Will Jena Six Case Revitalize Youth Activism Movement?

[Im The Truth]

Commentary: Will Jena Six Case Revitalize Youth Activism Movement? Thursday’s Protest Sparks Hope
Date: Friday, September 21, 2007
By: Judge Greg Mathis, Special to BlackAmericaWeb.com

On Thursday, Sept. 20, thousands of black Americans gathered in the small town of Jena, Louisiana to support the teenagers who have come to be known as the Jena Six. The scene was reminiscent of a 1960s freedom march and included many of those old-school leaders, including Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

But there were also some new faces. Young faces. All excited to play a part in making sure injustice is stopped in its tracks. The Jena Six may have unwittingly sparked the next big youth movement in the African-American community. And it’s about time. We have been waiting for more of our young people to get active.

The Jena Six are a group of black teenagers who have been arrested and charged with crimes related to their alleged involvement in the assault -- many say it was no more than a high school fight -- of a white teenager in
December of last year. The fight was one of many racially charged events that occurred in the town after white students hung three nooses from a tree on the Jena High School campus. Those white students only received three days of in-school suspension.

The six are accused of beating and knocking a white teen unconscious. The teen was treated at the hospital and later that evening attended an event at the high school. Five of the students involved in the alleged
attack -- Robert Bailey, Jr., Mychal Bell, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, and Theo Shaw, all of whom were 17, adults under Louisiana law -- were initially charged with assault. Jesse Ray Beard was 14 at the time and was charged as a juvenile. The district attorney later increased the assault charges to attempted second degree murder.

Many of the town’s black residents, and many across America, believed the increased charges were disproportionate to the crime and were racially motivated. In June 2006, on the first day of Mychal Bell’s trial, the district attorney reduced the charges. Despite conflicting witness accounts on whether or not he was involved in the attack, Bell was found guilty. On Sept. 14, Bell’s conviction was overturned when a Louisiana court decided he should not have been tried as an adult. Though charges stand against the others, they have also been reduced.

If not for the intense and consistent public outcry against the biased treatment these six young people were receiving, Mychal Bell may have received a sentence of up to 20 years on Sept. 20. Instead, our people -- young and old -- traveled to Jena and put the town on notice: Black American youth will stand up and fight for justice.

There are many reasons why our young people haven’t been as active or as conscious as they should have. Perhaps they believed no good would come of it. Conditions for many are the same today as they were 40 years ago. Or, maybe they thought the old-guard wouldn’t accept them. Many of our more established leaders have been reluctant to pass the torch.

Whatever the reasons, the demonstration in Jena shows us that a new day is dawning. Young black people played a key role in promoting the march and rally on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. They sent emails and text messages to their friends, clueing them in on every development in the case. Their organizing style may not look that of years past, but it is real, and it is effective. Let’s hope it continues.

---

Judge Greg Mathis is national vice president of Rainbow PUSH and a national board member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

[MsLioness]

That is a good question.
Jena is a small town>>>3000 residents. 10 thousand people, or so, attended that march in Jena.
Can we imagine had this happened in a large city, how the masses would react to it?
I, personally, was glad to see students wearing their black clothing as a representation that they know what the heck is going on...even in small Jena.
But, on the other hand, I heard many of my peers saying this is just like the 60s.... so, I guess, its going to be treated as if 2007 is 1960-1970. Alot of that stuff was clearly obvious in those times. You could not mistaken racism for anything else. These days, like with educational systems contrasting with one another in the same state, where there is majority black people or majority white people......you dont get the reaction from the students that this is racism....no no, its education; it will help you make it to the better life.
So, shall we, as students, just wait for another obvious, clear, physical sign of racism to get together and set things straight? Is it not that the noose was a general statement? Thats not anything personal. Kicking that white boys behind was personal. We have to attack the general population(and not by physically kicking their butts), and rally for our people always.

It is a struggle, indeed....may we continue.

[Sun Ship]

Originally Posted by MsLioness

That is a good question.
Jena is a small town>>>3000 residents. 10 thousand people, or so, attended that march in Jena.
Can we imagine had this happened in a large city, how the masses would react to it?
I, personally, was glad to see students wearing their black clothing as a representation that they know what the heck is going on...even in small Jena.
But, on the other hand, I heard many of my peers saying this is just like the 60s.... so, I guess, its going to be treated as if 2007 is 1960-1970. Alot of that stuff was clearly obvious in those times. You could not mistaken racism for anything else. These days, like with educational systems contrasting with one another in the same state, where there is majority black people or majority white people......you dont get the reaction from the students that this is racism....no no, its education; it will help you make it to the better life.
So, shall we, as students, just wait for another obvious, clear, physical sign of racism to get together and set things straight? Is it not that the noose was a general statement? Thats not anything personal. Kicking that white boys behind was personal. We have to attack the general population(and not by physically kicking their butts), and rally for our people always.

