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Thousands of demonstrators descended on Jena, La., Thursday from across the country for what Al Sharpton called the beginning of the 21st century's civil rights movement.
The demonstration prompted change and awareness, that's for sure. In the wake of it:
- A countless number of those who could not make it to the rally from across the country wore black in solidarity with the Jena demonstrators.
- President Bush made his first remarks regarding the case. "The events in Louisiana have saddened me." he said. "And I understand the emotions. The Justice Department and the FBI are monitoring the situation down there. And all of us in America want there to be, you know, fairness when it comes to justice."
- The story is being played around the world, from the BBC in England to Al Jazeera.
The six black teenagers who have become known as the Jena Six were first charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate after nooses were hung from a tree at school. Despite their age, all but one young man was also charged as an adult.
Marchers on Thursday carried signs that said "Praise Mychal Bell," the only teen of the Jena Six who remains jailed.
After being convicted by an all-white jury, Bell was the last to have his conviction of aggravated assault overturned by a Louisiana appeals court last week. They ruled that he shouldn't have been tried as an adult. He will now be tried as a juvenile and the others still await their court dates.
Sharpton said before the rally, "Don't act like we coming to start trouble. We're coming to stop trouble."
Reports so far say that the demonstration, which shut down the school and all the businesses in the town of 3,000, was big and peaceful. No trouble.
Marchers chanted "Free the Jena Six" and "No Justice, No Peace," pointing to the case as yet another example of Southern legal injustice. All of the marchers on Thursday want ALL charges against all six dropped completely.
The Jena Six teens found themselves in an unimaginable situation last year when nooses where hung from a tree on their high school campus, a powerful sign of lynching and racism. Fights where followed by arrests, but the white teens who hung the nooses were not charged with a crime.
Comments: (246)
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By: Jennifer on 9/26/2007 11:56AM
I am so sick and tired of the fighting because of a skin color! It is 2007 and we're fighting the same fight, and the bad part about it, it's far from over. Sometimes I think we're going to be fighting because of the color of our skin forever, til the end of days. Sometimes I wish that white people could just live our life for at least one day, just one day so they can actually feel what it's like. They need to be black for one day. It'll probably change they're whole life. From slavery til now, we're still fighting. God Bless America!!!
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By: Andrea on 9/28/2007 2:21PM
Thank God he is finally out of that box of a jail,and the fight continues. Now that he is out of jail,I pray that he is very careful about where he goes and whom he is with. I wish that the Islamic guys would stay with him or someone that can look out for him because there is so much hatred for this young black male. The hatred just spews all over these comments on here and of course he is in the south,deep,deep south and we all know from history what these white folks will done in the south. Bell must not be alone or in places where they may do harm to him. No I am not over reacting,I am listening and reading the things that are being said against this young man,plus remember I live in the south.I live in North Carolina and the things that are being said about Bell by the whites here are not good but of course they aren't exactly saying it,they are writing it in newspapers and other little local papers.Let's not be ignorant to this we as black people know that white people can do such deadly things in the night,they are just as dangerous as the man Bush is hunting down in Pakastin,so be real about this.Don't stick your heads in the sand and think that they are going to accept this after all they feel like one of their pure little white boys was done wrong and if it's anything that the whole world should know by now,they don't like this.
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By: RICHARD CABLE on 9/30/2007 8:28PM
I am very happy tha Mr Bell has been released,but the playing field still isn't level.When someone is released on bond they should not be placed under house arrest.So with all the public outcry the D.A. in Jena is still showing that he is going to do whatever he wants.Its time for the justice department needs to get involved because civil rights are being violated.
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By: Carolyn Archer on 9/29/2007 4:45AM
FIRST I WOULD LIKE TO THANK MISS MARGARET BAKER POST #11 AND IPRESS POST#14 FOR SETTING THINGS STRAIGHT. AND ALL THE OTHER POSTIVE PEOPLE OUT THERE.
SECOND I WOULD LIKE TO TELL MR. JONES AND MR WATTS AND ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE TO GET A CLUE.
FIRST OF ALL THOSE BLACK TEENS SHOULD NOT HAVE SEEN A JAIL CELL. i WAS NOT ABLE TO GO TO THE MARCH IN BODY BUT I DAMN SURE WAS THERE IN SPIRIT.
I SIGNED PETITIONS AND SENT OUT EMAILS TO EVERY ONE THAT I KNEW. THIS WAS INDEED ONE OF THE PROUDEST DAYS OF MY LIFE.
BUT RACISM IS ALIVE AND WELL AND IT WILL NOT GO AWAY JUST BECAUSE SOME OF US CHOOSE TO TURN OUR BACKS OR BE BLIND TO IT BECAUSE THE THINK IT DOESN'T EFFECT THEM.
