Jena: The Day In Pictures

HuffPo contributor Ben Chaneles is a grassroots media activist, relief worker and law student in New Orleans, Louisiana. He spent yesterday at the Jena 6 march in Jena, Louisiana, and sent us these photos and notes from the day.

Thousands of demonstrators from hundreds of communities gathered at the LaSalle Parish Courthouse in Jena to speak out for justice.

All day long marchers carried signs and chanted slogans at Jena High.

Mos Def: "The issue isn't about black and white. It's about justice for everybody."

Scenes from a town.

Hundreds of African-American motorcycle clubs from around the country organized via word of mouth and the Internet to rally for civil rights in Jena.





I don't really have a caption here, but I've definitely never seen a demonstration that involved happy people on horses before. Seemed worth noting.

Scott Moreau, Louisiana State Trooper and Public Information Officer, told me "The only real problem we had today was folks from out-of-town having trouble with the heat & humidity. Fortunately the Red Cross showed up [from New Orleans] to provide cold water and cookies to the demonstrators."

Trooper Moreau also reported zero arrests, said that the LA Troopers had previously only had experience with crowd control during Mardi Gras, but that they were lucky to have such a great group of participants out to exercise their Constitutional rights.

The rally ended with shade tents, live music, and four barbecue pits!

Comments

[Qbear]

On Pam's House Blend

Neo Nazis published the addresses and phone numbers of 6 Black Jena families.

Activists against the racism in Jena need to get security for those 6 families. I'd like those G*D DAMNED Nazis addresses and phone numbers published TOO, cuz one of those families gets harmed, we are coming for ya NAZI!

[brwnizofmine]

How can anyone defend this type behavior? Now these 6 families' lives are in jeopardy because no one doled out any punishment for hanging the nooses in the tree. My opinion, it is time for the attorney general to get involved before someone seriously gets hurt down there and then it's too late.

[realitytrumpsbull]

Did we ever honestly get the full story on who started this mess, and why?

[brwnizofmine]

That's the mentality that makes me wanna puke. It's almost as if black lives do not mean anything. That mother must have been devastated to be told that and her daughter was only 12. We can only imagine how many times something like that has happened to someone's child. That's one of the reasons why there are so many scars!

A lot of the racial strife and divide that we have in this country today happens a lot because of the leadership that we have in this country. I think we have a president and an administration including Condi that does not give a damn about a black life. I think the country feels those vibes. It goes all the way back to the James Byrd thing. People follow the leader's lead. To me Bush does not lead us out of places or situations as a president should. To me a president should have a calming effect on a nation. I don't get that from him. I think he's part of the problem. I guess I should expect no more from a president that was given the job by the supreme court.

[Waitaminute]

Racist can only see one side. They see these black kid as something lower then animals.

Thats why they continue post after post, to totally ignore what happened to the black kids before the fight under the tree.

They think they have a right of passage when it comes to doing harm to black people.

I remember this line from growing up in mississippi decades ago. RAPE OF A 12 YEAROLD BLACK GIRL BY 4 WHITE MEN, THREE DOORS DOWN FROM ME. " i know you ain't gonna charge us with having a little fun for f**king this jiggaboo billy" 'Naw" billy says, yall boys gone on home and sleep it off. BILLY TELLS THE MOTHER AND THE GIRL THAT WAS RAPED "yall gone back in the house". Nothing was ever done about it and many many many other times. Nothing different here.

[Giglawyer]

The problem with all of this is one of escalation. Every step along the way, the violence has escalated. You hang a noose, I'll punch you. You punch me, I'll pull a gun. Etc., etc. Where does it stop?

I agree that the Jena 6 MUST be punished, just as all crimes there should be. You don't get "justice" by allowing criminals to go free (OJ comes to mind). It is the duty of the state (and, if necessary, the federal government) to ensure this justice and to fix these problems. We cannot allow vigilante mobs to do so.

And, maybe I have no right to say this, violence is never justified by hateful speech, be it the "N-word" or a hanging noose. Never. I can't and won't ask people not to defend themselves, but it is up to Black America to take the power away from this hate speech. You only empower those who would use it.

[Nommo]

Lawyer, they have not been convicted of anything. Hello? Those clowns are just trying to railroad young Mr. Bell after their first attempt at railroading was scuttled by a higher court.
You wouldn't be that lawyer that provided such a scintillating defense of Mr. Bell, would you?
Where is your comment, Lawyer, on the DA's threat?
How does an officer of the court get away with that, Lawyer?

[SoulSistah]

Benjamin, thanks so much for the pics

[dd39203]

OK. For the record. I'm enthralled by these cases. I've never posted so much in one day. But I just saw a peice on current tv where both black and white students say that some of the 6 originally charged weren't even near the fight. One white male student said one of the accused six was standing next to him (innocently) while another of the six charged wss on another hill. Another even student reported that some white students participated in kicking the white victim with steel toe boots. Yahoo News just reported that mycal was denied bail. Man, its just hell on black people in America, espcially the poor blacks.

