Jena: the Next Step
by Gary Younge
"Activists must leverage the attention that has been given
to the Jena 6 to raise the broader issues of social justice and racism."
This article originally appeared in The Guardian, UK.
The recent demonstration in Jena was a great success on
many fronts, but still has two important goals to achieve.
First the successes. It brought the argument to the people who needed to hear
it. I'm sure it convinced very few white people in Jena that hanging nooses is
more than a prank or that the judicial system is weighted against
African-Americans. From most of the quotes I've seen they are still in denial.
But I'm equally sure that it made any administrator, legislator, judge or
attorney there realize that much of the world does not share their standards.
This message reverberates beyond Jena. The notion that what happens in small
towns stays in small towns no longer holds. No local official wants a
"Jena" on their hands.
"The notion that what happens in small towns stays in small
towns no longer holds."
Second, it was huge and managed to galvanize a new generation of activists. One
of the noteworthy aspects of this demonstration - in contrast to many - is that
it appears to have been multi-generational. With nooses and jail time the
issues it raised linked the old Jim Crow and new quite effectively.
Third, it revealed a new network of bloggers and radio hosts (similar to the
immigrant rallies) that kept this issue alive when others would have allowed it
to die or could not keep it going.
Fourth, it was peaceful. Nothing would have been gained by violence in Jena.
The fact that none occurred left locals who had shuttered up the town, in fear
of black hordes arriving to ransack the place, with nothing to talk about but
the issues.
"The judicial system knows
the world is watching."
Now the hard part. The Jena Six remain either in jail or awaiting trial. The
demonstration did a great job of highlighting their plight. The judicial system
knows the world is watching. Now it is down to the lawyers to get them a fair
shake. That means a proportionate punishment for the alleged crime.
In this weekās segment we hear analysis of the Gaza peace agreement, why it took place, and the future of Palestine. But first we hear about data centers, A.I., and their negative impact on theā¦
We speak with Kali Akuno, co-founder and Director of Cooperation Jackson in Jackson, Mississippi. He joins us from Jackson to discuss the construction of an Amazon web services data center and theā¦
Donald Trump traveled to Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt to sign what is being called a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian resistance that he takes credit for brokering. But what are theā¦
The Nobel Peace Prize is an anachronism and a compromised āhonorā as the struggle against the U.S. and its collective west allies intensifies. The peoples of the world know who is fighting for peaceā¦
āIsrael has played a relatively invisible but strategically important role in Africa as a servant of the United Statesā¦ā
