WELCOME TO MY STATE OF LOUISIANA . . . BY WAY OF A TOWN CALLED JENA! ! !

The Jena Six

Mychal Bell - the first student tried and convicted for beating (shoving) Justin Barker

Theodore Shaw - student who cannot meet the $90,000 bond, therefore, he has been in jail since 12/4/06

Carwin Jones - student athlete who received college scholarships, withdrawn since his arrest.

Robert Bailey, Jr - the student who was beaten by whites at the Fair Barn

Bryant Purvis - student who was allegedly involved in the beating (shoving) of Justin Barker

Jesse Rae Beard - the sixth "Jena 6"³ student being dealt with in this very sad ordeal!

Other students

Justin Barker - the "white" student who was beaten (shoved) on December 4, 2006. Descriptions of his injuries in news accounts are varied, but it is indisputable that he only spent two and a half hours in the ER, was not admitted to the hospital, and attended a school event later that evening.

Kenneth Purvis - the student who originally asked permission for the black students to sit under the tree. He may be related to Bryant Purvis, one of the Jena 6, a completely unrelated person or may be Bryant Purvis with the name misreported.

The Lawyers

Reed Walters - the District Attorney in LaSalle Parish, Louisiana. Warned black students that "I can make your lives disappear with a stroke of my pen" if they continued to sat under the "white only" tree.

Blaine Williams - Bell's attorney, a public defender who inexplicably called no defense witnesses at all.

Officials/Jena Residents

Glen Joiner - Jena High School Principal who recommended that the noose-hanging students be expelled. Superintendent Roy Breithaupt - Overruled Joiner and suspended the three noose-hangers, saying "Adolescents play pranks. I don't think it was a threat against anybody."

Murphy McMillian - Jena mayor, says that "Race is not a major local issue. It's not a factor in the local people's lives."

Eddie Thompson - a white pastor who admits that racism is rampant in Jena, and who has worked alongside other pastors in Jena to resolve the racial problems.

Emma Humphries - emergency room supervisor at LaSalle General Hospital at the time of the attack. It is rumored that she said Barker sustained a number of cuts and bruises, including a serious abrasion of the eye. She noted that he also had a swollen eye.

Persons of Interest

Unidentified - the white people who beat Robert Bailey, Jr at the Fair Barn. Bailey says there were six or seven of them. One received a charge of simple battery; the rest were not charged at all.

Unidentified - 21 year old "white" Jena High School graduate who either was part of the group who beat Robert Bailey, Jr at the Fair Barn the night before, or at least was present, threatened black students with a pump-action shotgun at a Jena convenience store. He was not charged, but the students who disarmed him were charged with aggravated battery, theft and face many years in prison if convicted.

I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT I, JAMES THOMAS, SR., A RESIDENT OF LOUISIANA, IS VERY MUCH AN ANGRY BLACK MAN!!!

WHERE IS THE JUSTICE? AT 40 YEARS OLD, THERE WAS A TIME THAT I WAS ASHAMED OF BEING A LOUISIANIAN. . . NOT ANY MORE!!! I AM ASHAMED OF A TOWN IN MY HOME STATE NAMED JENA.

JENA, LOUISIANA IS ONE OF THE MOST RACIST TOWNS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE "WHITE LOCALS" DO NOT HIDE THEIR RACIST ACTIONS, VIEWS & ATTITUDES TOWARD BLACK PEOPLE, PRIMARILY BLACK MEN!

I RECENTLY VISITED JENA AND MUST SAY THAT THOUGH IT SEEMS TO BE A VERY CALM, QUIET & CRIME-FREE TOWN, IT IS ALSO A TOWN WHO BELEIVES IN WHITE FOLK DOMINATING EVERYTHING & BLACK FOLK REMAINING IN THEIR PLACE. IN 2007, THAT IS VERY SAD & I AM ASKING FOR YOUR ADVICE ON SUCH A SITUATION.

please note: JENA, LOUISIANA POPULATION--3,250 (2,900 WHITE/350 BLACK)

UPDATE

JUST THIS WEEK, BLACK STUDENT MYCHAL BELL WAS CHARGED WITH & FOUND GUILTY BY A SIX PERSON "ALL WHITE" JURY OF AGGRAVATED BATTERY & CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT AGGRAVATED BATTERY & IS FACING UP TO 30 YEARS IN PRISON ONCE SENTENCED ON JULY 31, 2007!!!!!!
THE OTHER 5 JENA SIX BLACK STUDENT(S) ARE EACH FACING ATTEMPTED 2ND DEGREE MURDER CHARGES, CARRYING SENTENCES UP TO 100 YEARS IN PRISON EACH!!!!!!!!!!!!
I AM JUST ONE BLACK MAN HERE IN LOUISIANA. . . THOUGH THEY ARE A FEW OTHERS, THEY ARE COMPLETELY OUTNUMBERED BY THE "WHITES" OF JENA LOUISIANA!!! HELP SAVE "OUR" JENA BLACK BOYS WHO ARE ABOUT TO LOSE THEIR LIVES TO THE JUSTICE SYSTEM OF RACIAL INEQUALITY HERE IN LOUISIANA. I AM PLEADING FOR ANY & I DO MEAN "ANY" ADVICE, SUGGESTIONS, ETC.

JAMES THOMAS, SR.