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JENA 6 CENTRAL: Find the latest news, quotes, bus info, airports, directions and other particulars regarding the rally scheduled for Thursday.
*Thousands of protesters from across the country are making plans to attend a rally in Jena, Louisiana Thursday to voice outrage against the treatment of six black students by the town’s judicial system.
In December, the six teens – known as the Jena 6 – were accused of attempted murder for assaulting a white classmate who had taunted them with racial epithets. The victim was knocked unconscious and hospitalized, but attended a party the same evening. The local district attorney, Lee Walters, argued the six attacked the boy with a deadly weapon - their shoes.
The incident followed months of racial tensions in town, sparked by white students at the high school hanging nooses on a tree after black students had recently sat underneath. The school board briefly suspended the students who hung the nooses, but many black families felt the punishment was not severe enough. Police were called to the school because of racially-motivated fights.
Last Friday a state appeals court threw out the conviction against one of the six, Mychal Bell, stating he shouldn't have been tried as an adult. However, he is still behind bars and protesters for the "Jena 6" say the punishment is too harsh and racially motivated. The rally and march is still scheduled for tomorrow and is expected to draw more than 40,000 protesters.
For those flying in, the closest airports to Jena are Alexandria (45 minute drive) and Monroe (1.5 hour drive). You can also fly to Lafayette (2.25 hour drive), Shreveport (2.75 hour drive), Baton Rouge (3 hour drive), New Orleans (4.25 hour drive), or Houston (about a 5 hour drive). The closest hotels are in Pineville and Alexandria.
Radio host Michael Baisden is asking people to wear black in solidarity with the Jena 6 and is scheduled to do his show live from Jena. His web site (http://www.minglecity.com/forum/index.php) has extensive information on buses to Jena from Atlanta, Smyrna, GA; Birmingham, Montgomery, AL; Jacksonville, FL; Tallahassee, FL; Orlando, FL; Tuscaloosa, AL; Chattanooga, Nashville, Memphis, TN; Morehouse and Spelman Colleges; Fort Worth/Dallas; Charlotte, Durham, NC; Detroit, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Philadelphia; Indiana/Chicago (Hammond, IN / Halsted St., Chicago); Maryland/Virginia/Washington, DC Area (Glenn Dale, MD); Baton Rouge, LA… and more.OTHER JENA 6 ANNOUNCEMENTS:
• The Southern Christian Leadership Conference plans to establish a temporary conflict resolution center in Jena. Spokeswoman Keisha Ray said the Atlanta SCLC presence in Jena will focus on nonviolent protest training.
• The NAACP is pleased to report that rock legend and entertainment icon David Bowie has come forward to lend his support by making a $10,000 donation to the Jena 6 Legal Defense Fund.
• Alpha Kappa Alpha's international president Barbara A. McKinzie urges the sorority’s 200,000 members--and all fair-minded citizens--to fire off letters to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and Attorney General Charles Foti and demand that they wield their constitutional power to call for a new trial. McKinzie said that on behalf of the membership, she is sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice asking that federal officials intervene and investigate this issue to make sure the Constitutional rights of these young men are protected. She also asked all members to wear black on Thursday, September 20 -the day of unity set aside to show support for the Jena 6.
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