[Antiracism] FW: Nooses and a legal lynching in Jena, Louisiana

Thu Jul 19 18:40:42 EDT 2007

----Original Message Follows----
From: "James & Van, ColorOfChange.org" <no-reply at colorofchange.org>
To: "michaelann bewsee" <michaelannb at hotmail.com>
Subject: Nooses and a legal lynching in Jena, Louisiana
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 06:05:45 PDT

Dear Michaelann,

Last fall in Jena, Louisiana, the day after two Black high school
students sat beneath the "white tree" on their campus, nooses were
hung from the tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a
"prank," more Black students sat under the tree in protest. The
District Attorney then came to the school accompanied by the town's
police and demanded that the students end their protest, telling them,
"I can be your best friend or your worst enemy... I can take away
your lives with a stroke of my pen."[1]

A series of white-on-black incidents of violence followed, and the DA
did nothing. But when a white student was beaten up in a schoolyard
fight, the DA responded by charging six black students with attempted
murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

It's a story that reads like one from the Jim Crow era, when judges,
lawyers and all-white juries used the justice system to keep blacks in
"their place"--but it's happening today.  The families of these young
men are fighting back, but the odds are stacked against them.
Together, we can make sure their story is told, that this becomes an
issue for the Governor of Louisiana, and that justice is provided for
the Jena 6. It starts now. Please add your voice:

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2382-66733

The noose-hanging incident and the DA's visit to the school set the
stage for everything that followed. Racial tension escalated over the
next couple of months, and on November 30, the main academic building
of Jena High School was burned down in an unsolved fire. Later the
same weekend, a black student was beaten up by white students at a
party. The next day, black students at a convenience store were
threatened by a young white man with a shotgun. They wrestled the gun
from him and ran away. While no charges were filed against the white
man, the students were arrested for the theft of the gun.[2]

That Monday at school, a white student, who had been a vocal supporter
of the students who hung the nooses, taunted the black student who was
beaten up at the off-campus party and allegedly called several black
students "nigger." After lunch, he was knocked down, punched and
kicked by black students. He was taken to the hospital but was
released and was well enough to go to a social event that evening.[3]

Six Black Jena High students, Robert Bailey (17), Theo Shaw (17),
Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Mychal Bell (16) and an
unidentified minor, were expelled from school, arrested and charged
with second-degree attempted murder. Bail was set so high -- between
$70,000 and $138,000 -- that the boys were left in prison for months
as families went deep into debt to release them.[4]

The first trial ended last month, and Mychal Bell, who has been in
prison since December, was convicted of aggravated battery and
conspiracy to commit aggravated battery (both felonies) by an
all-white jury in a trial where his public defender called no
witnesses. During his trial, Mychal's parents were ordered not to
speak to the media and the court prohibited protests from taking place
near the courtroom or where the judge could see them.

Mychal is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31st, and could go to jail
for 22 years.[5] Theo Shaw's trial is next. He will finally make bail
this week.

The Jena Six are lucky to have parents and loved ones who are fighting
tooth and nail to free them. They have been threatened but they are
standing strong. We know that if the families have to go it alone,
their sons will be a long time coming home. They will lose precious
years to Jena's outrageous attempt to maintain a racist status quo.
But if we act now, we can make a difference.

Please add your voice to the voices of these families in Jena, and
help bring Mychal, Theo, Robert, Carwin, and Bryant home. By clicking
below, you can demand that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco get
involved to make sure that justice is served for Mychal Bell, and that
DA Reed Walters drop the charges against the 5 boys who have not yet
gone to trial.

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2382-66733

Thank You and Peace,

-- James, Van, Gabriel, Clarissa, and the rest of the
ColorOfChange.org team
    July 17th, 2007

References:

1. "Injustice in Jena as Nooses Hang From the ‘White Tree,'" truthout,
July 3, 2007
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070307B.shtml

2. "Racial demons rear heads," Chicago Tribune, May 20, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/yvh7t5

3. See reference #1.

4. See reference #1.

5. "'Jena Six' defendant convicted," Town Talk, June 29, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/ysxtgg

Other resources:

NPR: Searching for Justice in Jena 6 Case (streaming audio)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11756302

Democracy Now! - The case of the Jena Six ...
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/10/1413220

Too Sense: Free The Jena Six Now
http://halfricanrevolution.blogspot.com/2007/07/free-jena-six-now.html

While Seated: Jena Six
http://www.whileseated.org/photo/003244.shtml

Nooses, attacks and jail for black students in Jena Louisiana
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/28/144445/384

Justice In Jena, by Jordan Flaherty
http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=12783&sectionID=30

The Perpetrator becomes the Prosecutor (and other related entries)
http://friendsofjustice.wordpress.com/blog/

'Stealth racism' stalks deep South
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/6685441.stm

Michaelann Bewsee http://michaelannland.blogspot.com/
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