It is a struggle, indeed....may we continue.

No one can argue with a larger participation of youth activist, for activism is meant to be powerfully ushered-forward by the young warrior class of our people. With that said, I think all the talk about another civil rights movement needs to be reexamined, for the civil rights movement cannot be put back together in a nostalgic fashion, for it had a specific approach for a specific objective. Now, I do understand the denial of basic civil rights in the Jena case are in question, but after this case has been resolved judiciously we have to ask ourselves why are we still at this point in the struggle?

I think one of the reasons we are having to even perceive another civil rights movement is because the movements that followed and matured out of the civil rights era did not keep moving forward on the goals that the civil rights movement was not equipped to handle, and that was institution building, community building, Black nationalism, and other empowerment that was African people-centered and grassroots. Remember SNCC (who were the true front line young disciples of the Civil rights movement) later radicalized beyond the Civil rights movement’s ideas and strategies, and gave us one of our most radical thinkers and activist, Brother Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael).

I’m concerned that faces like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton, though I respect their presence in Jena, are being put in the forefront once again, or in any movement of today’s youth.

I think the Jena 6 outcome will be very important, and if it is sparks a flame in our young activist that ignites a unity that is desperately needed, then I’m in solidarity with this; with that said, we must understand that the “Jena 6 travesty” is being played out in the court rooms of America almost everyday (usually unnoticed), and we need to be more proactively organized to not only handle these egregious cases like this with community financed “dream teams” of grassroots lawyers and law students, but we also need a consistent proactive movement that's going to study and act on building an advanced new African culturalization with applicable designs that can protect us and redirect us from these enclaves of white control and dominance, both rural and urban. For even if all of these Black students find justice in Jena, there still will be a problem of injustice in Jena, and the surrounding areas in rural Louisiana.

As we see, even after 30,000 plus or 50,000 plus went to this “hick town” the battle is still going to have to happen in the courtroom, and so far it seems the judge was not moved by our presence. Hopefully, there was a new generation of brilliant young activist and legal minds down there who may have been moved to see some innovative approach toward defending ourselves legally in racist situations like this, and also hopefully our young lawyers will put justice before merely “good jobs” when they finish law school.

[Kefentse_Bandele]

We drove through southern cotton fields (my first time) where some of our ancestors were enslaved.

We saw trees where they were probably hung from.

We witnessed first hand the stench of southern hate and REAL white supremacy.

We raised the money.

Bond was denied

They were enraged.

We transformed their rage into activism.

We exchange information of each other to start organizing.

The ancestors are pleased.

As tears of joy fall from my face, the struggle continues!!!!

[Fenix]

I have hope for the youth. There was a news story here about two elementary aged brothers from the area that actively raised money so that they could take the trip to Jena for the protest. They were well-informed and absolutely outraged. Just one of many examples. The youth is on a move!

[Jalili]

I see the change all ready, there are quiet a few youth commites standing for something......makes me proud.

[MsLioness]

Originally Posted by Sun Ship

No one can argue with a larger participation of youth activist, for activism is meant to be powerfully ushered-forward by the young warrior class of our people. With that said, I think all the talk about another civil rights movement needs to be reexamined, for the civil rights movement cannot be put back together in a nostalgic fashion, for it had a specific approach for a specific objective. Now, I do understand the denial of basic civil rights in the Jena case are in question, but after this case has been resolved judiciously we have to ask ourselves why are we still at this point in the struggle?

I think one of the reasons we are having to even perceive another civil rights movement is because the movements that followed and matured out of the civil rights era did not keep moving forward on the goals that the civil rights movement was not equipped to handle, and that was institution building, community building, Black nationalism, and other empowerment that was African people-centered and grassroots. Remember SNCC (who were the true front line young disciples of the Civil rights movement) later radicalized beyond the Civil rights movement’s ideas and strategies, and gave us one of our most radical thinkers and activist, Brother Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael).

I’m concerned that faces like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton, though I respect their presence in Jena, are being put in the forefront once again, or in any movement of today’s youth.

