Organize the South

Let's hope we don't have to leave our liberation in the hands of talk show hosts. Yet, any help from folks in all quarters is necessary.



Talk Show Hosts Come To Aid Of Jena 6: Michael Baisden, Ruben Armstrong among those demanding justice for Mychal Bell.

September 5, 2007, EurWeb
http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur36488.cfm

The gross miscarriage of justice in the Jena 6 Case has drawn the immediate attention of key figures in television and radio.

Nationally syndicated radio personality Michael Baisden will join Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King, III on Sept. 20 at the court house in Jena, Louisiana for the 9 a.m. start of a rally dubbed, 'National March For Justice.'

Gathered protesters will demand fair treatment for Mychal Bell, one of the African-American teenagers awaiting sentence in the Jena 6 Case. Sharpton was contacted by Bell's family to help bring national attention to the case and to fight for justice on behalf of the six black students involved.

As summarized in the Philadelphia Daily News by writer Fatimah
Ali: 'In short, a black student at Jena High School asked if it was all right to sit under a shade tree normally used by white students. Soon after, three nooses were found hanging from the tree branches. Fights and tensions between white and black students escalated over the next few weeks. One black student was beaten at a party by white students. Then, a white student was injured in a fight with black students. Following that fight, the student was treated at the hospital and released a few hours later, and six black teens were charged with attempted murder. In July, one of them, Bell, a star athlete, was convicted on reduced charges by an all-white jury and faces up to 22 years in prison. Most of the accused are in jail, unable to post bail, and Bell awaits sentencing after being swiftly convicted. The "weapon" in question that escalated a schoolyard brawl to attempted-murder charges ? A sneaker.'

Sharpton, who has been to Jena twice, arrived last month with Martin Luther King, III and met with local leaders, preachers and families of the students. They visited with Bell in jail and vowed to continue to fight for him and the others.

On Sept. 19, television talk show host Ruben Armstrong will broadcast live from Jena and also march the following day, when Bell is to be sentenced on charges of attempted murder.

Armstrong and his production team will be interviewing the family and supporters. According to a spokesperson for Reuben Armstrong, the show will broadcast live from Jena, Louisiana in its entirety and rebroadcast on Sept. 22nd at 12 p.m. CST.
You can watch and listen to this broadcast at http://www.reubenarmstrongshow.com/