The following was taken from BlackAmericaWeb at http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/jenasix731
Supporters of the Jena Six Gather 43,000 Signatures for Petition, Rally Calling for Equal Justice
Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 By: Sherrel Wheeler Stewart, BlackAmericaWeb.com
The district attorney in LaSalle Parish, Louisiana will receieve 43,000 signatures, emails and letters today calling for equal justice for the group known as the Jena Six.
The petition presentation is part of a 9 a.m. rally on the courthouse steps for the six black teens charged with felonies in connection with the beating of a white student in December. The NAACP, Friends of Justice, Color of Change and the American Civil Liberties Union are among the groups coming together for the rally.
“We don’t know if we’ll have 100 or 500 people there,” said Alan Bean of Friends of Justice. “We just know we need to send a message. The charges should be dropped or changed to something that would not leave these young men with a felony on their records.”
While the black students were charged with felonies following the fight on Dec. 4, white students who had hung nooses in a tree at the school months earlier were given suspension, Louisiana NAACP State President Earnest Johnson told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
The hanging of the nooses was the first in a series of incidents in the small town stretching from the start of school to Dec. 4, when the fight happened.
Just weeks ago, 17-year-old Mychal Bell was found guilty of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy, but a judge has since agreed to hear motions for a new trial for Bell, a good student and star athlete on the Jena High School football team.
The other five -- Robert Bailey Jr., Bryant Purvis, Carwin Jones, Theodore Shaw and another student who has not been identified because he is a juvenile -- still await trial.
Family, friends and supporters say the events leading to Bell’s arrest and conviction began unfolding last August.
On Aug. 31, some black students asked the vice principal at Jena High School if they could sit under a tree on the traditional white side of the square. The vice principal said they could sit wherever they chose, and they did.
The next day, three nooses -- including two in the school's colors one black, one gold -- were found hanging from the tree.
On Sept. 6, black students staged a protest under the tree. The next day, police officers patrolled the halls at the school, and on Sept. 8, the school was placed on lockdown.
The school principal recommended expulsion of the three white youths who hung the nooses, but a school committee decided it was a silly prank and gave the boys a few days suspension.
Black parents went to the school board to complain, but the school board said the issue had been resolved.
On Nov. 30, the school's main academic wing was destroyed by fire, and authorities suspect it was deliberately set.
In the days to follow, a black student was beaten by a white adult and white students when he attended a party with mostly whites, according to accounts. Also around that time, a white graduate of Jena High School pulled a pump-action shotgun on three black high school students as they left a local convenience store.
Several black students reported being taunted at school after those incidents.
On Dec. 4 after lunch, a white student and a black student got into a fight, and the white student, Justin Barker, was reportedly beaten by the accused Jena Six as he lay on the floor.
Parents of Justin Barker, the student who was beaten, have said in broadcast interviews that they consider the beating attempted murder.
During Bell’s trial, District Attorney J. Reed Walters argued that the shoes used to kick Barker after he was knocked unconscious constituted weapons. He also said that because Bell took part in an attack with others, there was a conspiracy.
Attempts by BlackAmericaWeb.com to reach Walters were unsuccessful. An assistant answering his phone said that he could not comment on the case to the media.
Bell was scheduled to be sentenced on July 31, but a new team of lawyers were successful in getting the sentencing date moved to Sept. 20.
“We are hoping that on or before that date, the judge will either grant our motion to toss out the verdict or grant a new trial,” Attorney Lewis Scott told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
Scott said there are serious legal questions surrounding the handling of Bell’s case.
“First of all he was a minor. The judge didn’t have jurisdiction. It should have been in juvenile court,” he said.
Initially, Bell was represented by a public defender, and friends and family members said he did not receive adequate legal representation.
The family has since gained support from throughout the country in securing private lawyers for Bell.
The incident followed a series of racially charged events in the small town of Jena, where blacks make up about 10 percent of the population.
The state NAACP president said a remedy in this case should go beyond getting the charges dropped or reduced.
“They need to look at how these young men and their families should be compensated for what they have been through for the last eight months,” Johnson told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “They have missed a full year of school. They can not get the time back.”
Bell was considered a strong college prospect for football and was looking to the future, he said. “What happens now?”
Scott said he has talked twice with Bell, who is says “is cautiously optimistic and sometimes pessimistic."
