The January 21st in Jena Committee brought together 150 people, Blacks and whites, young and old, from cities across the US, to join with people in Jena to drown out the hateful white supremacist message of the “Nationalist Movement.” This modern day version of the KKK had come to Jena with lynching nooses and chants of “Jail the Jena 6” and “Down with Martin Luther King”. Today on King’s birthday we outnumbered these racists by at least 5 to 1 and drowned them out.
| January 21st Blog |
In a despicable display of collaboration between the government and these white supremacists, the authorities worked out a “compromise” that allowed the “Nationalist Movement” to carry guns into Jena as long as they kept them in their holsters. For their part, the white supremacists agreed not to draw their guns unless they were fired on. It is an outrage for the authorities to allow these racists to come armed when the white supremacists were the ones who threatened violence in the first place.
This collaboration must be condemned. The authorities showed through their actions that it’s okay to them if these racists promote a hateful white supremacist message and issue threats of violence. This is unacceptable! Just as we raised our voices in Jena to say, “No Nooses!” and “Free the Jena 6!” we condemn this government collaboration with avowed racists.
Jena Revisited
by Jamilah Hoffman
The trip is now familiar. The house at the bend of the road with
the confederate flag still waves in the wind. Despite the calendar on
the wall telling me that it’s 2008, national oppression, in the form of
nooses being hung all around the country, reminds me that this country
has not progressed as much as I was taught to believe.
On MLK day in Jena, a white supremacist group calling itself The
Nationalist Movement decided that they needed to combat all the
powerful outpouring that occurred when tens of thousands of mostly
Black people marched last fall to support the Jena 6. The Nationalist
Movement planned to march with guns and nooses saying “No to the Jena
6” and “No to MLK.” Of course this had to be opposed.
The
media has portrayed the day as one radical group against another but
that’s not the full picture. The people who made up the January 21st
committee that called for the counter protest were as diverse as those
who answered their call. There were high school students from St.
Louis, women from Montana, residents from New Orleans, young people
from Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Harlem and Ohio.
Despite the cold weather and long miles, we stood in solidarity with
the Jena 6 and those residents who are against white supremacy. The
people who made up the counter protests were young and old and from
different races and the goal of politically drowning out the white
supremacist’s message were accomplished.
What
I want to emphasize, however, is that the energy of our group, when we
were in front of the LaSalle Parish courthouse and facing the Louisiana
State Police was strong. I felt so proud and embolden to be on the
right side of this fight. Our event was positive and our message of
“No Nooses” was strong. For some reason, the media has highlighted
events toward the end of the day that showed incidents that make for
good TV, but they failed to report on the true essence of the day.
At the end of the march and “drown out,” we rode in a car caravan
through the Black neighborhood of Jena. The people were so happy to
see us and we were just as happy to see them. They waved and we waved
back. Some even ran into their homes and put on their “Free the Jena
6” t-shirts in time for us to see them as we came back around again.
We wanted them to know that we had their backs and would not forget
them. They thanked us and one middle aged Black man even told us that
he loved us. Creating relationships with people and standing up for the
oppressed is what this was all about and even though that message can
be overlooked by some, it is what made the event successful.
All photos credited to Everett Taasevigen