Bloggers for Jena

Posted 21 September, 2007 at 12:53 pm by Kevin
Filed Under Good Causes |

Here is what some bloggers have been writing about the Jena Six lately.

Many updates below the fold. Be sure to check them out.

Brownfemipower has some questions:

Have you talked to your child about why they/you are wearing black?
Have you told your child why s/he is worth it?
Have you figured out how you can be involved?
Have you wondered what the Jena Six have to do with Latin@ Immigrants?
Have you been wondering what a bitch has to say about the Jena Six?
Have you wondered how things have changed since 1971?
Have you wondered what you can do with your digital camera?
Have you been looking for pictures of the march?
Have you been thinking, “This is a black issue”?
Have you tried to talk yourself out of posting something?

Go to her site for the answers.

PurpleZoe has the Virtual March going on. Anthony, Blackamazon, Renegade Evolution, Francis, drakyn, Carmen, Mellodyus, and Mnemosyne have all taken part.

MattBastard has the bumped and updated report on the Jena Six day of action with lots of links.

Chris Kromm, of Facing South, wonders about the silence from progressive bloggers on the Jena Six (cross-posted at DKos).

Pam Spaulding weighs in on the lack of progressive blogging about the Jena Six at her place and at Pandagon.

Donna Darko has some questions as well:

Feminists are white, civil rights leaders are men, women of color do all the work and don’t get any credit. The more things change, the more things stay the same. Yesterday’s Chicago Tribune article, “Blogs help drive Jena protest,” attributes the activism of Jena Six, Shaquanda Cotton and “what could turn out to be one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in years” to “hip-hop music blogs,” Mos Def, Shawn Williams of Dallas South Blog and James Rucker of Color of Change. Everyone assumes Civil Rights leaders are men. The journalist writes of “this new African-American blogosphere, which scarcely even existed a year ago.” What “new African-American blogosphere, which scarcely even existed a year ago” is he talking about except a few scattered blogs and the Radical Women of Color Blogring started by BrownFemiPower a year and three-quarters ago?

Black women in the Civil Rights Movement were ignored even though they were initiators. The anti-lynching movement was lead by black women. Race activism is often lead by black, Latina, Asian and Native American women who don’t get any credit. The “black bloggers” who broke the story were Vox Ex Machina, Sylvia formerly of The Anti-Essentialist Conundrum (no longer available), elle of ellephd and Tom of Automatic Preference. Tom and Sylvia drew up the petition which now has 355,690 signatures and Sylvia created the banners you see everywhere. Vox ex Machina, Sylvia of the Anti-Essentialist Conundrum, elle of ellephd, BlackAmazon of Having Read the Fine Print, Rachel at Rachel’s Tavern and other RWOC and allies started petitions, wrote letters and extensively covered Shaquanda Cotton. I’m naming names because I sent this post to the author of the article.

And Donna is right. I learned of this case from Elle, Sylvia and Tom. The banners I’m using were made by Sylvia. I keep an eye on Hip Hop blogs, and no, they weren’t the one’s to break this story. Elle, Sylvia, Blackamzon were on this before I heard a peep from Mos Def or Howard Witt. Pointing out that the women behind this movement are being ignored doesn’t diminish anyone else’s efforts, but for reals, let’s give credit where credit is due. And seriously, responses like this

“thanks for the link. certainly i understand that there are many women bloggers as well who are part of your movement, and i’ve corresponded with several of them. i just didn’t have a chance yesterday to reach out to any of them in the brief time i had available to pull that story together.
regards,
howard witt”

don’t cut it. Speaking of which, Ilyka resurfaces to post on the Jena Six:

I guess our outrage over the inevitable life-ruination that jail guarantees–guarantees!–is directly proportional to how much we think the lives in question are worth in the first place. If, on the other hand, a life is already deemed ruined from the moment of its conception, well: What’s a little jail to that?

And speaking of worth–

–if you took time out of your busy day anytime this year to rail against criticism of a fucking book cover, you have time to post about this.

–if you took time out of your busy day anytime this year to screech about nerds on the internet DOSing and dDosing your feminist website, you have time to post about this.

–if you took time out of your busy day anytime this year to explain why you wear lipstick or suck dick or wax your cooter, you have time to post about this.

So don’t cry that you didn’t have time today ’cause you’re so busy. Just spare everyone the overwhelming stench of horseshit and tell the truth: You don’t give a fuck.

Vox Ex Machina explains why this is not a “black issue“:

When a group of students receive a death threat for sitting under a tree, this is not a “black issue.”

When a D.A. threatens to “end [their] lives with the stroke of a pen” for speaking up about it, this is not a “black issue.”

When children are charged with theft for wrestling a gun away from a person threatening them, and that person is not charged with anything, this is not a “black issue.”

When children are charged with aggravated assault — because their tennis shoes are deadly weapons — in what was, at most, a schoolyard brawl, this is not a “black issue.”

Black and Missing has a detailed overview of the case, for those that are just picking up on it.

[Update 1] The Angry Black Bitch, with her fine art of bitchitude, get’s quizzical.

A bitch watched several news reports about the Jena Louisiana protests that featured snippets from the District Attorney’s press conference. Something he said just stuck with me…like someone singing off key in the midst of a fantabulous choir.

LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters said of the victim (the white male student) “The injury done to him and threats to his survival have become less than a footnote.”

Which would have shamed some people except for the fact that the victim was healthy enough to get his party on later that evening following the “injury done to him.” Mayhap the young have quick recovery skills…or perhaps “the injury done to him” wasn’t as serious as the attempted murder charge it resulted in.

District Attorney Walters went on to add…

“This case has not, never has been about race. It’s about finding justice for an innocent victim, holding people accountable for their actions. That is what it’s about.”

