Guest Jena 6 Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 After serving over nine months behind bars,17-year-old Mychal Bell of the "Jena Six" was set free Thursday on $45,000 bail, just hours after District Attorney Reed Walters publicly Last fall, when two Black high school students sat under the "white" tree on their campus, white students responded by hanging nooses from the tree. When Black students protested the light punishment for the students who hung the nooses, District Attorney Reed Walters came to the school and told the students he could "take [their] lives away with a stroke of [his] pen." Racial tension continued to mount in Jena, and the District Attorney did nothing in response to several egregious cases of violence and threats against black students. But when a white student--who had been a vocal supporter of the students who hung the nooses--taunted a black student, allegedly called several black students "**derogatory term used to refer to black people**", and was beaten up by black students, six black students were charged with second-degree attempted murder. Last month, the first young man to be tried, Mychal Bell, was convicted. He faces up to 22 years in prison for a school fight. Families and friends of the Jena 6 are organizing against this case, and are also being threatened by the local establishment. One woman told Louisiana ACLU member, Tory Pegram, "We have to convince more people to come rally with us.....What's the worse that could happen? They fire us from our jobs? We have the worst jobs in the town anyway. They burn a cross on our lawns or burn down my house? All of that has happened to us before. We have to keep speaking out to make sure it doesn't happen to us again, or our children will never be safe." To contact the Jena 6 Defense Committee, write: P.O. Box 2798 Jena, Louisiana 71342 Or on the web: jena6defense@gmail.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Palmedo Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Do you have anymore facts about the case. Was the victim seriously hurt? Did all 6 really participate? Was there any other white students involved in the fight? How did the fight stop, were the students pulled away or did they realize things might have gotten out of control and stopped on their own? I have been trying to find out more regarding this topic so please post more information if you have it. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Friends of the Jena 6 Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Thanks so much for taking the time to express your support. We will add you to our email list and send you updates and ways for you to get involved as the cases progress. Also, it would be wonderful if you could write letters, maybe to your local newspaper and also send emails to all your friends. Basically, all help is appreciated and very much needed as we continue to generate momentum around this case and build support to reverse this grave injustice. Resource Websites: http://friendsofjustice.wordpress.com, www.colorofchange.org, www.freethejena6.org, and sign the online petition at www.colorofchange.org/jena Also, if you or anyone you know is able to DONATE, you can send a check directly to the Jena 6 Defense Committee, PO Box 2798, Jena, LA 71342. It is an account the families have set up, and the families themselves vote on how to spend that money to best secure freedom for their children. You can also use https://secure.colorofchange.org/jena_fund/ to donate online. You can help us right now by spreading the word to everyone you know about the injustice here in Jena. The more people who know, the better chance we have of freeing our children. Again, we appreciate your support and kinds words. We will be in touch again shortly as things unfold. Friends of the Jena 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest human_* Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 You still did not answer his questions. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks so much for taking the time to express your support. We willadd you to our email list and send you updates and ways for you to get involved as the cases progress. Also, it would be wonderful if you could write letters, maybe to your local newspaper and also send emails to all your friends. Basically, all help is appreciated and very much needed as we continue to generate momentum around this case and build support to reverse this grave injustice. Resource Websites: http://friendsofjustice.wordpress.com, www.colorofchange.org, www.freethejena6.org, and sign the online petition at www.colorofchange.org/jena Also, if you or anyone you know is able to DONATE, you can send a check directly to the Jena 6 Defense Committee, PO Box 2798, Jena, LA 71342. It is an account the families have set up, and the families themselves vote on how to spend that money to best secure freedom for their children. You can also use https://secure.colorofchange.org/jena_fund/ to donate online. You can help us right now by spreading the word to everyone you know about the injustice here in Jena. The more people who know, the better chance we have of freeing our children. Again, we appreciate your support and kinds words. We will be in touch again shortly as things unfold. Friends of the Jena 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alyce Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 From what I read, an eyewitness report from a coach, shows a single punch from someone, not Mychall, knocked Justin out, but it is reported as a “gang of black students attacked Justin”. There were no conspiracy charges placed on the white kids (they actually did conspire to threaten lynching with the hanging of the nooses) but the Jena 6 “conspired” to get in a fight on school property. The beer bottles were not considered “lethal weapons”, but the tennis shoe was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Darren Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 This was a cowardly attack. There is an old saying. Sticks & stones may break me, But names will never hurt me. That being said, does it warrant 6 youths attacking another and beating & kicking him until he is unconcious & convulsing when the kicks are aimed at his head? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Palmedo Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Was it one punch or a group beating? Its funny that an issue that is this big in our country right now has so little concrete information/facts that we can read about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Palmedo Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 From what I read, an eyewitness report from a coach, shows a single punch from someone, not Mychall, knocked Justin out, but it is reported as a “gang of black students attacked Justin”. There were no conspiracy charges placed on the white kids (they actually did conspire to threaten lynching with the hanging of the nooses) but the Jena 6 “conspired” to get in a fight on school property. The beer bottles were not considered “lethal weapons”, but the tennis shoe was. Where did you find/read that report? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest human_* Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Don't get me wrong now, I've been in a few towns where it is still "To this day" Blacks on one side of the town, and whites on the other side of town. I understand the basic arguments being made here "All to well". I think what the African Community is saying is that Discrimination is ALIVE, AND WELL in this country. But in this case the African American Community is facing an uphill fight with in the General Public in trying to convince everyone else that this was a series of MENTAL attacks upon the Blacks with in that community. And not just MENTAL attacks but as well as an ingrained INSTITUTIONAL ATTACK by the system itself. Having said that; The African American Community is going to have a very tough time trying to convince the General Public that these kids were Victims in this case since it WAS 6 against 1. The general arguement as I have seen it "and I still don't know the facts in the case" is that if it were 6 WHITE boys, against 1 black kid? That, that would constitute a hate crime. In the general public's eye's YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vic Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 The African American Community is going to have a very tough time trying to convince the General Public that these kids were Victims in this case since it WAS 6 against 1. As a person that has has been kicked around by a gang here in the DC Area I agree with you. Violence is all colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Palmedo Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Does anyone know what happened to the rest of the kids involved? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest human_* Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Nope, I don't have a clue, but since we ARE on the topic of Racism in here let's really boogy down. I saw the broadcast on cnn on racism on the African American Community, and I was just wondering if the internet has a role in all of this? Is it because we have so much freedom on the net to basically post just about anything we want, that ALL of us are contributing to the mind set of people who feel disenfranchised? <Those of you that have been on long enough? You know how it starts "whether it be a chartroom, or a message board, or a web site". Everyone acts nice at first, and when they have built up enough confidence, or a group following you see the people start to change in front of you, and this also apply's to the work place.> I wonder to what extent the internet plays a role in this? <There has to be spill over.> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Does anyone know what happened to the rest of the kids involved? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke_Wilbur Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 I think the internet allows those that are affected to voice out their feelings about certain issues. The only we can grow as a culture is to better communicate with one another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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