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Mos Def call for
a National Student Walk-Out
Artist/ Activist Mos Def along
with M1, Talib Kweli, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement,
Sankofa Community Empowerment, Change the Game,
National Hip Hop Political Convention, Hip Hop
Association, and student leaders from 50 campuses
call for a National Student Walk-Out to rally and
show support for the Jena 6, who are being denied
their human rights by the Louisiana criminal justice
system.
The Case of the Jena 6
Last fall, when two Black high
school students sat under the “white” tree on their
campus, white students responded by hanging nooses
from the tree. When Black students protested the
light punishment for the students who hung the
nooses, District Attorney Reed Walters came to the
school and told the students he could “take [their]
lives away with a stroke of [his] pen.” Racial
tension continued to mount in Jena, and the District
Attorney did nothing in response to several
egregious cases of violence and threats against
black students. But when a white student–who had
been a vocal supporter of the student’s who hung the
nooses, taunted a black student, called several
black students “nigger”–sustained minor injuries
from a school fight, six black students were charged
with second-degree attempted murder. Last month, the
first young man to be tried, Mychal Bell, was
convicted. He faced up to 22 years in prison for a
school fight until the Black people began to
organize and his conviction was thrown out because
he was tried as an adult. However, the DA and the
Judge still refuse to set a reasonable bail or to
drop the charges in this case and Mychal is still in
jail!!
Mos Def is asking students worldwide to assist in the fight
against racial injustice and show solidarity for
these young people, who have been treated unequally
by the law. The prosecution of these young men
symbolizes a terrible miscarriage of justice, by
punishing students who opposed segregation in their
schools and disregarding the threatening acts of
others who advocate it.
As students and activists we say
enough is enough! What is happening in Jena is
happening all over this country. From Sean Bell to
Mychal Bell, the criminal justice system is killing
and incarcerating us. We will not be silent!
Demands
Judge J.P. Mauffray and District
Attorney Reed Walters have engaged in a string of
egregious actions, the most recent of which was the
denial of bail for Bell on Friday. We call for:
- All charges against the
Jena 6 be dropped;
- The immediate release of
Mychal Bell;
- The United States
Department of Justice to convene an immediate
inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the
arrests and prosecutions of the Jena 6;
- Judge Mauffray to be
recused from presiding over Bell ’s juvenile
court hearings or other proceedings;
- The Louisiana Office of
Disciplinary Counsel to investigate Reed Walters
for unethical and possibly illegal conduct;
- The Louisiana Judiciary
Commission investigate Judge Mauffray for
unethical conduct; and
- The Jena School District
superintendent to be removed from office.
Other Endorsers Include: Immortal Technique,
NyOil, Cynthia McKinney, Delta Sigma Theta, April
Silver/AKILA WORKSONGS.
For more info contact
info@mxgm.org /
To add your school to the list, email
assata@pitt.edu
or
spjlewis@hotmail.com
Source:
Nubian Waves
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posted September 2007 / updated
29 March 2008 |
