"No Justice, No Peace!" "Free the Jena 6!" Eyewitness Reports, Jena, LA, Sept. 20, 2007

"No Justice, No Peace!" "Free the Jena 6!" Eyewitness Reports, Jena, LA, Sept. 20, 2007

1. Eyewitness Report, Jena, LA.,

Sept. 20, 2007

By Dianne Mathiowetz

There is probably no way to determine the exact number of people who filled the streets of Jena, La., for more than 12 hours today.

It was both a work and a school day in this small town in rural Louisiana, far from any major population center and accessible mainly by a two-lane road. Yet, from dawn until dusk, the scene in downtown Jena was one of an ever-flowing crowd of people wearing black tee shirts--people of all ages but of one mind: to demand justice now for six African-American teen-agers whose prosecution for a schoolyard fight with a white classmate illuminates the racial disparities endemic to the U.S. justice system. It is clear to all that many, many thousands gathered in Jena. Was it 100,000, as some say? For sure, tens of thousands came representing hundreds of thousands; came demanding justice for the millions of African-American people throughout the country who suffer daily from racial discrimination, national oppression and racist profiling. When millions of immigrants demonstrated on May 1, one year ago, to demand dignity and human rights, the corporate media, as usual, was oblivious to the massive mobilizations taking place in communities of color. Jena is no exception.

Arrogant in their ability to define what is news and smugly confident that people have been rendered incapable of acting in their own interests, the major television networks and newspapers scrambled to catch up with these historic actions. A vital element is the role of the radio talk show hosts whose programs aired the issues concerning the community. Michael Baisden, Tom Joyner and other nationally syndicated radio personalities played a major role in alerting Black communities across the country to the situation that was unfolding in Jena. Many youth, especially on the campuses of historically Black colleges and universities, became educated about the case through the Internet. Blogs aroused students to mount demonstrations and rallies and teach-ins on their campuses as schools came into session this fall. The Color Of Change activists harnessed this technology to blast the case all over cyberspace. The support of Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network, Rev. Jesse Jackson, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Nation of Islam, the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and other national organizations and famous personalities were important in bringing the case to light and persisting, despite the lack of interest by the corporate media. The grass-roots character of many of the organizers showed everywhere. Those who chartered and filled hundreds of buses were first-time demonstrators from colleges and universities; union members from Detroit's auto plants and Teamsters from Atlanta; church women, Black business people; parents; and neighborhood activists mostly from towns and cities across the South but also from the Northeast, Midwest, Southwest and West Coast. Carloads of families and friends drove for hours, bringing children so they could be part of “making history."

Grey-haired seniors who had experienced the terror of Klan night-riders and lynchings during the 1960s; residents of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast who have survived criminal neglect and injury by the government during Katrina and Rita; mothers and fathers who can never escape worrying about whether their children will be victims of police brutality, all melded together in the courthouse square, in parks where parallel rallies were taking place, and along the streets in front of shuttered businesses. The slogans on two of the most common signs explain why the protest defied all expectations: "Enough is enough" and "We are the Jena 6." Distrust of the justice system, the presence of inequality every day decades after the passage of civil rights legislation, the ever-looming possible loss of employment, housing, healthcare and education, and the weight of endless war and occupation caused an eruption from below. It was a remarkable day, not just in Jena but everywhere else that people rallied and marched in solidarity, wore black to work or school, and talked about organizing to make a change. Dianne Mathiowetz is a leader of the Atlanta chapter of the International Action Center..

2. Eyewitness report, Jena, LA

Sept. 20, 2007

By Gloria Rubac

A militant, dignified and powerful sea of mostly African Americans filled almost every street in the small rural town of Jena, La., today to let the world know that Jim Crow injustice is not going to be tolerated any longer.

With chants of “Enough is enough--Free the Jena Six” and “No justice, no peace, no racist police!” throngs of people protested in front of the LaSalle Parish Courthouse, on the lawn of the Jena High School, in a large city park and on many city streets.

They came from all over the United States, mostly from every single Southern state, by train, plane, bus, motorcycle and car, to support the Jena Six.

Dozens of historically Black colleges and universities had delegations, including Texas Southern University, Prairie View A & M University, Paul Quinn College, Dillard University, Spelman College, Grambling State University, Jackson State University, North Carolina Central University and Southern University.

