Speaking with Chris Johnson, a community organizer for the: New York Lawyers for the Public Interest Environmental Justice Program; he shared with me his views and frustrations regarding the Jena 6 situation. Chris had been invited and attended a Civil Liberties Discussion Series about Jena 6 held at the NYCLU moderated by King Downing, Staff Attorney of the ACLU Racial Justice Program. Each month the Discussion Series hosts a speaker from the NYCLU, ACLU or other advocacy group to discuss current civil liberties issue or controversy; the discussions are staged as less lecture and more discussion so that the people from various communities can be heard.
When ask about the discussion Chris said that King Downing introduced himself, and gave the history about the school and infamous tree in Jena, Louisiana; he (Downing)gave an account of all the incidents and altercations that took place that led to the march on September 20th and then opened the floor for comment and/or discussion.
When asked how the discussion went and how did people respond, what where their comments and questions? Chris added that some where very shocked and surprised to hear the full accounts and details, and others were very angry although they had heard some things about the incident, they had no idea that it all stemmed from incidents that took place a year ago and the train of incidents that took place. The people were very angry about not knowing or hearing the full account about these incidents until very recently, the people in attendance wanted to know what they could do to support the family members in Jena.
Since the march in Jena, Louisiana on September 20, 2007 King Downing has conducted interviews and has interacted with, and on behalf of family members to get the individuals organized, and to get the media attention and correct the situation and initiate programs such as the “Profiling Program" that helps people to peacefully document police profiling that has increasingly been happening and what their rights are in these situations.
Al Sharpton organized a rally to condemn the town’s treatment of the Jena 6 and show support to the families of these individuals and well as the rest of the community that are affected by these incidents and the situation. For his efforts the Daily News printed an article on September 19, 2007 titled “Sharpton to lead 50K protesting race bias in Louisiana town" to which comments were made from some shop owners who expressed grief and loss for themselves and their little town because they felt that revenue would be lost because they planned to shut down their shops, banks and eateries; they had no sympathy for what was referred to in the article as “the so-called Jena 6 “.
NY Daily News article can be read:
http://www.nydailynews.com/
news/wn_report/2007/09/19/2007-09-19_
sharpton_to_lead_50k_
protesting_race_bia.html?print=1
Other links of interest regarding Jena 6:
http://www.democracynow.org/
index.pl?issue=20070921
http://www.democracynow.org/
article.pl?sid=07/09/18/1359255
http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/
?id=1570932&vid=179442
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/
archive/years/2007/1002071jena1.html
I asked Chris “Why do you think there was very little media coverage if any about something so charged with hatred and racial motivation?" Chris answered that unfortunately it was not a big enough buzz, and that racial injustice isn’t always news worthy enough to motivate people to cover it.
Thank You Mrs. Dames-Tucker
Tell Me More, September 18, 2007 · A noose, long associated with lynching and racial hatred, was recently discovered hanging outside the University of Maryland’s hub for black cultural affairs. The discovery sent shockwaves through the campus. Bonnie Thornton-Dill and Ron Walters — both professors at the university — explain student reaction on campus and how the university is responding.
Check this article out in the NY Daily News. Right in our Back Yards!
BY RICH SCHAPIRO, ALISON GENDAR, MIKE JACCARINO and TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Thursday, October 11th 2007, 11:37 AM
A black Columbia University professor targeted by a hangman’s noose delivered a defiant message during a protest rally Wednesday: "I will not be silent." A day after the racist symbol was left dangling on her office door, Madonna Constantine was greeted by raucous cheers of support at Teachers College. "Hanging a noose on my door reeks of cowardice and fear," said Constantine, who teaches psychology and education and has written on racism.
"I want the perpetrator to know I will not be silent. "The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident as a bias crime. "We have no suspects in this case, no ’persons of interest,’" said NYPD Inspector Michael Osgood, who assigned a sergeant and six detectives to the investigation.
Cops were conducting DNA tests on the noose, a 4-foot length of hand-tied twine.
They also planned to question some of Constantine’s colleagues, including Prof. Suniya Luthar. Police sources said Constantine and Luthar crossed swords over a plum assignment at the university, but stressed that Luthar was not a suspect.
In May, Constantine filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court seeking damages of $100,000 from Luthar for defamation. The filing contained no details, and Constantine’s lawyer Paul Giacomo declined to discuss the matter.
Outside her Scarsdale home yesterday, Luthar said she was leaving town on a business trip. "I can’t talk to you," she said. "I have no comment."
Teachers College President Susan Fuhrman said the academic contretemps had been under investigation for a year but would not elaborate.
Constantine was not at work Tuesday morning when the noose was spotted by Prof. Marie Miville, who called it a "vile act."
Miville ran to get Constantine’s research partner, Derald Wing Sue, who felt his blood boil when he saw what was hanging from his colleague’s door.
"I was angry and outraged. I knew immediately what it was all about in terms of racial hatred," he said. He called security and then phoned Constantine, so she wouldn’t be caught off-guard when she arrived. "All I could hear was this long pause, silence at the end of the phone," he said. That silence was broken yesterday afternoon as students rallied around Constantine and top university officials deplored the planting of the noose. "I share your outrage," Fuhrman told a rally of several hundred students, including about 80 who walked out of classes.
The crowd chanted, "No more nooses!" and, "Enough is enough!" and staged a march down Broadway from Teachers College on W. 120th St. to the main Columbia campus at W.116th St. State Sen. Bill Perkins (D-Harlem) raised the specter of Jena, La., which has been gripped by racial uproar since white teens hung nooses on school grounds last year. "Even in the Ivy League towers at Columbia University, we might as well be in Columbia, S.C., in 1809. It’s a virus and it’s here as well as it is in Jena," he said. Several hundred students also attended a forum with top university officials after the rally.
Teachers College student Nicole Woodard told them she wasn’t surprised by the noose incident because she believes the college lacks racial diversity. "When I walk into a class of 100 students and can count on my fingers how many look like me, that’s a problem," said Woodard, who is black. Teachers College, which was founded in 1887 and is the nation’s largest grad school for education, has a student body that is 12% black, 11% Asian-American and 7% Hispanic.
There are also reports of other incidences.
Hempstead Long Island Police Department
Ex Boxers Home left with nooses etc etc....
etc.......What is going on in this country? Anyway on a lighter note....
Yo Check out My Boy Chino @:
Chino Nunez Productions
Chino Nunez & Friends Orchestra
www.chinonunez.com
