Jena Videos – Race, Politics, Justice

The Jena Six protest happened on September 20, 2007. The Jena Six had been charged after a December 2006 fight. In this blog I’ve collected links to some videos, images, and retrospectives about the case. I expect to return to this site to edit it to make it more organized. I am in the process of completing a manuscript for the Cambridge Elements series about this protest.

Videos about the September 20 protest

A retrospective about experiences is at https://chimesnewspaper.com/628/news/student-protests-for-justice-in-jena-6-case/ The image below is from the linked article. caption in article; Demonstrators in Jena, La. begin Thursday’s rally in unison, chanting, “We fired up, can’t take no more!” Protesters wore black shirts to the Sept. 20 demonstration, originally set to coincide with the sentencing date of Mychal Bell, one teen they say was jailed unjustly.

Photo courtesy of Photo by Brittney Walker

An NPR photo essay that is mostly pictures of the people involved in the case, not the protest https://www.npr.org/sections/newsandviews/2007/09/the_jena_6_in_photos.html

A retrospective essay five years later https://virgogumbo.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-jena-6-rally-5-years-later.html That links to an essay written at the time https://lasentinel.net/l-a-demands-justice-for-jena-6.html

Picture from https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/arts/2019/01/25/blood-root-revisits-turbulent-emotions-jena-six-story/2636647002/ caption: Alyse Stukey, right, of Virginia Beach, Va., stands at the site of where an oak tree once stood that is at the center of a civil rights issue during a rally at Jena High School in Louisiana on Sept. 20, 2007. Thousands of chanting demonstrators filled the streets of teh Louisiana town in support of six black teenagers initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate. Sharon Steinmann, Houston Chronicle.

Protest image reprinted in a later story. Credit is AP Alex Brandon. caption: Protests against the charges filed against six African American high school students included this one on Sept. 20, 2007. Radio personality Michael Baisden, fourth from left, walks with Rev. Al Sharpton, center, and Melissa Bell, mother of Mychal Bell, during a march in Jena, La. https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_fit-1000w,f_auto,q_auto:best/ap/69d6fa80-0c97-40b7-a037-71f4855f0274.jpg

Videos about the protest

Videos About the Protest

part 2 of the same video

Jena 6 video

The Jena 6, a video directed by Kouross Esmaeli and Jacqueline Soohan and Richard Rowley. Narrated by Mumia Abu Jamal. 29 minutes. Available from several outlets. The embedded video is the trailer.