“We are concentrating now on these charges. We will deal with football issues in the future," said Scott. "Right now, he can’t start school unless something happens that we don’t foresee at this time.”
While Jena is a small town, the incident should send a major message, Johnson said.
“Anytime there is a hanging noose threatening blacks, it is an issue,” Johnson said, "and someone should be punished."
But Donald Washington, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, said punishment in this case is difficult on the federal level.
“This is a hate crime. It would be difficult to convince any black person, including me, that it was not,” Washington told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “But it was done by juveniles.”
He said federal officials have to consider whether the matter can be handled within the system where it occurred. They can also consider transferring the matter to the adult justice system.
“If the teen were associated with an organized group like the KKK or the Aryan Nation, then it would be more likely that we could look at transferring the matter to the adult system,” he said.
James Rucker of Color of Change said that organization has raised more than $40,000 for the legal defense of the Jena Six and will continue trying to raise awareness of the problems in that town.
The 43,000 emails and signatures, he said, will also be sent to the governor, calling for action.
“We want people to understand that this kind of stuff still happens, but usually it’s under the cover of darkness,” Rucker told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “And we want people in small black communities to know that when you stand up to the white power system, the community will stand.”
Look at my previous post on the Jena Six, go to the petition and SIGN IT!!! I look forward to your comments.
~Traycee~
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Is it wrong???
For me to wish myself a happy birthday! LMAO
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRAYCEE!!! (hehehehehe)
Happy birthday to ALL the Cancer babies out there. :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRAYCEE!!! (hehehehehe)
Happy birthday to ALL the Cancer babies out there. :)
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The Jena Six
http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur34934.cfm
http://www.whileseated.org/photo/003244.shtml
http://www.petitiononline.com/aZ51CqmR/petition.html
OK, where is the media attention on this? You know, thank GOD for black websites, because if we leave ALL of the news up to the "regular" media, we would never know about anything in OUR communities. On one side, we keep hearing that racism no longer exists. BUT, on the other side, WE ALL KNOW that racism is alive and well. Case in point: Jena, Louisiana. The first link above provides a background of the case. The second link was a website that was started in regard to this "incident." Here's a synopsis:
Late last year, some blacks students ASKED PERMISSION to sit under a tree at their school that has been labeled as a "white's only tree." This tree has been known as a place where only white students gathered for a long time. The very next day, students came to school to find threes nooses hanging around the area of this tree…placed there by white students. School officials deemed this action as "kids just being kids" and suspended the white students for a few days. Obviously, tensions escalated in the community of about 14,000 for months after this.
Let's fast forward to December 2006: "The situation deteriorated from there until this past December 4th when a white student allegedly called a group of Black students 'Niggers.' The Blacks responded by knocking the white student down and punching and kicking him." The black students were all arrested and charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit murder. To make these charges even more ridiculous, the white student that was attacked went to a school function later on that very same day.
One of the students, 17-year old Mychal Bell, has already faced trial and was found guilty of aggravated assault. He is currently looking at 22 years in prison. The five other students are awaiting trial, with one charge being attempted second degree murder. Mr. Bell is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31, 2007.
Where is the justice in this? Where is the national coverage? Where is the international coverage? I will keep you posting blogs to keep you all updated. Get the word out to everyone you know. Racism and segregation did not end with the Civil Rights Movement. We know that it's alive and well, some more evident than others. We experience racism in one form or another, and while it may not be as blatant as this, this is a blatant case of racism if I have EVER seen or heard of it.
Visit the above links. Sign the petition http://www.petitiononline.com/aZ51CqmR/petition.html. Do some internet research. Post blogs. Spread the word. Don't let this case fall by the wayside. This is our youth…our future. I don't know if we can EVER end it, but we damn sure need to try!
~Traycee~
http://www.whileseated.org/photo/003244.shtml
http://www.petitiononline.com/aZ51CqmR/petition.html
OK, where is the media attention on this? You know, thank GOD for black websites, because if we leave ALL of the news up to the "regular" media, we would never know about anything in OUR communities. On one side, we keep hearing that racism no longer exists. BUT, on the other side, WE ALL KNOW that racism is alive and well. Case in point: Jena, Louisiana. The first link above provides a background of the case. The second link was a website that was started in regard to this "incident." Here's a synopsis:
Late last year, some blacks students ASKED PERMISSION to sit under a tree at their school that has been labeled as a "white's only tree." This tree has been known as a place where only white students gathered for a long time. The very next day, students came to school to find threes nooses hanging around the area of this tree…placed there by white students. School officials deemed this action as "kids just being kids" and suspended the white students for a few days. Obviously, tensions escalated in the community of about 14,000 for months after this.
