Underground Journal of Initiation

JENA, La. - A video in which rapper-actor Mos Def asked students around the country to walk out Oct. 1 to support the "Jena Six" escaped comment by this town's mayor. But when John Mellencamp sang, "Jena, take your nooses down," he took issue. link Check out the song that got the Mayor of Jena hot under the collar... Jena ...take your nooses down... *Update(10/10)* Mellencamp Criticized for Condemning Race/Racism

11:37 am: Turn to CNN right now for coverage of the march They are discussing the Special that CNN will broadcast tonight at 8pm - Judgement in Jena. The short clip of the show highlighted some citizens who complain that their town is getting a bad rap. They assert that they are an integrated community where everyone gets along. Also, young lady voiced the opinion that the racism is being brought to Jena from the outside. from the Daily Kingfish : – Regarding Mychael Bell in particular: “Coach Benjy Lewis gave two statements immediately after the school incident in which he clearly states that Justin Barker was facing him when Malcolm Shaw (not Mychal Bell) struck Barker from behind. “I saw Malcolm Shaw hit Justin Barker with his right fist to the right side of Justin’s head, right around the temple,” Lewis wrote. “Justin went down face first, knocked out . . .” Most witnesses agree that a single punch knocked Barker out cold. The only adult who witnessed the punch says Mychal Bell...

and they are closing down the school system. Okay. Hurray..that's one for us! But how much are these protesters spending to travel in support of these young boys whose lives are on the line? Jesse Jackson estimates that forty thousand will descend on this little hamlet with the big hammer. Would you say that each person is spending at least $100 to travel to voice their dissent to the Jena School System's mishandling of this schoolyard fight and this over the top prosecution? Not likely. But for the sake of argument, let's say it's $100 for each person. 40,000 x $100 = ? Hmmm. Now just imagine the kind of defense these boys could mount with four million dollars . Somehow it seems the sentiment is righteous, but the follow-thru leaves much to be desired the way I see it. And it seems the people of justice keep getting it wrong! Furthermore, does anyone really expect District Attorney Reed Walters to dismiss the case after standing up to a world of criticism for what ...

A noose was found hanging from a tree on the University of Maryland campus recently: The crudely tied noose was found hanging from a tree just outside the Nyumburu Cultural Center and the Stamp Student Union on Campus Drive, the college's main thoroughfare. Nyumburu Associate Director Anne Reese Carswell said a student told her about the noose Sept. 6. The next day, she asked students to photograph and videotape it. But why would someone place a noose outside this newspaper's front door? Monique Wilson, 19, of Germantown, an English and communications major, was one of the students who contacted police. She said she believes the noose was placed in retaliation for area black college students' support of youths allegedly involved in a racially charged incident in Louisiana. And what was the reaction of the students of the University? Tiffany Smiling, 19, a junior from New Jersey majoring in public and community health, said she was initially frightened by the noose ... but ...

Amnesty International has officially asked the US Department of Justice to review the prosecution of the Jena 6. Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said: 'All white juries trying black defendants after racist violence and counter-violence were things we hoped were now part of the past in the United States. 'However, this case in Louisiana appears to be a disturbing throwback. It is vital that the State Department takes seriously the need for an urgent review of the case.' The 'Jena Six' students were charged following a fight last December in which Justin Barker, a white student, was allegedly assaulted. Justin Barker reportedly received treatment at a hospital for his injuries and was discharged the same day. Though no one in their right mind condones the behavior of the boys, throwing away the lives of these children for this kind of schoolyard fracas is unethical and wrong. Here's AI's request... In a letter to the Civil Rights Division of the J...

