Thousands Demand, "Free the Jena Six"

By Sha’Day Jackson
Black College Wire

PHOTO DIARY

Black T-shirts, purple ribbons, the U.S. and black liberation flags swinging high, handmade posters, picket signs and fists clenched while rising to the sky: This was the uniform for many of the thousands of people, black and white, who marched two miles from the Ward 10 Recreational Park in Jena, La., to the LaSalle Parish courthouse declaring, "Free the Jena Six."

Drew Daniels/Black College Wire Some students from historically black colleges, such as James Barrett, left, and Kamali Walker of Grambling State University, said they felt proud to be protesting racism.

“It was a very moving event,” said Mikal Alkhatib, a senior at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Ga. “This march showed how much the U.S. needs to stop focusing so much on issues like foreign policy and more toward the domestic issues such as [the] Jim Crow . . . that does still exist.

“Things like this need to happen every now and then for every generation to get a better understanding of the Civil Rights Movement that happened before,” Alkhatib, a political science major, said of the Sept. 20 event.

The Jena Six case involves six African American teenagers accused of beating a white fellow student, Justin Barker, in a schoolyard fight after a series of events that included nooses found hanging under a campus tree. Protesters have said the charges, which included attempted murder, are disproportionate.

The aggravated battery conviction of Mychal Bell, one of the six, was overturned by the Third Court of Appeals in Lake Charles, La., on Sept. 14. Some of the marchers, especially students at historically black colleges and universities, said they felt the need to be present to support the other five teenagers as well. Some said it was an emotional experience; they felt proud to be part of a protest against what they believed to be racial injustice.

Other HBCUs represented included Grambling State, Dillard, Savannah State, North Carolina Central, Winston-Salem State, and Howard universities, among others. Some white students, from both HBCUs and majority-white universities, were also present.

Ashley Sgarlata, a student at Hunter College in New York, said she was upset about how blacks had been persecuted over the centuries.

“I just don’t feel like, ‘oh, I’m a white person and it’s different,’” Sgarlata, who traveled with the Harlem Revolution Club, said. “I’m just moving in solidarity for a cause that matters.”

Drew Daniels/Black College Wire Jesse Jackson warned marchers about 'those who may try to insist their way into the crowds.'

The Rev. Jesse Jackson kicked off the march about 10 a.m. at the park.

Before proceeding, Jackson warned marchers to be aware of “those who may try to insist their way into the crowds.”

However, most businesses in Jena were closed because of the protests. Marchers were not taunted and there was no direct sign of opposition.

Jackson led the marchers, who walked in the hot sun with portable fans, towels on their heads and expressions of unity on their faces.

“The spirit of the people, speaking in harmony, saying ‘excuse me if you bumped into someone,’ showed how much we respect one another,” said Michael Muhammed of the Nation of Islam in Fort Worth, Texas.

The New Black Panther Party for Self Defense, the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Rainbow/Push Coalition and the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network were some of the other organizations represented.

“I pray that our voices are heard and that the rest of the country will see that there is still racism and prejudice here,” Nicole Benson, a senior at Howard University, said. They don’t need "to put a tent over it like it has been fought off.”

Vince Chatman, who traveled from Jackson State in Jackson, Miss., with three others, said he was there to support the cause. “Not only is it an ethical thing, but it’s a godly thing to come and support what’s right,” he said.

The day started with a rally at 8 a.m. Celebrities and prominent speakers such as "Cousin Jeff" Johnson of BET and comedian Rickey Smiley encouraged the crowd, which was estimated at between 5,000 and 40,000, to be committed to the fight against racial injustice.

Student representatives from North Carolina Central, Spelman and Howard were among the many who spoke.

Before the march, Walter M. Kimbrough, president of Philander Smith College in Arkansas, said his was the only college or university in the state, and one of just two organizations sending buses. "Roughly 20 percent of our entire student body is attending, a bold statement that shows our students are committed to our new social justice initiative," he said.

Xavier University said more than 170 students would be riding buses in a trip coordinated by Xavier’s NAACP student chapter, Student Government Association and Activities Board.

Prairie View A&M University said it would have more than 120 students, faculty and administrators at the protest rally on the courthouse steps.

“The Jena 6 case is a horrible act of injustice,” student government association president Andre Evans, a senior criminal justice and psychology major from Houston, said in a Prairie View news release. “No one should just sit back and wait for action. Hopefully our presence will serve as a proactive step and message toward gaining justice for these students.”

Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, head women’s basketball coach and former WNBA player, has committed to partner with the Student Government Association to help organize a celebrity basketball tournament to raise funds for the Jena Six, the school said.

Sha'Day Jackson, a student at Tuskegee University, is editor-in-chief of the Campus Digest. To comment, e-mail .

Posted Sept. 20, 2007

Some Misrepresenting the Rally

This is wonderful, to see so many people — young and old — rallying behind these six young men for justice! It amazes me that for all the positive energy you all are displaying to see justice done, there are still so many other people who feel like blacks are trying to stir the pot.

I live in Georgia and some of these people are trying to turn around a peaceful rally into some gang-related riot that is being plotted. Keep the coverage up. You all are doing a wonderful job.

Anika Rodgers
Warner Robins, Ga.
Sept. 19, 2007

Highlight W.Va. Torture Case

I am in full support of the Jena Six. But I must ask, why is it that at the same time I do not hear activists speaking about the hate crime committed against Meagan Williams in West Virginia? Our job is not just to seek justice for the Jena Six. Our job is also to bring attention to the acts such as nooses hung from trees and torture that are still being done in the name of racism. These cases go hand in hand with the inequality of justice that reigns in the United States.

At this time, it is my understanding that her torturers are being charged with a number of offenses. Their assault charges are either “assault during the commission of a felony” or “malicious wounding.” Now, I’m not a lawyer and so I don’t know how these charges compare with those that have been brought against the Jena Six. But I hope that you will take the time to push this story to the front of your agenda and pursue it alongside the Jena Six. It is important that we pay attention to this case and ensure that her white persecutors are charged and sentenced in a just manner.

It is not just our young black men who are in danger; our young black women are in danger of being victims of miscarriages of justice, too.

Charlotta Beavers
Huntington, N.Y.
Sept. 21, 2007