Have you heard of the Jena 6?
The case of six black teenagers, accused of attempted second-degree murder in the beating of a white teen, has drawn attention from civil rights activists, who fear the youths’ prosecution in a small Louisiana town is racially motivated.
Jena has had severally racially tinged incidents in the past year, beginning when white teens hung nooses from a schoolyard tree.
Buses of people are headed to Jena on Sept. 19 to show support for Mychal Bell, who has a court appearance scheduled Sept. 20.
27-year-old Tamara Allen is behind the local effort after hearing about the case on the Michael Baisden radio show.
“Once I heard about this, it just empowered me, so to speak, to want to do something,” Allen says. “I knew I wanted to go down there.”
Allen’s reserved one bus and has another on standby for the 100 people or more she hopes make the caravan to Jena.
At least one bus is scheduled to leave at 5:30 p.m., Sept. 19 from Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 3301 Beatties Ford Rd. Cost to ride is $112.24.
For more information, e-mail Allen at ncsupportsjenasix@gmail.com, call 704-307-2191 or visit www.praisepreview.com/jena6.asp
This article appears in Sep 12-18, 2007.