Let’s dust that one off and take it for a spin, shall we?

No one is disputing the fact that a fight broke out. What is in dispute is whether the fight equaled attempted murder and whether the only people worthy of being charged in connection to that fight were young black men.

Cough.
I’m quizzical about the “holding people accountable” part of the District Attorney’s statement.
It really bothers me and I think I know why.

Pause…sip water…continue…

It’s bullshit.

Go on, read the rest.

[Update 2] Kai tells it like it is and as always does so with insight that makes me jealous:

In my view, the most striking element of the extensive CNN coverage I watched yesterday was the profundity of white denial of racism. Almost without exception, white Jena residents who were asked whether there was “racial tension” in their town suddenly looked as though a major chunk of their brain short-circuited and went dark, their eyes went flat, and they mass-hypnotically mouthed hollow statements such as “No we’re not that kind of people, we play football together.” And that’s because one of the effects of racism is precisely a sort of mass hypnosis which insidiously blinds people to the flagrant system of power and oppression under which they live by making the racist power structure seem as natural and invisible as the air we breathe.

Thus it is impossible for most white Jena residents, questioned about racism, to think it over for a few seconds and say, “Yes, racism has been a serious historical problem in these parts, just like in the rest of the country, and we’re still struggling to get past that dark legacy; but we’ve made a lot of progress and we’re trying our best to see to it that African Americans in our community have equal rights and protections, and I hope that’s the case with the Jena 6 too.” You might think this would be a good thing to say, an easy way to diffuse the situation and avoid a ton of bad press. But most white Jena residents are literally incapable of saying such a thing because the brain functions which organize such thoughts have been shut down by racist socialization. Indeed, it didn’t even occur to most of the white Jena residents whom I saw interviewed that the story was about black folks, not white folks; the suffering of black families ripped apart by unjust incarceration did not even register on their mental radar screens, all they could see was their own suffering at being portrayed as racist.

From the Skeptical Brotha: Just Hold On, Change Is Coming
:

Norman Hutchin’s song, “A move of God,” has been in my head all day.

To Mychal Bell, Robert Bailey, Jr, Theo Shaw, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, and the other unnamed young brotha, just hold on, change is coming.

“I feel a breakthrough coming your way, it’s a mighty move of God, it’s gonna change your day. With signs and wonders, miracles to perform, God is gonna bless you for just holding on.”

“Just hold on, a change is coming, feel it in the air, it’s in the atmosphere. Just hold on, a change is coming, a move of God is on the way.”

“You’ve been expecting a change in your life, looking for your midnight to turn to sunshine. It’s gonna happen, you wait and see, all things are possible to them that believe.”

“Just hold on, a change is coming, feel it in the air, it’s in the atmosphere. Just hold on, a change is coming…A move of God is on the way.”

We should have progressed past this kind of unequal treatment based on race; however, we clearly are not. The outpouring of community support in the black community and the dearth of support from others is quite telling. Katrina became an enduring symbol of neglect and racial indifference and Jena, Louisiana has provided the nation with another.

There is nothing particularly unique about the disproportionate felony charges meted out to these six teenage boys, this happens everyday to black children somewhere in America, as Al Sharpton has pointed out. What is unique is the black reaction the racially discriminatory actions of the LaSalle Parish School Board and LaSalle Parish District Attorney provoked.

Today’s rally was amazing in its genesis and scale, as the song above says, “It’s a mighty move of God, it’s gonna change your day.” I feel confident in predicting that the charges against all six young men will be dropped.

[Update 3, 22 Sept.] Afro-Netizen: We Protest

We protest because the boys of Jena 6 and their families need to know they are not alone.

We protest because the Jena travesty is not about a nooses that were hung on a now-felled tree, but the noose of injustice that remains around the neck of Black America.

We protest because few people know “state-sponsored terrorism” like Blackfolk.

We protest because Jena is not a rural Southern town, it is a state of mind — not from the 1950s, but of the here and now in every American town, suburb and city from South to North and sea to shining sea.

David Neiwert proves that it’s possible to admit falling down on the Jena Six story without getting all “I’M NOT A RACIST! DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO BLOG ABOUT!” defensive in What Happened in Jena. What a breath of fresh air.

None of the top-tier liberal bloggers paid the Jena situation much attention in the weeks leading up to the march, and those of us on the left dedicated to civil-rights and race issues — like myself — tended to let it slide. The bloggers who made this happen were all “bloggers of color” whose own burgeoning network turned out to be truly potent.

Fortunately, their energies made the difference in Jena, and now the whole world is watching and paying attention. That includes those of us who should have been doing so in the first place.

(Tip o’ the fedora to Matt Bastard)

[Update 4, 23 Sept.] Rachel tries “to explain why the Jena 6 case is troubling to an audience of somewhat skeptical whites.

So a word of advice to people who are discussing the Jena 6 case, when people try to frame the discussion around only the fight or only Jena, Louisiana, don’t let them. The case itself is much broader, and the issues of our criminal (in)justice system are way bigger than Jena, Louisiana.”

Guess I thought that was obvious, but Rachel is right to point out that it obviously isn’t.

Also, Pam over at Pandagon pointed out that the excellent “How to Suppress Discussions of Racism” post is still online. I thought it had vanished. I’m glad to see it still available. I can’t think of a more pertinent post right now. Here’s the break down:

Control what your audience sees.

Attack the person, not the argument.

Argue against straw men.

Deflect attention away from the specific criticism.

Racism, however ugly, is better than the alternative.

Prove your opponent has mistaken some other quality for racism.

That’s it! With these six easy steps, you can make any discussion of racism so frustrating that your opponent will never bring up the subject again.

Try it out today!

Head over to Left in SF for the full deal.

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