IF IT EFFECTS ONE IT EFFECTS ALL. IF IT HAS NOT HAPPENED TO YOU IT WILL, OR IF IT DID AND YOU CHOSE TO IGNORE IT THEN I REALLY FEEL SORRY FOR YOU.
WE CANNOT JUST SIT BY AND PLAY THESE RACISM GAMES AND ACT LIKE 3 BLIND MICE OR SEE NOTHING HEAR NOTHING OR SAY NOTHING BECAUSE IT'S NOT A GAME. THIS IS 2007 IT HAPPENS IN JENA AND IT HAPPENS HERE.
ALL OF US IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER HAVE BEEN BLINDSIDED BY RACISM.
OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR MINDS. AND PLEASE OPEN YOUR MOUTHS. IT MUST STOP NOW. WE ARE SURPOSE TO BE EQUAL MAN WOMAN AND CHILD. WE HAVE TO BE . OPEN YOUR EYES
WE ARE NOT SECOND CLASS CITIZINS, WE ARE NOT SLAVES THAT SHIP HAS PAST, AM I COULD HAVE SWORN WE GOT OFF. OR DID WE?
WE NEED TO TEACH OUR SELVES AND OUR CHILDREN THAT WE HAVE RIGHTS JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE. THAT THEY CAN GO TO GOOD SCHOOLS AND LEARN AND BE WHO THEY CHOOSE TO BE.
THAT THEY CAN AND ARE INTITLED TO A DAMN GOOD EDUCATION AND A GOOD JOB. THAT IF THEY CHOOSE ONE DAY THEY TO CAN BE PRESIDENT OF OUR UNITED STATES.
OUR HISTORY TEACHES US THAT IN THE PAST WE WERE KINGS AND QUEENS AND GREAT WORRIORS. THAT WE WERE A GREAT PEOPLE AND CAN BE AGAIN. IF IT TAKES A AL SHARPTON OR EVEN A JESSIE JACKSON TO SHOW IT TO US THEN SO BE IT.
REGUARDLESS OF THERE PAST (AS THE SAYING GOES!! HE WITHOUT SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE!!!!!) THEY ALL STEPPED UP WHEN THEY NEEDED TO. SO WHO CARES WHAT THEY DID, IT'S WHAT THEY ARE DOING NOW THAT COUNTS.
IT'S WHAT WE SHOULD ALL BE DOING THAT WILL COUNT.
AND THAT IS TEACHING OUR CHILDERN AND THERE CHILDERN WHERE WE CAME FROM, WHERE WE ARE NOW, AND WERE WE GO IN THE FUTURE.
OUR SPIRITS AND SOULS ARE SO STRONG THAT NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO OR TRY TO DO TO KEEP US DOWN WILL NOT WORK. BECAUSE WE WILL ALWAYS RAISE UP. IT IS IN OUR BLOODLINE. WE ARE WORRIORS.
THE ONLY THING KEEPING US DOWN IS US. THE ONLY CONTROL THEY HAVE OVER US IS WHAT WE ALLOW THEM TO HAVE.
STOP GIVING THEM CONTROL.WE HAVE NOT MASTERS. ONLY THE LORD GOD HAS A RIGHT TO CONTROL US. AND IT IS OUR GOD GIVEN RIGHT TO PRAISE HIM. AND TO LIVE AND TO BE A FREE PEOPLE.
BREAK THOSE CHAINS FROM YOUR MINDS, WE ARE A AFRICAN NATION, WE ARE STRONG, PROUD, BEAUTIFUL AND MOST OF ALL BOLD.
SO NO MATTER WHAT OUR WHITE COUNTERPARTS OR THE MANY OREO COOKIES THAT ARE AMOUNG US SAY TO OR ABOUT US (STICKS AND STONES). WE WILL NOT FALL WE MAY BEND A LITTLE BUT WE WILL NOT BREAK. IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT WHAT I HAVE SAID IN THIS POST REMEMBER THESE WORDS.
WE WILL NOT BREAK, WE MIGHT BEND BUT WE WILL NOT FALL. AND IF WE DO THEN WE WILL PICK OURSELVES UP, DUST OURSELVES OFF AND KEEP IT MOVING.
WE MUST ABOLISH MODERN DAY SLAVERY!!!!!!
WE MUST BREAK THOSE CHAINS THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO HOLD US WITH AND KEEP US DOWN WITH.
P.S PLEASE EXCUSE MY SPELLING.
WE ARE STRONG.
WE ARE BLACK.
AND WE ARE PROUD.
WE SHALL RISE.
WE SHALL RISE.
TO QUOTE MARTIN;; WE ARE FREE AT LAST, WE ARE FREE AT LAST
THANK GOD ALMIGHTY
WE WILL BE FREE AT LAST.
