Marching For Jena 6 Justice in Louisiana

By Howard Witt | Tribune senior correspondent

10:21 AM CDT, September 20, 2007

JENA, La. – In a mile-long procession, tens of thousands of civil rights demonstrators from around the nation marched this morning from the courthouse of this racially embattled town to the schoolyard where nooses were hung from a tree last year as a warning to black students.

Chanting “No justice, no peace,” the black-clad demonstrators walked down quiet residential streets as homeowners somberly watched from their front steps, their arms crossed in front of them.

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Harvard’s Black Law Student Association Receives The National Johnny Cochran Award for Social Consciousness

September 14, 2007

Members of the Harvard BLSA
accept the national award

Last spring Harvard Law School’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA) was selected by a committee of individuals from around the country to receive the national Johnny Cochran Chapter Award for Social Consciousness.

“Given all that we did last year it was a wonderful acknowledgement,” said Stacey Moore ’08, historian of Harvard’s BLSA chapter last year. “This award was very exciting and we were humbled and proud.”

The Johnny Cochran award is given annually at the district and national level. Harvard received the award at both levels last spring for the chapter’s participation in community service programs and for increasing awareness about issues affecting the black community.

With nearly 150 members, the Harvard BLSA is the largest Black Law Students chapter in the country. Each year, the Harvard group organizes events on campus with the goal of assisting members in the development of their legal careers. The National Black Law Students Association is comprised of over 200 student chapters around the country.

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Race Cannot Be Ignored In Closing The Achievement Gap In Public Education

Narrowing the achievement gap in schools requires acknowledging race, not ignoring it.

September 16, 2007

The achievement gap between African American and Latino students and their white peers is stark and persistent. It has existed for decades, and it’s growing more pronounced. The data refute what would be reassuring explanations. The gaps in reading and math test scores are not due to income disparities, nor are they attributable to parents’ educational levels. The simple fact is that most black and brown children do not do as well in school as most whites.

The data also show, however, that African American and Latino children are excelling in schools scattered throughout California and the nation, suggesting that the achievement gap is not intractable. Rather, there is a profound disconnect between what we say are high expectations for children of color and the quality of education delivered to them in the classroom.

All of which leads to an uncomfortable but important conclusion: If a less-stratified society is desirable, we must be prepared to design educational programs that explicitly take race into account, that address African American and Latino students specifically and that openly recognize that we are not a single society when it comes to the needs of our children.

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St. Luke Community UMC Mobilizes To Take Buses To Protest Rally In Jena, Louisiana

 

St. Luke Community United

Methodist Church

 

 

 

 

Media Advisory

 

 

 

 

for immediate release – September 7, 2007

 

 

 

Media Contact: Vickie Washington

Email: vw4854@yahoo.com

Phone: 214.669.2708 Fax: 214-821-3791

 

 

 

 

WHAT: Journey [ 2 [ Jena St. Luke mobilizes to take Buses to Protest Rally in Jena, Louisiana

WHO: St. Luke “Community” United Methodist Church

WHEN: Thursday, Sep 20, 2007, 12:01 a.m.

WHERE: St. Luke “Community” United Methodist Church

5710 East RL Thornton Frwy.–(I-30 East)

Dallas, TX 75223

 

 

 

 

Call this # to book passage on the bus 214-821-2970

COST: Bus is $35.00 per person, round trip

 

 

 

 

EVENT: St. Luke “Community” United Methodist Church has mobilized to Journey 2 Jena. Two buses have been chartered to take over 100 people to the Protest Rally in Jena, Louisiana, where thousands are anticipated to convene to demand Justice and Freedom for the Jena 6. Persons interested in securing a seat on the bus, should call the church office at 214.821.2970. Please go to Journey 2 Jena Yahoo Group for updates regarding seat availability.

 

 

 

 

Prior to the trip, on Wednesday evening, September 19^th at 6pm,

there will be a Citywide Prayer Meeting and Rally. The offering

collected will be donated to the Jena 6 Defense Fund.

.

PHOTO

OPPS: All events open to media photographers.

 

 

A church reaching up to GOD and out into the Community.

Jesus saves and liberates us for discipleship in the community.

Houston Millions More Movement >

NAACP Coordinates Activities Around Mychal Bell’s Jena Six Sentencing on Sept. 20

America rallies as Bell, other defendants face lengthy prison sentences

September 10 , 2007

The NAACP is working with numerous groups, individuals, local, state and federal officials to coordinate demonstration activities related to Mychal Bell’s sentencing in two weeks. A march, rally and town hall meeting are being planned for that day.

Thousands are expected to converge on Jena, La. and the LaSalle Parish Courthouse Sept. 20 as defendant Mychal Bell is sentenced for his role in an altercation with a classmate following a series of racial incidents in the town of 3,000 after three nooses were hung in a tree at the local high school.

In the last year, Bell, 17, who remains incarcerated, and five others– Robert Bailey Jr., 17; Theo Shaw, 17; Carwin Jones, 18; Bryant Purvis, 17; and a minor–faced overly aggressive prosecution, extended incarceration and are being charged with serious criminal conduct offenses that could lead to many years of imprisonment.

On Sept. 20, “March on Jena” participants are asked to convene at Ward 10 Recreation Park in Jena starting at 7 a.m. where instructions for the day will be given. Prayers will follow the 8:15 a.m. march to the courthouse before the judicial proceedings begin. Following the sentencing a support rally will be held at the park around 11 a.m. That evening a town hall meeting focusing on education and criminal justice disparities in the U.S. will be held at 7 p.m. in Alexandria, La.

NAACP officials will present petitions to Louisiana Gov. Kathleen B. Blanco at Noon on Sept. 19 at the State Capitol. The thousands of signatures are a symbol of those across the nation that are concerned with the unequal treatment of the defendants and the disturbing climate that led to an escalation of events in the southern town. Individuals are urged to sign the petition found online at http://www.naacp.org up until that time.

The NAACP has gathered a team of pro bono attorneys to assist in Bell’s appeal and the defense of the remaining young men. Activity updates and information on contributing to the Jena 6 Legal Defense Fund can be found online at www.naacp.org or by calling toll free (888) 362-8683.

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

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National Attention on Jena Six

By SCOTT MICHELS
Sept. 11, 2007

The racially charged case of six black teenagers charged with attacking a white student in the small town of Jena, La., has stirred nationwide attention, with civil rights leaders planning to attend protests next week and well-known lawyers taking an interest in the case.

After a jailhouse meeting with Mychal Bell, one of the defendants in the case, The Rev. Jesse Jackson told ABC News Monday that charges against the six boys — dubbed the “Jena Six” — should be dropped or reduced to misdemeanors.

“We want the Jena Six freed and sent to school and not to jail,” he said, urging white and black residents of the mostly white town to peacefully work out their differences. “They should forgive, reconcile, redeem and move on. Instead you have these mounting tensions.”

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Alberto Gonzales Resigns – Leaves A Badly Damaged Department of Justice

Alberto Gonzales was one of the worst Attorney Generals in modern American history.

He was a man truly out of his depth who was installed as a crass political operative at a time when the nation deserved a professional Justice leader and defender of the Constitution.

Gonzales was simply a political hack doing the bidding of the White House – not an independent voice of reason and sanity.

This politically beholden Attorney General Alberto Gonzales did so much damage in so little time – especially to the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Divisions.

The Department of Justice will be hard pressed to soon recover any semblance of the integrity and regard it has now lost as a result of the many indefensible actions of Alberto Gonzales.

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