious. Reed Walters has presented to date, NO evidence of a conspiracy versus a spontaneous reaction to a verbal racial assault; that was in continuation of at least months of racial intimidation. Such context changes everything. If he has no evidence of conspiracy, why did he charge it in the first place; save he was out to get those kids to put the blacks in their place?

Justin Barker is a punk, a thug, and a race baiter. He instigated and attempted to racially intimidate, and then wants to act as if he had no role in anything.

How can one accept the notion, that Justin Barker neither said nor did a thing to provoke the attack; particularly in contradiction to the black students who say he was with at least one of the noose hangers at the time, taunting with racial slurs the black student who had been beaten by whites at a party.

WHICH MAKES MORE SENSE? Only one story makes ANY sense. If you believe Justin Barker, and the noose hanger that was with him and testified as a witness in court; then Black savages, for no reason whatsoever, plotted to randomly pick a white guy to beat down just for the hell of it; and Justin Barker was these savages unfortunate, innocent target.

First, if you believe they just randomly picked him to beat for no reason; then you believe in the long embedded racist stereotype of small brained marauding black Negroes, who only have the mental capacity for sex and violence.

There is more contexts that shapes this whole issue, and that shows Reed Walters had it out to get somebody Black, particularly the ones at the school interrupting the racial status quo.

When the principal of the school (the only person in Jen who’s done anything right in this situation) recommended the noose hangers be expelled, and the superintendent overruled him and slapped them on the wrist with a measly 3 days IN-SCHOOL suspension; the Black kids protested. Not an organized, formal protest mind you, but simply raised their voices in dismay that the noose hangers where getting off so light for such a deep insult and threat of bodily harm. Because of this, Reed Walters came up to the school, held an assembly, and told the Black kids if they didn’t stop their protest and basically get back in their place, “that he would end their lives with the stroke of a pen”. This shows a clear predisposition on his part – stay in your place nigger or I’m gonna get’ch ya – that was the clear message.

Then, in order to make his aggravated battery charge, once the fight did happen, he had to have aggravating circumstances; such as a deadly weapon. He calls a tennis shoe a deadly weapon. If a tennis shoe is a deadly weapon, then a stack of typing paper is a deadly weapon. This is absurd. It’s clearly and extreme overreach. I submit that it is an ‘I’m going get you anyway I can and make an example out of you’ reach.

This is against the backdrop of an ongoing history and tradition in this country of over charging and overly aggressively prosecuting black people when a white person is the victim (or in many times supposed victim) in racially charged settings.

This situation does not simply exist in a vacuumed.

A suspension and maybe a misdemeanor assault charge may have been appropriate; but 80 to 100 years for teens in a school fight who were provoked by constant racial intimidation, death threats, and beatings they took themselves? Even 15 to 22 years, as if there’s no culpability on the other side? For teenagers? Can YOU imagine living under a constant barrage of threats, abuse, and intimidation? Is it not human nature to react when the final straw hits. When the authorities (here, both school, police, and prosecutors) have shown they will not only not protect you, but that they are satisfied to maintain that status quo. When a white teen threatened black students with a shot gun, and they wrestled it away from him, the black students got charged with theft of a firearm, and the white teen didn’t get prosecuted. Is this not a clear message from the white authorities that we not only don’t care what happens to you; but if you sass a white person we’re going to get you?

People get beat up at school all the time for way less provocation (or just for bullying purposes) than what these kids endured. I’ve seen black students stomped before, and no one went to prison. People get beat up at school all the time for way less provocation (or just for bullying purposes) than what these kids endured. I’ve seen black students stomped before, and no one went to prison. It’s a lie that Barker was beat so bad that he almost died. People who almost die don’t go to social events the same night of such a severe beating; they’re too busy, in the hospital, trying not to die!

Where was the zeal and resilience that Reed Walters exhibits in going after the Jena 6, for prosecuting white kids during months of threats, intimidation, physical violence, and abuse? He scarcely went after anybody white for their barrage upon the black kids (one probation for a similar beating administered to a black kid, where a real weapon, a beer bottle across the head was used). He let an environment of intimidation and ridicules fester, and then went full throttle when the recipients of the hostility finally boiled over and exploded.

This is why there is a battered wife’s syndrome recognized in the courts, because it’s understandably human nature that if someone constantly abuses and berates you, that you can have a breaking point. This is why so many school systems in recent years have adopted no tolerance for bullying policies. But some people want to act like these factors don’t exist in this case. In their eyes, the case is as simple as six Black savages, for no reason whatsoever, out of the thin blue sky, beat a pure, innocent, all American white boy.

Oh by the way, some of the Jena 6 claim they weren’t even the ones in the fight (such as Bryant Purvis), and where not arrested on the spot; they weren’t arrested until the next day. I’ve not seen to date, any evidence from DA Walters proving Purvis, for one, was actually even involved. Forget all the above, it’s possible that some may be out right innocent. But you know something; Purvis was involved in leading the protest, though. You know, the protesting that lead to Reed Walters threat to end their lives with the stroke of his pen. Hmmm, how curious.

Read how Reed Walters felt that the noose hanging was insignificant and was frustrated that black people dare be upset by it, and how he was determined to put a stop to black folks making an issue of it: http://friendsofjustice.wordpress.com/2007/09/08/the-wall-of-shame/

Time line of Jena 6 events: http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=103414

Good Article framing the issue, with a Reed Walter quote of the nooses being an “innocent prank”: http://www.newuniversity.org/showArticle.php?id=6027