[Lance734]

Thank you dd39203. I wish you'd tell Doug and CitizenRob that b/c they keep preaching about "6 on 1" and demonizing these young men, when there are multiple reports from diverse witnesses who say that it was NOT a 6-on-1 fight. Some of the Jena 6 were innocent bystanders who were rounded up as the fight was broken up. And of the 20 witnesses called at Mychal Bell's trial, only 1 said that Bell kicked the victim; the other 19 said it was all punches. (Punches v. kicks seems trivial, but it is actually very important because the DA argued that the sneakers were the weapon needed to sustain the aggravated battery charge).

And the people who think the Jena 6 deserve to get the book thrown at them, why aren't they as adamant about the book being thrown at the white MEN (not boys) who beat up a black student, including breaking a bottle over his head, for the crime of attending a party? That's what the protests are about. Most people are not saying let the Jena 6 off scott-free. They're just saying the charges were too severe given what the DA has charged whites with for very similar acts.

[nativist]

Ok. Now if we could get this much participation on a national scale, denouncing the criminals in the Executive branch and the lolligaggers in Congress, we might just get change.

[Qbear]

NO JUSTICE
NO PEACE

[jimpryor99]

And when are we going to see pictures of the fund raiser for the young man these 6 thugs stomped unconcious?

[Waitaminute]

When are we going to see justice for the black kids who were beaten and had shotgun pulled on them earlier. I know, racist can't see the harm done to blacks. That's right that's of no consequence. Racist don't think they should be punished, for whatever harm they do to blacks.

[Qbear]

Thanks for the pictures.
After the Bond being denied to Ball, I have a feeling some more dramatic photos are soon going to be online, not just in Jena, but Atlanta, NOLA, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Shreveport.
set the shutter speed for night fires.

[Qbear]

Sorry misspelled the detained student's name BELL

[Milo76]

The protesters are right to rally against the unfairness of the system, where the black students were punished too harshly and the whites not enough. But to demand the Jena six to be freed? They should be charged for their crime just as the white boy (and I know he's not the one who was beat up) should be charged for pulling a gun on the black boys. The Jena six are not heroes any more than the white boy with the gun or the racists who hung the noose from the tree.
I grew up in Alabama, and I was tormented in junior high by a certain group of black girls. I was taught by my northern, liberal parents to never judge a person by their race, so I was shocked at the hate and contempt these girls had for me and the others they picked on. I was nothing but kind to them before they threatened, out of the blue, to kill me, put gum in my hair, trip me, and curse at me. The girls no doubt came from poor, single parent households where education was not valued, and they were taught that whites were the cause of all their pain.
I went to a magnet high school, which was very diverse. I had many close black friends and there was never a single race issue at all. The difference? The students at my high school all came from homes where parents valued education. Racism stems from ignorance and fear, and education is a strong force against it. But schools can't solve the problem; it has to start in the homes. I think the black community needs leaders who spend less time blaming whites for their woes and more time demanding that blacks value education and take responsibility for the depressing crime and poverty statistics in the black community.
Absolutely their was injustice in Jena. I hope those who committed crimes, whites and blacks, are held accountable.

[CitizenRob]

The problem here seems to be that both the blacks and the whites in Jena are AGRESSIVELY ignorant and proud of it.

[brwnizofmine]

I would agree that Black people overall need leaders--leaders that fight for equality and justice. I'm uncertain why it is that you believe because Black people fight for equality that they're blaming Whites for "their woes." It is certainly sad that in the year 2007 people even think this way. I don't blame anyone for my woes. I do, however, believe in holding people (no matter their race) accountable for their actions. In this particular case, the culprits happen to be White--the district attorney and even further now, the judge. In addition, I'm appalled that there was anything even called a "White tree." More importantly I'm ashamed that Black parents have not addressed this prior to now. There is no way that I would allow something like this to occur at a place where I send my child every day--a place I teach them is a safe haven for them. So I ask you, is there something wrong with me or shall I say us, wanting the same thing for our children, generally speaking, most Whites have for theirs?

[Milo76]

I completely agree with you on the "White Tree." It's disgusting that some (hopefully not most or all) white students claimed a tree for themselves that excluded blacks. That's ridiculous and I commend the black student who was brave enough to sit under it. Are you saying, though, that the only culprits in this case are the DA and the judge? The students who hung the nooses should have at least been expelled from school. The people at the party who attacked the black student trying to enter should be punished for what they did. And so on. You say, though, that the protesters are fighting for equality and justice. Part of what they are doing is glorifying the six students who beat up one student. It seems like they want, instead of the six black students punished, only the white students punished for their crimes. That is not equality. The Jena six need to be punished as well as the white students involved in the string of events leading up to the fight. And blacks need to know that many whites who are not by any stretch of the imagination racist roll their eyes when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, prominent leaders in the black community, jump on every case with a whif of racial tension and assert the complete innocence of all black people against the big bad white person (see the Duke rape case). I just wish the leaders could be real, and protest honest causes without jumping to conclusions. They have every right to be upset about the racism blacks experienced at that high school in Jena, but their extreme focus on the freeing of six individuals who beat a man unconscious seems against the very justice they are demanding.

