OK BLACKS I NEEd YOUR HELP?

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:

CLICK THESE LINKS TO HELP:

http://www.petitiononline.com/aZ51CqmR/petition.ht...

http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=1922-182350

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 "******." 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.

Thank You and Peace,

-- James, Van, Gabriel, Clarissa, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team

July 17th, 2007

Additional Details

2 days ago

References:

1. "Injustice in Jena as Nooses Hang From the ‘White Tree,'" truthout, July 3, 2007

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070307...

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...

Democracy Now! - The case of the Jena Six ...

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?s...

Too Sense: Free The Jena Six Now

http://halfricanrevolution.blogspot.com/...

While Seated: Jena Six

http://www.whileseated.org/photo/003244....

Nooses, attacks and jail for black students in Jena Louisiana

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/28/...

Justice In Jena, by Jordan Flaherty

http://www.zmag/

YES OTHERS CAN SIGN THE PETITION!

I SPECIFICALLY MADE OT OUT TO BLACKS CUZ I KNEW OTHERS WOULD BE MORE RESPONSIVE AS WELL. I DID IT SO THAT BOTH WOULD CONTRIBUTE. SAYING BLACK PPLE WOULD GET BLACKS TO LOOK AT IT MORE AND THAT OTHERS WOULD LOOK AT IT MORE.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SIGNS THE PETITION, REGARDLESS OF RACE! THEY NEED ALL THE SUPPORT THEY CAN GET!

IT WAS A DELIBERATE ATTEMPT ON MY PART TO USE "BLACKS" ok! DON'T BE OFFENDED ANYONE CAN SIGN, REMEMEBER I DID IT TO GET EVERONE'S ATTN!

SOUTHERN BOY: can you read?

THEY WERE CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER???????

I'm, not saying it was right for them to go 6:1, but attempted murder? AFTER THEY WEREN'T THE ONES WHO STARTED IT ANYWAY? and the others didn't get charged with ANYTHING?????

STOOPIDJIGABOO? Your name suits you, keep on trekking!

thanks DEDE