Let's fast forward to December 2006: "The situation deteriorated from there until this past December 4th when a white student allegedly called a group of Black students 'Niggers.' The Blacks responded by knocking the white student down and punching and kicking him." The black students were all arrested and charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit murder. To make these charges even more ridiculous, the white student that was attacked went to a school function later on that very same day.
One of the students, 17-year old Mychal Bell, has already faced trial and was found guilty of aggravated assault. He is currently looking at 22 years in prison. The five other students are awaiting trial, with one charge being attempted second degree murder. Mr. Bell is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31, 2007.
Where is the justice in this? Where is the national coverage? Where is the international coverage? I will keep you posting blogs to keep you all updated. Get the word out to everyone you know. Racism and segregation did not end with the Civil Rights Movement. We know that it's alive and well, some more evident than others. We experience racism in one form or another, and while it may not be as blatant as this, this is a blatant case of racism if I have EVER seen or heard of it.
Visit the above links. Sign the petition http://www.petitiononline.com/aZ51CqmR/petition.html. Do some internet research. Post blogs. Spread the word. Don't let this case fall by the wayside. This is our youth…our future. I don't know if we can EVER end it, but we damn sure need to try!
~Traycee~
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
More than just entertainers
I made my usual visit to BlackReport.com today, and saw a link to an MSNBC article about hip hop entertainers who have capitalized on their fame. I must say, it does make me proud AND happy to know that they have ventured outside of music…because in my opinion, hip hop is on a fast spiral downward (but that’s another blog). Most people, when they see rappers, they see the thug that they portray to be. But, for the Jay-Z’s, the 50 Cent’s, the Diddy’s, and even the Nelly’s…they used their fame to make them richer than rich. I mean, these guys are turning into business moguls!
This article mentioned other names I hadn’t even heard of: Checliss Rice (Big C) and Reed Baker. Now, these people aren’t on Jay-Z or 50 Cent’s level, but they are definitely working hard to join them. Shoot, I’m quite sure that Jay-Z and 50 Cent had no idea way back in their hustling days that they would one day be compared to Bill Gates and Warren Buffett (as pointed out in this article). Neither of these gentlemen earned hip hop success like the above named rappers. However, they used the foot they got them into the hip hop community’s door and worked the hell out of it.
Mr. Rice capitalized on the merchandising portion of hip hop, starting with making jerseys; and Mr. Baker is expanding his production business by “providing lavish entertainment, complete with a DJ, for events ranging from corporate gatherings to weddings.”
To read this article and see how Mr. Rice started his business, it seems so easy. But, one has to wonder, is it really that easy? I’m not sure, but I’ll be damned if I sit by without trying to find out.
There were a few things this article pointed out: “Sell customers an image, not a product…and Diversify.” Have a read; it’s a really good and informative article.
http://www.blackreport.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19586980/
This article mentioned other names I hadn’t even heard of: Checliss Rice (Big C) and Reed Baker. Now, these people aren’t on Jay-Z or 50 Cent’s level, but they are definitely working hard to join them. Shoot, I’m quite sure that Jay-Z and 50 Cent had no idea way back in their hustling days that they would one day be compared to Bill Gates and Warren Buffett (as pointed out in this article). Neither of these gentlemen earned hip hop success like the above named rappers. However, they used the foot they got them into the hip hop community’s door and worked the hell out of it.
Mr. Rice capitalized on the merchandising portion of hip hop, starting with making jerseys; and Mr. Baker is expanding his production business by “providing lavish entertainment, complete with a DJ, for events ranging from corporate gatherings to weddings.”
To read this article and see how Mr. Rice started his business, it seems so easy. But, one has to wonder, is it really that easy? I’m not sure, but I’ll be damned if I sit by without trying to find out.
