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Right now, it is estimated that over 40,000 people are in the tiny town of Jena, Louisiana for a demonstration to protest the Jena 6 case. In case you haven’t read any of the previous posts here on Blogher, or missed national news reports (which was pretty easy since they just started reporting it after ignoring it for months) or to be quite blunt, if you have been hiding under a rock, you can read about it here.
BTW, Protesters in Jena and supporters worldwide are wearing black today in solidarity for the Jena 6. Are you? As I was writing this post, I struggled whether to dispell some of the untruths and attempts that have been made to down play the seriousness of this case. Some has said, 'well the kids beat an innocent, boy.' ' Well, this isn't about racism - people are just making a big deal out of nothing.' Ulimately, people are going to believe what they want based on their own opinions, and it is not my job to educate or to tell someone to check out the numerous articles on the case. So let me say this: I believe that this case is about racism, but just as equally, it is about social justice. The laws must be applied equally for everyone, regardless of race and / or class. To me, that is the crux of this case and this protest, so if you are for the equalization of social justice for everyone, wear black.
My timing is impeccable, I must say. A couple of weeks ago I was invited (via my Blog ) to join the Afrospear, an African-American blogging organization which has been integral in organizing the protest, so much so, that the Chicago Tribune wrote about the influence of the black blogosphere in Tuesday’s edition. Because of my membership to Afrospear, I now have access to the countless of black bloggers who are not only responsible for the online organization of this protest, but who are also working on other important issues, deciding not to wait for the larger, more affluent blogs to offer their support but just doing it themselves.
Funny that this is happening now, as I think about a recent post from Brownfemipower over on Zuky that discussed the oh-so common refrain, “Where are the bloggers of colour?” While looking at the common excuses that are given, such as ‘well, how do we know who is a person of color and who is not?’ and the worst of the bunch which was written by a white blogger in response to the lack of diversity at the last YearlyKos conference, who surmised that POC’s are generally too poor to pay for Internet access and are not as literate as whites (I’m serious), if this protest is of any indication, ‘they’ are now a presence who have used the Internet to spark change as they are tired of waiting for larger, more profitable sites to offer their support. And yes, a few of us can afford Internet access and can properly read and write.
The success of the blogosphere in terms of this case is also an indication that despite the belief (which is usually dismissed as oversensitivity) of many cultural communities over the past decade, it has become abundantly clear that that mainstream media outlets ignore news items concerning racism. Black bloggers had to form petitions and send them to the national broadcasters in order for them to pay attention to this case. As mentioned in an earlier post, bloggers have had to take it upon themselves to publicize the cases of missing women of colour when they were deemed as not important enough by the larger news stations. I don’t expect that this case, along with the media attention given to the online grassroots initiatives by black bloggers will really make a dent in their decision making, but I hope that they will think twice before dismissing such a glaring social injustice in the future.
If you are just checking in, you might want to head over to Ghettofashionista for a schedule on the day’s events in Jena.
UPDATE: Virginia rape case
Speaking about social injustices, the Virginia woman who was kidnapped, beaten and raped was arrested on outstanding warrants for writing bad checks and was jailed before being arraigned on the charges – apparently right after she was released from
