Freedom Rider:
Jena and the New Movement
by Margaret Kimberley
"History shows us that the youth are usually a step ahead
of their elders when change is required."
In Jena, Louisiana, tens of thousands of black Americans
showed the country how and why a movement should be conducted. They made a
clear demand for justice in a case that hearkened back to the worst days of Jim
Crow. The response to the original injustice should be a blueprint for
activists who want to impeach a president, end an occupation, safeguard voting
rights, or rebuild New Orleans.
The story of the Jena Six began when young people bravely
made their own demand for an end to the assumptions of white supremacy. It is
popular to disparage young black people, whose foibles are usually the result
of behaving like the adults in their lives. Despite the criticisms made of
them, history shows us that the youth are usually a step ahead of their elders
when change is required.
If sitting under a tree is the last symbol of white
supremacy in a state that fought tooth and nail to maintain it, then
challenging that supremacist ideology is dangerous indeed. Were it not for
concerned parents and other supporters who fought for them, the Jena Six would
have disappeared namelessly into the American prison system like so many
millions of other young black men.
"A movement that doesn't produce a backlash isn't much of
a movement at all."
After a successful first step, there is now talk of
"backlash" in Jena. A movement that doesn't produce a backlash isn't much of a
movement at all. It isn't surprising that a neo-Nazi website openly threatened
the lives of the Jena Six or that rednecks attempt to provoke violence by tying
nooses onto their pickup trucks.
The new movements that must begin in the 21st
century will also provoke backlash. It may take the form of media lies, or the
outright disappearance of what should be headline stories. The backlash will
also take the form of opposition and denunciation from fellow citizens who will
be more than happy to keep other people in their place.
Movement activists will often be alone. Many will suffer
from loss of job, home, friends, family, just as the original fighters for
civil rights suffered. Even when oppression and violence are obvious and
blatant, activists must depend on themselves for support and affirmation and
they must never under estimate the ugliness and hatred that their actions can
provoke.
The gravitational pull of the powerful away from activist
concerns should also not be underestimated. While the rest of black America was
united in demanding freedom for the Jena Six, Barack Obama was a Johnny come
lately whose lack of interest was all too obvious.
Several weeks before the protests in Jena, Obama made it
clear that he didn't really care to discuss a subject that had become a
touchstone for the rest of black America. He could only muster a pathetically lame
remark that the Jena Six "appear to have been railroaded into a very
difficult situation." Obama has a gift for understatement.
"Obama made it clear that he didn't really care to discuss
a subject that had become a touchstone for the rest of black America."
When protests became front page news and Jesse Jackson had
him on the offensive, Obama didn't do much better than President Bush, who
delivered typically vapid
nonsense. "The events in Louisiana are - have saddened me. I understand the
emotions. The Justice Department and the FBI are monitoring the situation down
there, and all of us in America want there to be fairness when it comes to
justice."
Foolishness from Bush is to be expected, but it is truly
insulting coming from Obama: "Outrage over an injustice like the Jena
6 isn't a matter of black and white." What planet is Mr. Audacious
describing? The faces of protestors at Jena were 99% black. White progressive
pundits and bloggers said little if anything about Jena. It was black bloggers
and radio hosts who made Jena a household word in their community and inspired
thousands to act. It seems that Obama is out of touch with black and white
America, both of whom had clearly chosen sides in the case.
"The Obamas of the world will never have our interests at
heart."
After the media managed to cover black people for a few
days, and the heat was off, Obama returned to the true business of his campaign,
finding
more checks to bundle. Making wealthy people happy is the road to the White
House for the ambitious, but the road to hell for everyone else. The Obamas of
the world will never have our interests at heart, and cannot determine when and
how we will act.
A sustained effort will be needed to undo the wrongs
committed in Jena. Freedom is the demand and freedom will be the only way to
measure success in this case. The Jena demonstrators are showing the rest of us
what democracy looks like, and why and how it should be saved.
Margaret Kimberley's
Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York
City, and can be reached via e-Mail at
Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley' maintains an
edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com. More of her work
is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive
page.
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