There were a few things this article pointed out: “Sell customers an image, not a product…and Diversify.” Have a read; it’s a really good and informative article.
http://www.blackreport.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19586980/
~Traycee~
School is TOUGH
I'm currently in graduate school attempting to earn my MBA. I am literally on the verge of dropping out and saying to hell with it. I have never done anything so hard, tiring, and stressful in my life. Many people just think I need a break. I agree with them because I've been in school all year round since 2001...minus two summer semesters that I took off. Other than that, it's been all about school (and work of course). I am soooooooo wiped out. I'm currently in summer school now and I cannot concentrate. I've been sitting at home since about 3:30 this afternoon and have not even cracked open a text book. I wanted to graduate in May 2009, but I now know that is not possible at all. While I'm definitely taking next semester off from school, I'm up in the air about whether or not I will go back in the Spring semester. When I open my textbook or pull out some xerox papers to read various articles, not only do I cringe, I just want to cry!
Goodness, ya'll pray for me!
~Traycee~
Goodness, ya'll pray for me!
~Traycee~
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Still no word on Steffa Henry
As of June 22, 2007...a $5,000 reward has been offered for ANY information leading to Ms. Henry's whereabouts. According to an article printed on June 20, 2007, a witness came forward saying she saw Ms. Henry leave the club "with a group of people." She then got into a car with two other females. This is the same car that police are looking for: A "dark-colored four-door Acura Integra".
http://www.nbc6.net/news/13534976/detail.html
I, along with many other strangers, her family, and friends are paying for her safe return. If you're reading this and you just happen to live down in the Miami area where she disappeared, please call Crimestoppers at 1-305-471-TIPS(8477).
~Traycee~
http://www.nbc6.net/news/13534976/detail.html
I, along with many other strangers, her family, and friends are paying for her safe return. If you're reading this and you just happen to live down in the Miami area where she disappeared, please call Crimestoppers at 1-305-471-TIPS(8477).
~Traycee~
Hollywood Pregnancies
Don't worry...I won't turn into another blogger who talks about the goings-on in Hollywood. :) Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with them. But, that's not the reason I started this blog.
I only have three women to comment on:
First, we have Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon...of The Jamie Foxx Show fame (Fancy) and her character on NYPD Blue toward the end of the series' run. She's expecting TWINS! I was shocked when I saw her baby bump. I always thought she was so cute (I love her cheeks when she smiles) and I loved her on Jamie Foxx's show. She rocked on NYPD Blue. I was floored when i heard she also had a teenage son from another marriage. She looks GREAT to be 40. Mrs. Nilon, I wish you and your hubby the best with the twins. Make sure your son doesn't run too far away when the crying starts. :)
Next, there's Christina Aguilera. I absolutely love her voice! I remember the very first time that I heard her voice on the radio. I swore up and down that she was Mariah Carey. That chick can BLOW! I like how she carries herself and shes just so cute! Christina, congrats on your pregnancy. I wish you and your hubby, Jordan, the best.
Finally, there's Nicole Richie. There's so much I can say, but I won't. I read on an entertainment website how everyone was calling her a slut and saying how she'll be an unfit mother. It bothered me so much because none of these people know her personally, so how can they say that she will be an unfit mother? All they see about her is what I see...whatever is posted in the media. Nicole, I wish you the best and I hope your baby brings out the best in you. Congratulations!
Congratulations to all the mommies to be!
~Traycee~
I only have three women to comment on:
First, we have Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon...of The Jamie Foxx Show fame (Fancy) and her character on NYPD Blue toward the end of the series' run. She's expecting TWINS! I was shocked when I saw her baby bump. I always thought she was so cute (I love her cheeks when she smiles) and I loved her on Jamie Foxx's show. She rocked on NYPD Blue. I was floored when i heard she also had a teenage son from another marriage. She looks GREAT to be 40. Mrs. Nilon, I wish you and your hubby the best with the twins. Make sure your son doesn't run too far away when the crying starts. :)
Next, there's Christina Aguilera. I absolutely love her voice! I remember the very first time that I heard her voice on the radio. I swore up and down that she was Mariah Carey. That chick can BLOW! I like how she carries herself and shes just so cute! Christina, congrats on your pregnancy. I wish you and your hubby, Jordan, the best.
Finally, there's Nicole Richie. There's so much I can say, but I won't. I read on an entertainment website how everyone was calling her a slut and saying how she'll be an unfit mother. It bothered me so much because none of these people know her personally, so how can they say that she will be an unfit mother? All they see about her is what I see...whatever is posted in the media. Nicole, I wish you the best and I hope your baby brings out the best in you. Congratulations!
Congratulations to all the mommies to be!
~Traycee~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