I think the Jena 6 outcome will be very important, and if it is sparks a flame in our young activist that ignites a unity that is desperately needed, then I’m in solidarity with this; with that said, we must understand that the “Jena 6 travesty� is being played out in the court rooms of America almost everyday (usually unnoticed), and we need to be more proactively organized to not only handle these egregious cases like this with community financed “dream teams� of grassroots lawyers and law students, but we also need a consistent proactive movement that's going to study and act on building an advanced new African culturalization with applicable designs that can protect us and redirect us from these enclaves of white control and dominance, both rural and urban. For even if all of these Black students find justice in Jena, there still will be a problem of injustice in Jena, and the surrounding areas in rural Louisiana.

As we see, even after 30,000 plus or 50,000 plus went to this “hick town� the battle is still going to have to happen in the courtroom, and so far it seems the judge was not moved by our presence. Hopefully, there was a new generation of brilliant young activist and legal minds down there who may have been moved to see some innovative approach toward defending ourselves legally in racist situations like this, and also hopefully our young lawyers will put justice before merely “good jobs� when they finish law school.

Peace.

It is kind of like, "What would Stokely do?" or "What would SNCC do?"
Really, you know, what would Jesus do?
Be revolutionary about it.

I just hope every white person is effected by this, just like every black person is, in the haul of it. That would make it revolutionary.

Unity is like that. We feel something or we felt something when we learned of this matter. White people dont feel anything, but the are knowledgeable that some black boys beat up a white boy over some rope in a tree. It dont bring them no closer together and it dont bring them no farther apart.

The real struggle is to make it where the white man is effected by it, once he is, the whole world is. His money is. And thats the change that we need to see.

For us, it is so much more than a rope and a tree, or even the memory of lynchings. It is a reality check, to show us, in physical evidence our position in this country, and in the world. That is why it hurts; that is why we want Justice for the brothers in this case. God knows we would be even more satisfied, had the brothers been released and the white boys who hung them put in the courts for hate crime. That would have been justice.
Because, why? Because, in that case, it would be an act of hate to begin our history in school from slavery. In that case, racial profiling and police brutality would be acts of hate. Everything that is wrong with this thing would be able to be tried as hate crimes, and constantly be in the courts. Capitalism from that point on would have to be put into the courts.

It would be evident that their is no justice in this system for us. The white man is not looking for morality, he could care less about justice, then.

[rebelAfrika]

No...this Jena 6 thing won't revitalize youth activism because racism is in the past. We've got our civil rights now. Nobody is getting discriminated against anymore. That's a thing of the PAST. This is a new day! If I want to date a white woman, there should be NO PROBLEM because it is the year 2007! In case you haven't noticed I've been being sarcastic the whole time.

[YorubaQueen]

Originally Posted by rebelAfrika

No...this Jena 6 thing won't revitalize youth activism because racism is in the past. We've got our civil rights now. Nobody is getting discriminated against anymore. That's a thing of the PAST. This is a new day! If I want to date a white woman, there should be NO PROBLEM because it is the year 2007! In case you haven't noticed I've been being sarcastic the whole time.

Peace...
LMAO rebelAfrika...I love it! And that is exactly what our children and some of our adults (even those who participated in the Civil Rights movements of the 50s and 60s and 70s) believe and feel and think. One day we are going to see what this is doing to us and our communities and families.

I hope that one day, our children will see that we still have a long way to go. Just because u can go to their schools and malls and buy their clothes and date their...whatever you want to call their children...cubs pups baby lizards/snakes....that u aint the same. U ain't on their level.

And they will make danggone sure that you never forget that
YQ

[rebelAfrika]

Originally Posted by YorubaQueen

Peace...
LMAO rebelAfrika...I love it! And that is exactly what our children and some of our adults (even those who participated in the Civil Rights movements of the 50s and 60s and 70s) believe and feel and think.

You must have come across as many crazies as I have come across! LOL! They try to make you think that YOU'RE the one that's crazy...just because you don't buy into the bogus, phoney baloney "God bless amerikkka" bullshit.

[Jalili]

Originally Posted by rebelAfrika

You must have come across as many crazies as I have come across! LOL! They try to make you think that YOU'RE the one that's crazy...just because you don't buy into the bogus, phoney baloney "God bless amerikkka" bullshit.

Brainwashing most of them don't even know that MLK got the ball running for the Blackpower movement. All they think is the Martin stood for peace Martin wanted to bust some heads too he just knew a bunch of our people are scared shit-less so he push non-violents for there sake.............let him have survived a few more years he would have been remember for more then the "March on Washington"

[Sun Ship]

Originally Posted by YorubaQueen </