"A noose is a terroristic threat!" ht: Donovonc Donate to the Jena Six Legal Defense Fund! -or- Mychal Bell Legal Defense Fund c/o Attorney Louis Scott 510 Pine Street Monroe, LA 71201 -or- Donate via Paypal mychalbelldefense at gmail.com

1. Give Money One of the best ways you can help these young boys defend themselves is to click on the donation button in the upper left corner of my blog and send a donation to their legal defense fund. All donations go to the colorofchange.com . They have been staunch supporters of these boys' efforts to be treated as the juveniles who got into a school fight as is obvious . 2. Blog You can blog about how it makes you feel to witness white trees in 2007, nooses hanging from trees in 2006 and students in schoolyard fights being sent to jail and destroyed for it! What is that all about? Then you could ask your readers to respond by donating to the Jena Six Legal Defense Fund. Let DA Reed explain to the best lawyers in the country how they arrived at the decision to prosecute in this case. 3. Another Way to Donate Money Put a donation button on your website, like the one on my website and funnel your outrage in a most generous way. Just ask and I'll send you the code - it's...

1. Charges reduced for Jones and Shaw to aggravated secondary battery and conspiracy to commit the same. 2. Bell's conspiracy convicted was dropped. 3. Judge acknowledges, Juveniles cannot be tried for conspiracy. Well judge, how about a school fight? 4. CNN reports: PRISON TERMS FOR A SCHOOL FIGHT? HOW MANY OF YOURS KIDS WOULD BE IN PRISON IF THIS WERE THE LAW? 5. The Judge in this legal farce is: J.P. Mauffray. The heavy handed DA is: Attorney Reed Walters. Remember the Governor who presided over the Katrina Fiasco: Blanco! Is the picture getting clearer about this case? Your kids will be next! Source: BAW Related Post: Jena 6 Trial Continues Next Month Mychal Bell's Conviction Overturned *Come See Exclusive Video of Mychal Bell's Lawyers* Related Articles: Gregory Kane's message in BAW: Don't get mad, Give Cash! *Update(9/10)* Howard University Raises $8500 for Legal Defense Fund *Update(9/15)* Mychal Bell Conviction Overturned; Others to be tried as Adu...

I can't help but think if the school administrators had given the hangers of the nooses serious suspensions-making it clear that no one is going to intimidate anyone in this school based on the pseudo-scientific classification called race-the fight that ensued would not have occurred. If the town leadership really wants to do something healing they can appeal to the District attorney not to destroy these young boys for a schoolyard fight. JENA, La. -- Here in the woodsy heart of Louisiana, town leaders were looking for a fresh start, a way to erase the recent memory of Jim Crow-like hangman's nooses dangling from a shade tree at the local high school. So they cut the tree down. But after the events of the past 12 months, that attempt by white officials about two weeks ago to heal the town's deep racial divide before the start of a new school year might be too little, too late. link ***update(8/7)*** Jason Flaherty reports on the march that occurred on Wednesday, August 1 in...

This is an interview by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! with the Parents of the young boys who had a school fight over the right to sit under the 'white tree' in 2006. They are now being prosecuted one by one for attempted aggravated murder in Jena, Louisiana, USA. We speak with the parents of three of the 'Jena Six' - the black high school students charged with attempted murder for a school fight in which a white student was beaten up. We are joined by Caseptla Bailey, the mother of Robert Bailey and Tina Jones, the mother of Bryant Purvis - both of their sons are awaiting trial on charges of attempted second degree murder and conspiracy. We also speak with Marcus Jones, his son, Mychal Bell, was the first of the Jena Six to go on trial. He was convicted just over a week ago of aggravated battery and conspiracy. He faces up to 22 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 31st. [includes rush transcript] We are also joined from Baton Rouge by Catrina Wallace, the secr...

