Jena, Louisiana – Sep 2007
Rallies in support of the Jena Six and all blacks in the United States who have been unfairly treated by the justice system were held in Jena, Louisiana and elsewhere in the United States on September 20, 2007, the date upon which Michael Bell, one of the defendants, was scheduled for sentencing. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 demonstrators attended the rally that day, severely overtaxing the facilities of the small town. Protesters were bused in from as far away as Los Angeles and Washington DC. Because of the congestion on the roads leading to Jena, many protesters left their vehicles and continued into town on foot. Among those in attendance were civil rights activists Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Martin Luther King III. This was the largest civil rights rally in modern time and was an historic event. Members of the SWIL Buffalo Soldiers rode their bikes down to Jena to witness history in the making. We attended a live on air show by national radio personalities Michael Baisden and George Wilborn in Alexandria, Louisiana after the rally.
