Let My Children Go! Jena 6 Protestors Vow That the Fight Continues
by Gordon Jackson
Special to the NNPA from the Dallas Examiner
Originally posted 9/26/2007
JENA, La. (NNPA) - It’s probably not the ideal growth plan for a city. Nevertheless, Jena, the small central Louisiana town of 3,000 saw their population increase at least tenfold on a historic Sept. 20 day, in the name of justice for the Jena 6.
Several are calling the Jena protest rally the first official event of the “new 21st Century Civil Right Era.”
“Today is the day, mark your calendar,” said civil rights activist Al Sharpton. “Today is the day that the 21st century civil rights movement started in a little town called Jena, Louisiana.”
Dr. Ernest Johnson, Louisiana state NAACP president agreed. “We have little children who are hurting in Jena,” Dr. Johnson said. “We need to clean this state and nation up. I welcome you to the new movement of the 21st century.”
Comedian Rickey Smiley, also host of his own radio show in Dallas, also concurred while speaking in Jena.
“This is the new civil rights,” Smiley said. “It’s time for Black people to come together and get ourselves together. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
With crowd estimates ranging between 30,000 and 50,000 people, a massive convoy of buses and cars lined up LA 8 and 165, converging on Jena to protest the double standard judicial treatment of six Black teenagers, initially charged with felony counts of attempted murder after a racially-charged schoolyard fight last fall resulted in the beating of a White student.
Nooses hanging from the tree at the high school where only White students hung out - a tree cut down in July – were catalysts in a series of incidents leading up to the fight. Of the six, 17-year old Mychal Bell was the first to be tried, having been jailed since early December. His release on bail was part of the rallying call at the protest.
“Your presence today is sending a powerful message that we are united and will not stop until justice is served,” said Dennis Courtland Hayes, interim national president of the NAACP. “Hanging nooses and overly-aggressive prosecution and extended incarceration is not right. Referring to the hanging of a noose as a youthful stunt is not right.”
Tony Brown host of his own radio show on Alexandria’s KAYT, 88.1 FM, the first media outlet to report on the Jena 6 plight. “When their bond has been set as high as 30, 40, 50 to 90 thousand dollars for a schoolyard fight, we have a problem,” he said.
Almost all of the protestors, at the request of radio personality Michael Baisden, wore all black, woven in several creative designs of t-shirts containing messages demanding the freeing of the Jena 6.
The thousands of protestors poured into both Jena’s city park and the La Salle Parish Courthouse, two miles apart. A march then ensued from the park to the courthouse, engulfing the town’s downtown district. Chants of “No justice, no peace!” “Until the Jena 6 are free, neither are we!”
and “Let my children go” filled the air, along with signs and banners exclaiming similar messages. City officials had already called for the closing of several municipal offices and schools in anticipation of the mass movement.
“We came here in a spirit of festivity, but with no fear,” said activist/comedian Dick Gregory. “There was no fear; and they could feel it. I never thought we would see the day when we come into one of these redneck towns and White folks run and hide. Fear and God do not occupy the same space. They saw what a real Katrina looked like.”
Students representing dozens of historically Black colleges made a bold presence throughout the day. A large group stood on stage at the park rally, educating the audience of the difference between “Black leaders and leading Blacks,” reminding community leaders who were possibly only grandstanders of the real reason they were in Jena.
“This alliance is not about you,” Stephanie Brown of North Carolina Central University told the audience. “It’s about the six young boys who have been unjustly and unfairly incarcerated, who have had time taken away from their lives.
They’re currently not in school, not getting the education they need. People devalue Black people, especially young Black people. Because they think we’re all hoods and gangsters.”
Fellow North Carolina Central student Tiffany Buckner, 24, added, “(Mychal Bell) could be my little brother; he is my little brother, my future…this goes on in Dallas, D.C. New York. We see it every day. We’re here to say that we care and that enough is enough. Today is just the beginning.”
Demanding accountability from the LaSalle Parish court system, Amber Scott, President of Spelman NAACP said: “To whom much is given, much is required.”