Of the buses from Houston and surrounding areas, two were from Prairie View, three were from Texas Southern, and three had working people, students, youth and elders. Hundreds from Dallas caravanned with their churches, universities or groups of friends.

Many in Jena had never marched before but came with their school. Many others were working people who had taken a day off; a large number of them had participated in the 1960s civil rights marches and protests.

Some groups of families and elders sat in portable, lightweight chairs in groups of 10 to 25, talking about the Jena Six, eating homemade picnic lunches, and reminiscing about the struggles that brought about the victories of the civil rights movement. They eagerly accepted literature and signed petitions.

A large delegation from North Carolina Central University Law School sat together in maroon law school shirts, taking in all the activities with wide eyes. One young woman commented, “I thought this only happened in history books. And here I am!”

A middle-class Black family sat together in lawn chairs with a big sign that read “No justice, no peace—OKC” and had a large peace sign in the middle. When asked if the “OKC” meant Oklahoma City, they proudly said that they had driven all night from there to be a part of history and take a stand in support of the Jena Six.

Working Black ranchers from rural Florida attended. They said to tell everyone that Black ranchers were represented in Jena and emphasized that they not only owned their ranches but also worked them every day.

Folks from all over Louisiana attended, from big cities like Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Lake Charles to small towns like Broussard, New Iberia, Bunkie, Wilson, Houma, Crowley and Opelousous.

Traditional civil rights organizations were well represented. Large groups carried NAACP signs from many cities. The SCLC also had hundreds of signs.

There were also members of the New Black Panther Party, the Millions More Movement, the National Black United Front, and many other activist and militant organizations.

People on top of a large white RV owned by Robert Clark of Monroe, La. spoke to the crowds all morning. A man recited Martin Luther King’s speech on Vietnam as well as his “I Have a Dream” speech from the 1963 march on Washington.

Supporters donated bail money all day for Mychal Bell, one of the Jena Six. Over $18,000 was collected in donations of $5, $10, $20 and $100. The crowd on that block cheered every time someone put a bill in the box. Clark gave their names and home city. When it was announced that over $18,000 had been raised and that they would try to bail out Mychal Bell that afternoon, the crowd went wild.

Because every street in Jena has only two small lanes, and because the courthouse rally had an inadequate sound system for such a huge crowd, each block began its own impromptu rallies, street meetings, drumming, second line dancing, picnics, reunions, conga lines and marches.

The mood of the crowd was very serious, militant and determined. Many conveyed the feeling that they knew the whole world was watching Jena and so they were careful to maintain discipline while being excited, angry and focused. Participants picked up every scrap of paper and every empty water bottle off lawns and streets.

Taking photos and videos was the order of the day. At the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement table, several people asked that the banner be held straighter as they snapped the shutter so folks at home could see who was there in Jena.

Two men from Mobile, Ala., held a big white banner. They asked people to sign it so they could send it to the Jena Six families. It read, “Free the Jena Six—Mobile, Alabama.” Hundreds of people signed with their names and hometowns.

At least a dozen different Jena Six tee shirts were being sold. Many organizations had come wearing their own originally designed shirts. Others sold shirts on the street. Some tee shirts depicted the virulent racism in Jena, by showing nooses or "The White Tree,” and some had quotes by noted civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer. Over 90 percent of the crowd wore black, as requested by organizers.

Some sympathetic whites in Jena waved to the buses while sitting in their yards. One elderly man gave two thumbs up to the crowd and told them,” Thanks for coming!"

Despite the 90-degree heat and not a cloud in the sky, people were focused and unity was the theme. Everyone agreed that each state has its own Jena, that it isn’t just Louisiana. And all left with a determination to continue the fight, not only for the Jena Six but for justice, when they get back to their homes.

Gloria Rubac is from Houston where she is an organizer with the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement.

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO FREE THE JENA 6 ON SEPTEMBER 20

Stop the War at Home and Abroad!

On Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007- a massive march and rally, tens of thousands of people strong, took place in Jena, Louisiana. Rallies in solidarity took place in dozens of major cities, small towns, and on college and high school campuses all over the country. Don't trust the TV or print news to tell the truth about this outpouring of protest against racist injustice? LISTEN for a few minutes--- On the Jena 6
Sept. 6, 2007, commentary on KPFK radio by John Parker of the Troops Out Now Coalition in Los Angeles. (Running Time 03:21)

Join with people from all walks of life, of all nationalities,
from all over the country coming to Jena!-Charter Buses, car pool, buy a
plane ticket and come to Jena for a mass protest!

