Underground Journal of Initiation

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 -- 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...

JENA, United States (AFP) - The racial demons of the Old South have resurfaced in a rural Louisiana town where black students who tried to sit on the white side of the school yard were met by three hangmen's nooses dangling from a tree. The students and their parents were outraged by the stark reminder of the mob lynchings which had terrorized Southern US blacks until just a few decades ago. Months of inter-racial violence followed the decision by a white school superintendent to over-rule the principal's recommendation to expel three white students found to have hung the nooses. The community became even more divided after a white prosecutor imposed significantly harsher charges on the black youths caught up in the violence. Related: Racism on trial again in America's Deep South Racial demons rear heads Looking for Justice in Jena, Louisiana Stealth Racism stalks America The Jena Times: Jena Six trial re-scheduled