Archive for the ‘Jena 6’ Category

Another Slap In Black America’s Face

-Thursday, February 7th, 2008-

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It’s been reported one of the Jena 6 has found his way back in jail after allegedly assaulting a high school student. Bryant R. Purvis, who shockingly attended the BET Hip Hop Awards last year, faces up to a year in jail for his involvement in a fight at his now Dallas-based school.

Now.. there’s 3 sides to every story. Maybe he was provoked. Maybe he was setup. But you’d think that after all the support that the whole NATION showed for them kids and their situation they’d think to shape up and shit right? Course not, let’s just give White America another reason to justify the way Blacks are perceived and treated.

Good job moron.

Mychal Bell’s Trial Public

-Sunday, November 18th, 2007-

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A judge recently decided to make Mychal Bell’s upcoming trial public, a move that may come back to bite him in the ass if only a quarter of the people who showed up in Jena in protest back in September do so again.

If anyone heads down there, please bring a camera, I’d love to see that judge’s face.

Mychal Bell is back in jail

-Friday, October 12th, 2007-

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Now before you hang your head in shame at a black man getting an extra chance at life and fucking it up, hear out the whole story:

A teenager at the center of a civil rights controversy was back in jail Thursday after a judge decided the fight that put him in the national spotlight violated terms of his probation for a previous conviction, his attorney said.

Mychal Bell, who along with five other black teenagers is accused of beating a white classmate, had gone to juvenile court Thursday expecting another routine hearing, said Carol Powell Lexing, one of Bell’s attorneys.

Instead, after a six-hour hearing, state District Judge J.P. Mauffrey Jr. sentenced him to 18 months in jail on two counts of simple battery and two counts of criminal destruction of property, Lexing said.

He had been hit with those charges before the Dec. 4 attack on classmate Justin Barker. Details on the previous charges, which were handled in juvenile court, were unclear.

“He’s locked up again,” Marcus Jones said of his 17-year-old son. “No bail has been set or nothing. He’s a young man who’s been thrown in jail again and again, and he just has to take it.”

After the attack on Barker, Bell was originally charged with attempted murder, but the charges were reduced and he was convicted of battery. An appeals court threw that conviction out, saying Bell should not have been tried as an adult on that charge.

For those illiterate or too lazy to read, let me break it down for you.

Bell went free, and based on events surrounding that, we can assume the local authorities weren’t too happy about that. Well, when Bell went in for what he thought was a routine hearing, a judge put him in jail stating that the incident (the beating of the white student that sparked this whole controversy in the first place) violated Bell’s probation (he was apparently on probation when the incident occurred).

So now, the poor kid’s sitting back behind bars. Just can’t catch a break in this country.

John Mellencamp Writes Song about Jena; Pisses off mayor

-Saturday, October 6th, 2007-

The mayor of Jena, Lousiana — home to the infamous Jena 6 — states he has finally had enough now that artist John Mellencamp has written a song and created a music video about his feelings toward the small town. CNN reports:

“The town of Jena has for months been mischaracterized in the media and portrayed as the epicenter of hatred, racism and a place where justice is denied,” Jena Mayor Murphy R. McMillin wrote in a statement on town letterhead faxed on Friday to The Associated Press.

He said he had previously stayed quiet, hoping that the town’s courtesy to people who have visited over the past year would speak for itself. “However, the Mellencamp video is so inflammatory, so defamatory, that a line has been crossed and enough is enough.”

The lyrics to Mellencamp’s song are below:

An all white jury hides the executioner’s face
See how we are, me and you?
Everyone here needs to know their place
Let’s keep this blackbird hidden in the flue

Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Take your nooses down

So what becomes of boys that cannot think straight
Particularly those with paper bag skin
Yes sir, no sir we’ll wipe that smile right off your face
We’ve got our rules here and you must fit in

Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Take your nooses down

Some day some way sanity will prevail
But who knows when that day might come
A shot in the dark, well it just might find its way
To the hearts of those that hold the keys to kingdom come

Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Take those nooses down

Oh oh hey Jena
Oh oh Jena
Oh oh Jena
Take your nooses down

Take those nooses all down

Bun-B, Mos Def Speak on Jena 6 - Mos Def Goes off

-Saturday, October 6th, 2007-


Damn Mos, tell ‘em why you mad!

