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It Was Surreal in Jena, 45 Miles from My Hometown

By Sha'Day Jackson
Black College Wire

I will never forget Thursday, Sept. 20, in Jena, La. When I arrived at the airport in Baton Rouge that Wednesday evening, I couldn't help but admit to myself how surreal it felt traveling to Jena to cover what would be one of the largest civil rights events in the 21st century.

Sha'Day Jackson with actor and rapper Mos Def in Jena, La.

I say this because I was born and raised in Ferriday, La., a small town about 45 miles from Jena. (I've spent the majority of my life in Arlington, Texas.) It was hard to believe that Jena — the place so close to where I was raised and the home of some of my relatives — was about to attract media from across the nation.

But after arriving at a relative's house in Jena, then walking to the Ward 10 Recreational Park and seeing the growing masses of people, I knew it was all real.

There were black T-shirts with the words, "Free the Jena 6 now," college students with serious expressions on their faces taking big steps off charter buses, and an inviting atmosphere where both blacks and whites could be seen walking in the spirit of unity.

It's amazing, because I thought the days of holding hands tightly, singing Negro spirituals and marching to the local courthouse were decades behind my generation. But the many students from schools such as Dillard, Howard, North Carolina Central and Grambling State universities proved to me that the fight for equality was in no way about to reach its end.

If anything, the peers who poured out into the town of Jena were the opposite of what society has continually viewed them to be. They were not lazy and complacent, but courageous and strong. They were hurt by the fact that nooses were still being hung from trees in America in 2007. They were disappointed that the justice system they were taught to believe in so deeply gave young black teenagers a harsher punishment than it did young white teenagers.

I saw them demand justice with their loud voices, raising fists of black pride. I saw them cry tears of joy as they heard the encouraging and assuring words of the Rev. Jesse Jackson. But most important, I saw my peers in Jena — the town so close to Ferriday — believe they could stand up and demand an end to injustice.

Although I was there to report on the way the protests affected them, I was able to walk with them and also tell the nation how much we refuse to be silent. And while I'm not as familiar with Jena as my family is, I did grow up knowing how close it was to my hometown.

I can't really speak about racism in the town as my family might be able to, but I can say that if injustice lives there or anywhere else, my peers and I will stand up against it. On behalf of the six boys known as the "Jena Six," I pray to God that justice does come to pass.

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

Posted Sept. 25, 2007