On the morning of Sept. 29, activists and community members rallied and marched in Hartford, Conn. to support the
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The Jena 6 are African American high school students from Jena, La. who were falsely charged with attempted murder and similar charges in 2006 for defending themselves against racist threats at their school.
Members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) joined over 200 others at the Hartford action. The strong crowd chanted “Free the Jena 6” along the march route and held signs and banners with the same demand.
Kamora Herrington, a community activist in Hartford and one of the featured speakers, demanded, “Justice for all, regardless of skin color or bank account size,” and called to attention the links between the oppression of the African American community and that of the entire working class. Herrington spoke about her daily worries that her son, a 17-year old African American, will become a target for the police.
Several speakers also emphasized the racist nature of the Connecticut prison system in which 75 percent of all adult inmates are Black or Latino, although these communities only compose 21 percent of the state’s total population. This disproportionate incarceration rate is distorted even further among young people. Eighty-five percent of juveniles in the system are Black or Latino.
The Hartford rally is one of hundreds that have happened across the United States in recent weeks in support of the Jena 6. On Sept. 20, over 50,000 marched in Jena and on Oct. 1, high school and university walkouts took place on campuses across the country.