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By: Carolyn Archer on 9/29/2007 5:23AM
POST 241 DOUGLAS WATTS I NOW SEE WHAT YOU ARE SAYING. IN YOUR ORTHER POST YOU REALLY DID NOT MAKE YOUR SELF CLEAR.
YOU ARE RIGHT WE AS A PEOPLE DO HAVE A LOT OF PROBLEMS AND WE NEED TO ADDRESS THIS. BUT IF HAS TO START SOME WHERE WITH SOME BODY AND MAYBE, JUST MAYBE WHAT HAPPENED IN JENA WAS A WAKE UP CALL. FOR ALL OF US.
I KNOW YOU FEEL A NOOSE IS NOT THAT IMPORTANT CONSIDERING ALL THAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR PEOPLE BUT IN A WAY IT DOES . THE NOOSE IS SYMBOLIC OF SLAVERY JUST LIKE THE WORD NIGGER IS. AND THEY DID FINALLY ABOLISH THE WORD FROM THE DICTONARY. BUT TO ABOLISH IT FROM OUR MINDS IS WHAT WE AS A PEOPLE HAVE TO WORK ON AND BECAUSE OF OUR PAST IT WILL TAKE SOME LONGER THEN OTHERS.
WE AS A PEOPLE MUST HELP ONE ANOTHER, TEACH EACH OTHER AND LEARN FROM EACH OTHER. AND LIKE YOU HAVE SAID TO STOP HATING OURSELVES AND EACH OTHER.
I READ YOUR POST AND I MOST SAY YOU HAVE A STRONG ARGUEMENT AND VERY GOOD POINTS, NOW IF ALL OF US AS A PEOPLE CAN LEARN FROM THEM AND WHAT HAPPENED IN JENA AND FROM ALL OF THE MISTAKES THAT WE HAVE MADE FROM THE PAST AND PRESENT THEN WE WILL BE STRONGER BECAUSE OF IT.
WE MUST START SOMEWHERE TO MAKE THE CHANGES WE NEED TO MAKE HAPPEN. AND IF JENA STARTS IT THEN WE ARE GETTING SOME WHERE.
YOU MUST ADMIT THAT PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO AWAKE AND I MUST SAY IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMMING.
THINGS ARE STARTING TO CHANGE AND ALL CHANGE COMES FROM WITHIN. AS FAR AS RAP MUSIC GOES WE MUST START CENSORING WHAT WE AND OUR CHILDREN LISTEN TO. MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND THAT ALL OF THE MUSIC THEY LISTEN TO IS NOT ALL GOOD. IF THEY WERE SINGING ABOUT KILLING WHITE PEOPLE THEN IT WOULD BE RIPPED FROM THE SHELFS, BUT SINCE IT IS DIRECTED AT US TO DISRESPECT US THEN THEY HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH IT.
WE MUST START SOMEWHERE.
MAYBE JENA IS THAT SOMEWHERE.
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By: DADS GIRL on 10/03/2007 10:08PM
I WAS SO PROUD OF MY PEOPLE ON 9/20/07. AS I WAS DRIVING TO WORK ON THAT DAY, IN MY BLACK, I NOTICED PEOPLE IN THEIR CARS IN THEIR CARS, ALSO IN THEIR BLACK AND WHEN WE MADE EYE CONTACT WE ACKNOWLED EACH OTHER WITH A SMILE. THOSE THAT WERE USING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, STOOD AT THEIR BUS STOPS, DRESSED IN ALL BLACK. CO-WORKERS WHO DID NOT HAVE ON BLACK WORE BLACK RIBBONS.
WE HAVE LOST A GENERATION OF CHILDREN WHO KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT WHAT THE CIVIL RIGHT'S FIGHT WAS ALL ABOUT BECAUSE THE MAJORITY OF THEM HAVE BEEN INTERGRATED IN THEIR SCHOOLS AND THEIR COMMUNITY.
MANY OF THEM DON'T KNOW WHAT THEIR ANCESTORS WENT THROUGH IN ORDER FOR THEM TO LIVE WHERE THEY WANT TO, AND GO TO SCHOOL WHERE THEY WANT TO, AND THE RIGHT TO VOTE.
I'M A TAX PAYER, AND THERE SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN A ALL WHITE TREE, AT A PUBLIC SCHOOL.
THE WHOLE INCIDENT WAS HANDLED WRONG, AND IF IT HAD BEEN HANDLED CORRECTLY THERE PROBABLY WHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN A FIGHT, NOOSES, BURNING OF THE SCHOOL, AND ALL OF THE INCIDENTS THAT HAS HAPPENED DUE TO IGNORANT PEOPLE WHO ARE LETTING THEIR SHEETS SHOW.
MY QUESTION TO MR WATTS, ARE YOU ANOTHER CLEARENCE THOMAS?
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