Brown gave examples of similar cases taking place in Louisiana. A fight three months ago involving adult Whites sent another White man to intensive care with a swollen brain for three days. The bond for the three attackers was set at $1,500 apiece and they were charged with simple assault.
A Black Southern University graduate and business owner had a confrontation with a police officer while working a funeral. The officer called for help and a White bystander came and shot the Southern graduate to death. No charges were brought against the police officer or the shooter.
Brown also spoke of a White bus driver who made her nine Black children sit in the back of the bus, one on top of each other. She was forced to resign, but no charges were filed.
“I want to see justice, not just for the young men in Jena, but all over these small towns where they’ve got these conservative racist judges that’s locking up our young men up,” Smiley said point-blankly.
“You can only kick a dog for so long. It’s time to register to vote. It’s time for our young men to pull your pants up, start walking with integrity. Stop giving people excuses for talking about us.”
A second rally followed later that morning in front of City Hall in Alexandria, about 40 miles southwest of Jena. Sharpton said the purpose of this separate rally was to send an economic message to Jena.
“We’ve come here instead of spending money in Jena today,” Sharpton said live on his national radio show. “We brought the biggest crowd Jena saw and we don’t want to spend a dime there.”
According to Town Talk, prominent figures in Alexandria included Martin Luther King III, comedian Dick Gregory, rapper/actor Ice Cube, actress Kym Whitley and U.S. congressional representatives William Jefferson (D-La.) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas).
All of the rallies went peaceful with no incidents
“Acting with the moral authority of the civil rights movement and in the spirit of Dr. King, this is how you win folks over into your organization and the movement, by the way you conduct yourselves,” said Charles Steele, national president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. “But having decency and order implemented within the structure of what you’re doing does not bring about the fact that you’re not standing up, it’s how you’re standing up.”
The rallies also coincided with the Louisiana NAACP State Conference, held in downtown Alexandria, where several of the protestors attended and continued the discussion of the Jena 6. Dick Gregory called the rally successful, but spoke of the need to follow up with action, not relying on instant gratification.
“If a woman gets pregnant today, it’s going to be nine months (before she has the baby),” Gregory said. “We’re so busy now because we’ve sit back and done nothing for 400 years. It doesn’t work like that. Some progress has been made. When we get to the point that we’re not going to tolerate it, it stops.”
Gregory also credited the Black Press with their extensive coverage over the months, forcing the mainstream press to follow suit.
“You had to feel good about the power of the Black Press. We know the Black Press never gets its just due. The mainstream media wasn’t going to cover this until they saw all of the Black newspapers write about this. We did not follow the cameras, the cameras followed us.”
Rev. Raymond Bell, pastor of First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Washington D.C., and a second cousin to Mychal Bell, said the jailed teenager should be overjoyed about those who came to Jena.
“I think he would be very excited, because when he first started, there was no help, he was there by himself. Now, he’s had an opportunity to have all these people around this country to be a part of his plight,” Bell said. “He would be very happy to know that people do care.”
Discussion arose, however, to assure that the event did not become just another “feel-good” rally, with nothing else accomplished afterward.
“This is progress, but we’re not done yet,” Hayes said. “Racism in America is still alive and well. For one, more of us need to become police officers and prosecutors and we need to go out and vote.”
Bell reminded people there would be no instant success in this battle.
“This fight is long and we know it’s going to be an uphill battle. We believe that we will be victorious with God’s and the people’s help,” Rev. Bell said.
Rudy V of Dallas spoke of the need for vigilance. “I want to see Mychal Bell walk out of jail. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t leave here, wouldn’t eat or sleep until he did,” the Texas radio personality said. “Right is right, don’t settle. You cannot go wrong with God’s law.”
Alfred Brock, 63, of Winfield, Louisiana, attended the rallies with his hands and feet handcuffed, resembling a captured slave.
“(The Jena 6) is one of sorrow, but then it’s not. This had to come about,” Brock said. “The Jena 6 are just pawns in the real game of chess. But there are some strong ones behind the pawns that needs to be removed. We can start winning that game of chess by saying that we’ve got to do better.”
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