Jena Protests Shut Down Town

-Thursday, September 20th, 2007-

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Today (Thursday, September 20th, 2007), thousands of protesters flocked to Jena, LA to march in protest of the infamous and racially charged “Jena 6″ case. CNN reports that bus loads of people arrived in the town, effectively shutting it down.

Hundreds of college students from historically black schools such as Howard University in Washington traveled to Jena, along with civil rights activists such as Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who helped organize the event. Martin Luther King III also attended, saying, “This is about justice for the six young men.”

…the part of the town he was in was ill-prepared for the crowds — no water or toilets were available.

The demonstrations shut down the town of 3,000 in central Louisiana. Many residents left for the day, and government agencies, businesses and schools were closed.

Sgt. Tim Ledet of the Louisiana State Police said protesters in buses were still bringing people to town at midday because of the gridlock, but many protesters got off and walked into town on foot.

“There is just no room to maneuver in this small town,” he said.

Donald Washington, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, stated that he, the FBI and other investigators also believed that the incident that sparked all of this controversy bore the tell-tale signs of a hate crime, but because of various reasons, it was not treated as such.

In response to today’s protests, a court has ordered a hearing into whether or not Mychal Bell will be released from jail. He’s the only member of the “Jena 6″ that is still behind bars

Jena Judge Skips Court

-Tuesday, September 18th, 2007-

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Last week, people were elated to learn that Mychal Bell’s conviction in the infamous Jena 6 case was overturned. Today however, I’m sure poor Mychal was feeling less than stellar once he appeared in court hoping to be set free, only to learn that the Judge was a no-show. The Judge’s assistant claims there were no appointments on his calendar.

So this raises two issues: 1) if one of us were not to show up for a court appointment, would we not be punished? and 2) How, as a judge, do you not have ANY cases ALL DAY? They must get little crime down there in Jena — that or they just jail everyone without trials or hearings.

…the saga continues.

Justice in Jena

-Saturday, September 15th, 2007-

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Finally, another court has examined the case of  Mychal Bell in the infamous “Jena 6″ saga.

A state appeals court Friday tossed out the aggravated battery conviction that could have sent a black teenager to prison for 15 years in last year’s beating of a white classmate in the racially tense Louisiana town of Jena.

Mychal Bell, who was 16 at the time of the December beating, should not have been tried as an adult on the battery charge, the state Third Circuit Court of Appeal in Lake Charles ruled.

Bell is one of six black Jena High School students charged in an attack on fellow student Justin Barker, and one of five originally charged as adults with attempted second-degree murder.

The charges brought widespread criticism that blacks were being treated more harshly than whites after racial confrontations and fights at their school.

Attorney Louis Scott of Monroe said he didn’t know whether Bell, whose bond was set at $90,000, would get out of jail immediately.

“It means that at the present time all charges are dismissed,” Scott said. “But we don’t know what approach the prosecution is going to take — whether they will re-charge him, where he would have to be subjected to bail all over again or not.

“We’re working on that right now,” he said.

No comment on him being let off with NO charges, but at least another court stepped in to see the injustice of the case due to race.

CNN Highlights Jena 6, Bell faces 22 years

-Tuesday, September 4th, 2007-

I know we usually try to keep it relaxed and humorous around here, but this is a pretty serious issue, and I’m glad it’s gaining more media exposure. Mychal Bell is facing 22 years in prison over this incident. If you’re new to, or are only vaguely familiar with the case, watch the video above or read about it here. This should be a wakeup call to ALL of us (black, white, asian, whatever) that shit like this still happens no matter how fair you think this country is.

With that out the way, I promise we’ll get right back to making fun of celebrities.