In an attempt to bring more national attention to what has become another example of our legal system gone berserk, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton will visit Jena, Louisiana. Hopefully, Jesse and Al will realize that the prosecution of these teens for a schoolyard fight gone bad is just another example of our national judicial system's over-prosecution of our young people. This policy of trying teenagers as adults has overstayed it's welcome and it is time to repeal it. link ***update*** Sharpton takes pulpit in Jena, Louisians in support of Jena Six

Amy Goodman laments how racism/white supremacy has reared its ugly head in Jena, Louisiana in her new opinion piece .

related links: University of Louisiana students react to treatment of young boys after fight Non-white teenager convicted of aggravated second-degree battery by all-white jury District Attorney's Justice: "ending their lives with a stroke of the pen..." All-white jury selected in first Jena Six trial Charges reduced for one of Jena Six 'Jena Six' trial continued to next month

As the trial of a black student accused of beating his white classmate is underway, University students expressed contempt for the circumstances surrounding the racially-charged events. Mychal Bell is the first of six black students from Jena High School to go on trial for allegedly beating a white classmate after a semester of racial tensions stirred violence within the small community. Link Helpful link: Petition to have the Department of Justice investigate the Jena Six Case

JENA -- After deliberating for less than three hours Thursday, an all-white jury of six returned with a unanimous guilty verdict on the highest possible charges for the first member of the "Jena Six" to face trial. Mychal Bell, 17, could be as old as 40 when released from jail if given the maximum sentence for aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit that crime -- more than 22 years. He was 16 when the incident took place. read the whole story... helpful links: Non-white teen guilty in La. high school beating of white Teenager says he never saw who attacked him

In September 2006, a group of African American high school students in Jena, Louisiana, asked the school for permission to sit beneath a "whites only" shade tree. There was an unwritten rule that blacks couldn't sit beneath the tree. The school said they didn't care where students sat. The next day, students arrived at school to see three nooses (in school colors) hanging from the tree. The boys who hung the nooses were suspended from school for a few days. The school administration chalked it up as a harmless prank, but Jena's black population didn't take it so lightly. Fights and unrest started breaking out at school. The District Attorney, Reed Walters, was called in to directly address black students at the school and told them all he could "end their life with a stroke of the pen." Black students were assaulted at white parties. A white man drew a loaded rifle on three black teens at a local convenience store. (They wrestled it from him and ran ...

JENA -- An all-white jury of five women, one man and a female alternate was selected today in the trial of Mychal Bell, one of six black Jena High School students charged in a Dec. 4 fight at the school that, according to court records, left the white victim unconscious and in a hospital emergency room. The case has drawn attention worldwide following accusations of racism and unequal treatment in the handling and prosecution of the boys. Before Monday, when Bell's charges were reduced, all of the boys had been charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit the same. If convicted on those charges, the boys could face as many as 100 years in prison. read the complete story... ht: elle, phd.

JENA, La. -- Prosecutors reduced charges against a black high school student a day before he was to go on trial Tuesday in the beating of a white student amid escalating racial tensions. Mychale Bell and four other black students faced up to 80 years if convicted of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the December beating, which occurred several months after three white students were suspended for hanging nooses from a schoolyard tree. But the district attorney on Monday reduced Bell's charges to aggravated second-degree battery, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years, and conspiracy to commit aggravated second-degree battery, which carries a maximum sentence of 7 1/2 years. Aggravated second-degree battery involves use of a dangerous weapon, according to state statutes. Parents of the accused say they had heard no previous mention of a weapon. "Well, anything is better than murder and a lifetime in prison," said John Jenkins, whose son, Carwin Jones, ...

JENA -- Tears streamed down Melissa Bell's face Monday as the judge ruled in favor of LaSalle Parish District Attorney J. Reed Walters' motion to continue her son's trial more than a month. Across the courtroom, wearing a black-and-white striped jumpsuit and handcuffed, Mychal Bell's head fell backward in frustration when he heard the ruling. Bell is one of the six Jena High School students who have become known as the "Jena Six." He and Theodore Shaw were scheduled for jury trial Monday on charges of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder in connection with a Dec. 4 fight at the school that sent fellow student Justin Barker to LaSalle General Hospital. Bell and Shaw are the only two students charged in the fight who remain in jail, each in lieu of $90,000 bond. "(Walters) said they needed more time to get the witnesses together," Melissa Bell said outside the LaSalle Parish courtroom. "If you ain't foun...