Local plans: Sept 20, 2007, Thursday 4pm

Speak Out and Protest

Powell and Market St, San Francisco

All Out! Support National Days of Protest To Free the Jena Six

“THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!”

“THIS IS APPALLING IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD.”

“THIS SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED…ANY LONGER!”

“THIS INJUSTICE, INEQUALITY AND RACISM INFURIATES ME.”

“THESE YOUNG MEN GOTTA BE FREED!”

*“WHAT CAN I DO?”*

This is what people SAY when they hear about the case of the Jena 6.

AND NOW THIS MASS SENTIMENT MUST BECOME A MATERIAL POLITICAL FORCE TO
STOP A GREAT INJUSTICE.

The “Jena 6” are six Black students in Jena, Louisiana, who could go to
prison for decades because they stood up against deeply entrenched racism.

This all started on September 1, 2006. Black students at Jena High sat
under what had been, in 2006(!), a “WHITE ONLY TREE.”

The next day, racist students hung three NOOSES from the tree.

For all to see, a straight-up racist threat: KKK. Lynching. Black bodies
at the bottom of the river.

Dozens of Black students stand together under the tree in a courageous,
defiant protest. A school assembly is called where a white district
attorney tells the Black students to keep their mouths shut about the
nooses. Then he threatens them: “I can take away your lives with a
stroke of my pen.” When racist white students jump a Black student
walking into a party in Jena, one white student gets probation. Later,
when a Jena white threatens a Black student with a gun, and the Black
student disarms him, it’s the African-American who is arrested. And then
when a fight breaks out that sends a white student to the hospital for
an hour, the law comes down on six Black students, charging them with
attempted murder.

16-year-old Mychal Bell has already been convicted—by an all-white jury,
without a single witness being called on his behalf—of second-degree
battery and conspiracy to commit second-degree battery. He faces up to
22 years in prison. And the system continues to threaten to ruin the
lives of the other five youth who still face serious charges.

The railroading and persecution of these young Black men doesn’t have
anything to do with who did what to whom in a schoolyard fight—they are
being punished because they, and the other Black students in Jena, dared
to stand up against outrageous discrimination!
Up Against A System

The case of the Jena 6 concentrates the situation that still exists
throughout this country—where racism and segregation is the status quo
and white supremacy is enforced in unofficial but also OFFICIAL ways
this whole system operates. School officials, police, courts,
authorities, and government officials have worked together to persecute
the Jena 6. And this was approved from the highest authorities in the
land when a representative of the US Justice Department came to Jena and
said they could find no violation in the way Jena High authorities have
handled things and that in fact “all of their procedures were ‘regular’
and not ‘irregular.’”

No real punishment for white students who hang lynch nooses on a
schoolyard tree: REGULAR. Threatening Black students who protest this
racist threat: REGULAR. Giving a slap on the hand to white students who
attack Black students: REGULAR. Black students facing decades of prison
time for fighting with white students: REGULAR.

This is the REGULAR workings of a white supremacist system. A system
whose very foundations are deeply entwined with the outright slavery and
oppression of Black people.

A system which has no future for the masses of Black youth—for millions
and millions of Black youth, what they can expect is a future of
low-wage jobs at best, along with incarceration, police murder,
demonization, and full-out criminalization. And for those who do “make
it out,” there is still the continual battle against discrimination and
oppression at every turn.

Time to ACT!

It is not enough for many people to just know about the Jena 6. It is
not enough for people to just be outraged about this case. It is not
enough for people to read about it, or for a few well-known people to
“shine a light” on it. It will take a truly mass struggle by the people
to FREE THE JENA 6. A struggle that is broad, diverse, and determined.
And every person of conscience must ask: WHAT AM I DOING TO STOP THIS
GREAT INJUSTICE?

Across the country people are beginning to organize protests demanding
Free the Jena 6. We are calling for people to support these protests,
including NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO FREE THE JENA 6 ON SEPTEMBER 20
—DETERMINED, DEFIANT ACTION THAT SAYS:

NO TO WHITE SUPREMACY. WE DEMAND: FREE THE JENA 6. WE WILL KEEP ON
FIGHTING UNTIL ALL THE CHARGES ARE DROPPED. THIS SYSTEM OWES THESE YOUTH
AN APOLOGY!

for more information: 510 848-1196