The influence of bloggers and the internet has been realized again with the coverage of the Jena 6. In the past, it would have been difficult for the mainstream media to pick up a story like this in the tiny town of Jena, La. if it wasn't for internet writers informing (and many times pushing) the mainstreamers along. The case of six blacks who are (grossly over) charged in the beating of a white youth is making national headlines.
The question remains if the mainstream media "really" is on board with the coverage of this case? What does the Jena 6 mean to us in Toledo, Lafayette, Ind., and African-Americans in general. Since I'm not in Toledo, so how has The Blade, television and radio handled the Jena 6??? If you don't know what I'm talking about when I say "Jena 6," then, uh, we need to talk. LOL. NABJ national president Barbara Ciara has already sent a note to all members asking them to give coverage to what's happening there. How about you? Here is a plea from another blogger. -- Clyde Hughes
The Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition “ask that the mainstream traditional media step forward and discharge their duty to provide coverage of this vitally important event to their viewers and readers and act as “the fourth institution" of governmental "checks and balance” that constitutional framers intended the press to be.” To further this effort the Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition will embark on a ‘Day of Blogging for Justice’ on Thursday August 30th.
Jena, LA, August 29, 2007 --(PR.com)-- There is growing concern surrounding the Jena Six case in Jena Louisiana. Yet, inexplicably, the national media, most particularly on television, has been abysmally silent on an occurrence of grave social, political and legal importance.
The 'common folk' media of the blogosphere, has stepped up to the plate in the absence of adequate traditional media coverage. Bloggers have taken to hanging banners to blog side-bars and placing them in blog entries at an increasing rate; displaying the words 'Free the Jena 6' accompanied by the evocative symbolism of a noose hanging from a tree. On these blogs strategies that can assist in bringing awareness to these young targets of racist psychological abuse are finding willing participants in discussion, and action; but they need the media’s help.
This issue, like Katrina, highlights how some people receive deference in treatment over others. “The Jim Crow style racism and government negligence, reflected in the Jena 6 case, are both quite worrisome. Unfortunately, the case is another incident that points to the entrenched racial and socio-economic disparities in the South, which this country has yet to fully confront,” says political scientist Dr. Sekou Franklin of Middle Tennessee State University. As the Congressional Black Caucus has noted “…we must speak out against injustice and inequality. This tale of two standards depicts a pattern of gross violations.”
The Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition “ask that the mainstream traditional media step forward and discharge their duty to provide coverage of this vitally important event to their viewers and readers and act as “the fourth institution" of governmental "checks and balance” that constitutional framers intended the press to be.”
In furtherance of this effort the Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition will embark on a ‘Day of Blogging for Justice’ on Thursday August 30, where dozens of the coalition’s members (and all else who wish to join with them) will write entries in their blogs on behalf of these six young men who are victims of racially motivated civil rights abuses. A list of bloggers who’ve signed on to participate can be seen here: http://www.blackperspective.net/index.php/day-of-blogging-for-justice/
Along with blogger support, a united front of more than 300 concerned community members gathered at the steps of the courthouse in Jena on July 31, 2007, in a show of support for the African-American youth civil rights victims who were imprisoned after reacting to the provocation of Caucasian students who received only a school suspension of 3 days for hanging nooses from a ‘whites only’ tree in the schoolyard that all students share.
In addition to online and in-person support, those who could not travel to join others at the steps of the courthouse have added their signatures and comments, some 45,000, to petitions generated by individuals globe-wide who are appalled enough to take action.
A coalition of civic groups has formed www.freethejena6.org as a standing central location, providing solutions for those who are seeking information with intent to take action.
Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition Advisory Group:
Wayne Hicks electronicvillage.blogspot.com
D. Yobachi Boswell www.BlackPerspective.net
Francis Holland afrospear.jconserv.net/
Daz Wilson http://purplezoe.blogspot.com/
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3 comments:
This is an excellent post! I hope that this is just the beginning for grassroots internet activism. We don't need traditional leaders or to wait for the mainstream media anymore. We can change things on our own!
This is right on time!
This morning I watched some of all three of the local network news broadcasts to see how much time and information was given about the O.J. story and the people from Toledo traveling to Jena, Louisiana, for the protest march. 13ABC gave equal time to both stories when I watched them at 6:30, giving the trip to Jena more time than either of the other two that I watched earlied. However, Chanel 11 (CBS)was the only one of the three that gave background information about how this all started, mentioning the tree designated for white students only. NBC24 gave the least time to the story and gave less information.
I think it's ironic that there is a "Read-in" of To Kill a Mockingbird through the public libraries right now, yet what was happening in the south (and elsewhere)in the 1930's is still happening in 2007. We had a videoconference book discussion between the Kent and Mott branch libraries Monday night and I pointed out then that people buy a million copies of this book every year, but they don't get why black people were excited about the O.J. verdict. It wasn't about O.J. It was about Emmett Till and the black man falsely accused and convicted of rape that the novel To Kill A Mockingbird was based on, as well as the thousands of other black men, women, and children that were lynched in this country.
Our local and national media tends to spend far less time on stories about this kind of injustice than is spent publicly indicting the current black celebrity in legal trouble. It happened with O.J., it happened with Michael Jackson, it happened with Kobe Bryant, it happened with Michael Vick, and it's happening with Isaiah Washington and O.J. AGAIN.
Yet, how much has coverage has there been of "The Jena 6" or the black student in Texas that was sentenced to seven years in a juvenile detention center because she shoved a hall monitor while a white girl her age was give probation after intentionally setting her house on fire by the same judge, who also gave probation to another white teenager who killed a black woman and her granchild because he had an accident while driving under the influence?
I'm glad there was coverage of the Jena trip and I hope there is local and national coverage of the march, but I'm sure it won't equal the time given to O.J.'s latest charge or the sexual harassment charges against Washington.
Good lookin' out!
peace, Villager
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