[Waitaminute]

White boys were not charged. Hope want change it. I hate it when people who have no idea what black people endure, tell us what we should do. Heck we are doing it.

Did you know what these black girls lives were like at home? Did they think you were getting better treatment because of your skin color?

We don't need white people telling us what kind of leaders we need. Until people like you go to places like the jenas in the world to try stopping injustices, we don't need your advice. If we waited for new leaders, people like the jena 6 will be doing 22 years in prison. If someone want to become a leader, they should step up. No one is stopping them.


It was Jessie Jackson who came to Mississippi and got my friend and i out of jail on false charges. No one else came. We were looking at at least 10 years at parchman.

Tell the white people what to do, maybe then we want be necessary for the Jessies of the world.

[Milo76]

To Waitaminute:
"Did you know what these black girls lives were like at home? Did they think you were getting better treatment because of your skin color? "

They didn't know me, and I didn't know them. The bullying started near the beginning of the school year. They looked at me, saw white skin and a diminutive nature, and hated me. Much like some of the white students in Jena probably saw their black classmates. The point is, racism is never, ever ok. It absolutely goes both ways in America today. What do black people endure that is such a mystery to whites? Historically there are countless examples of extreme injustices done to blacks. We all know this and most people (those with a brain) abhor it. But it is 2007, and although Jena, LA proves that racism against blacks is alive and well in pockets of the U.S., what would you call what happened to me in the mid 1990s in jr. high? It was blatant racism towards me for my white skin by ignorant girls. The black community DOES need smarter, more effective leaders to move the U.S. foreward. They should speak out against injustice, tirelessly push for the need for education, protest against the disproportionately huge number of young black men who have children that they don't support, and never let us forget the past while helping us heal from it. I have every right to speak out on the need for stronger, better black leaders. It is the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about (it not being PC), but I'm not afraid to speak up for this dire need.

[brwnizofmine]

I believe that if the school had of taken the appropriate actions from the beginning after the nooses were hung, none of what followed would have happened. I think the school officials are at fault for not punishing the boys for hanging the nooses in the first place. Everything that comes afterwards is in reaction to that incident and unnecessary. I'm not saying the Jena 6 are completely innocent, but you can't punish the Black boys for taking actions into their own hands, when actually someone in authority should have taken care of the situation and punished the White boys for hanging the nooses in the first place.

[Bookman51]

We shouldn't excuse anyone who uses violence to take the law into his own hands, regardless of anything that didn't happen, but should've happened, to the noose-hangers. I agree with everything else you said. The noose-hangers should've been expelled and the school board should've gotten out in front of that lame story that the noose-hangers were just pulling a prank. Calling someone at 3AM and asking if he has Sir Walter Raleigh in a can--that's a prank. Hanging nooses from the White Tree was despicable.

I'd like some news outlet to dig into and report on how long school officials-­-teachers, vice principals, board members--knew about that White Tree. What they knew, when they knew it, and what they decided to do/not do in response. The existence of that White Tree bothers me more than anything else in this whole story.

[brwnizofmine]

I agree!

[Doug]

The used lethal force. Of course we can blame them for their actions.

[JustinAddison]

It's ridiculous to try to justify the behavior of these attackers by trying to conjure up some imaginary set of circumstances that would "provoke" six decent people to brutally attack a person because of his skin color.

The fact is that six good people would NEVER gang up on a lone victim and beat him unconscious. They definitely deserve the maximum sentence allowed, and anyone defending them needs to take a very serious look at their own attitudes.

[uheardme]

Anyone defending one standard of justice for whites and a harsher standard of justice for blacks, should take a look at their own damn attitude.

[brcd12]

You have no more clue than any one else whether it was actually 6 people or not; they were not allowed any witnesses.

[TruthSlayer]

YES INDEED...DOUBLE STANDARDS ARE EVERYWHERE..
I know racism is out there and a reality, I also know it comes from both sides. I think that we need to eliminate special laws that were made for individual groups and instead fix the judicial system so everybody is treated fairly.
MLK said: I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." "I have a dream that my children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character". In my opinion that is the direction we need to go as Americans.

[deleweye]

A Public Defender in LA told me some years ago that the "War on Drugs" was teaching white people what blacks had known about cops and the legal system for quite a while.

Now the "War on Terror" is taking that trend several steps further. It's going to take more than dreaming to reverse the trend, and unfortunately for the people involved, Jena is as good a place as any to draw some lines in the dirt and say "It stops, HERE and NOW!"

If you're ready to toe that line, you can call yourself a free American. After that it's just cosmetics.

[pobaldy]

i almost used the war on terror as an analogy here, but got side-tracked. excellent job.