NOLA: JENA 6 to be sentenced 09.20.07 : CIVIL RIGHTS MARCH

September 20, 2007 will mark the day that the 6 black Jena High School students near Lake Charles, LA, are sentenced in court on accusations of 2nd-Degree Attempted Murder for the beating of a fellow white Jena High School student, the ring-leader of a group of white students that formerly hung hangman’s nooses from the branches of a schoolyard tree, where the black students wished to sit, and called the black students “nigger.” And this is 2007?!

Good people, this is a modern Civil Rights Movement!* It is very hard to believe that these types of ignorant crimes against humanity still exist today… unless you experience the American South.

None of the white students were charged with any punishments for their deeds, and were only issued a light reprimand by the school. Meanwhile, the black students were jailed and taken to court for their reaction to the white students’ actions.

Thankfully, many influential civil rights leaders and countless others have formed outspoken groups petitioning for the “Jena 6” to be released from jail, and their charges dismissed. Thousands plan to march on Jena, Louisiana, in a rally organized by icons such as Martin Luther King III, Mos Def, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Tyler Perry, this Thursday, September 20, the day of sentencing for the first of the Jena 6 to be convicted, Mychal Bell.

If the District Attorney has his way, Mychal will face 22 years in prison for a school fight. Even if you cannot be in Jena this Thursday to participate in the march, you can voice your stand online, in the press, on the radio, and on the TV… exercise your right to free speech!

*International supporters of the campaign to FREE THE JENA 6 are being asked to wear all black this Thursday, 09.20.07, in order to show your stand in this controversial issue !

–>Receive up-to-date coverage via agencies such as National Public Radio [www.npr.org], Democracy Now! [www.democracynow.org], as well as the website dedicated to the JENA 6 : www.freethejena6.org.

By Jocelyne M. Ninneman for Fusicology

*With thanks to DJ Soul Sister, New Orleans, LA