There has been a national outpouring of support for the Jena 6, the six young Black high school students in Louisiana
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On Sept. 5, 2,000 Howard University students and community members packed into the school’s Cramton Auditorium for a rally and fundraiser, demanding in the words of one speaker “The complete emancipation of the Jena 6.”
Chants of “Free the Jena 6,” “No Justice, No Peace,” and “Free Mychal Bell”—who has already been convicted and could be sentenced for to 15 years—reverberated through the auditorium all night long. Relating the struggle in Jena to the cases of Sean Bell and Genarlow Wilson, ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) activist and PSL member Eugene Puryear brought students to their feet with calls for students to confront white supremacy “everywhere it rears its head.” Puryear encouraged attendees to protest in Jena on Sept. 20, the date of Bell’s sentencing hearing.
Students are planning to raise $20,000, and were able to raise $8,000 on Sept. 5 alone. In addition to organizing a contingent for the Sept. 20 rally, students are planning events like an art show to further raise awareness and funds for the Jena 6 defense campaign.
Students from a wide range of Howard University student organizations met over the summer in order to plan Jena 6 actions in the fall. Among the participating groups on campus were the Howard University Student Association, ANSWER Coalition, NAACP, Amnesty International, and a wide range of student government organizations. The coalition planned the Sept. 5 rally to kick off a broader campaign on the University and in the surrounding community to free the Jena 6.
