On the Jena Six and the Media

I wish I could say I've known about this all along. But I can't. I wish I could say that I immediately rushed to find out about The Six when I first heard reference to them. But I can't. I wish I could say that my anger was unneccessary, that it really was an overreaction with no cause. But I can't. I can't say these things for many reasons.

First of all, there was no real media coverage of the situation in Jena, Louisiana for months after the situation began. There was, however, plenty of media coverage around Michael Vick and his dog fighting fiasco. Why? I could sugarcoat it, make it sound all pretty and nice and not offensive and all that, but I'm am angry and so I'm not. So, the real reason why there was no real coverage of this situation is because the media in this god damn country is so fucking racist and only certain images of Black folks are acceptable to be shown. No one wants to talk about Black folks being victimized anymore, because that is like so 150 years ago and went out with slavery, right? Wrong. As long as Black folks are doing stupid shit it's ok to plaster their faces all over the evening news and every other media outlet there is. But let a Black person be victimized by a racist city and racist judicial system and racism period, no one wants to show that on the news.

Why? As long as we're discussing why and not sugarcoating shit, let me give another reason why. There has been limited coverage of the Jena 6 because with media coverage comes public response and with public response comes public rage. As long as Black folks (and those sympathetic to our struggle) remain ignorant, there can be no change. Call me crazy, a conspiracy theorist, or whatever you want, but this I know to be true: the media in this country dessiminates information that it deems safe and stories about six Black boys falling victim to Jim Crow like prosecution is not safe. This is what lynching looks like in 2007. Bodies are no longer swaying from poplar trees, but instead rotting inside penitentiaries due to a racist judicial system. How ironic. This modern day lynching began with a throwback to the days of yore - nooses hanging from a tree.

But let me get back on track here. I wish I could say that I rushed to find out about the Jena Six when I first heard mention of their plight. But sadly, oh so sadly, I can't. I knew. I knew the first time I ever heard the moniker, Jena Six, that some racist bullshit was going down somewhere in the goddamn country and truthfully (as ashamed as I am to admit it) I decided ignorance is bliss. So for weeks, I avoided the Facebook blogs, the Myspace avatars, all the threads on a message board I belong to. I didn't think I could take something else, because recently I've developed a kinda rage and I didn't want to add to it. And I'm disgusted with myself, because it's that attitude, that ignorance that contributes to this shit. It's that attitude that makes the lack of media coverage so dangerous. Why? Because if it is not spelled out for us, if it is not all up in our faces, if it is not Michael Vick-ed then it might as well not be happening.

The revolution will not be televised. Let me say it again, the revolution will not be televised. We cannot expect our plight and our stories to be told in the mainstream media of this country. We cannot expect our freedom to be given to us without a fight. And we cannot afford to sick back and wait for change to happen. We have to make it happen. I can go on and on about the media and the havoc it is reeking on our lives as Black people and as Americans. I can go on and on about how I believe it is a ploy of the government and the powers that be, that Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie and shuckin' and jivin' Negroes are the only things showing up on tv screens all over the country. But I'm not going to go there today. Today, I'm talking up the Jena Six. Today I'm deciding that I'm not gonna let this story die, not gonna let talk of those Six cease from my lips and my words until there is justice. And I'm encouraging you to do the same.

So consider this a call to action. It's time for us - Black folks and other folks of color, white folks, gay folks, straight folks, woman folks, man folks, little folks, big folks, ugly folks, pretty folks, me and you - to stand up and do something. It's time for us to stop sitting around like zombies, stop letting the media tell us what to care about and brainwash us into self-hatred and fear, and start deciding for ourselves that the turn this society has taken is a dangerous and scary one. Not because of terrorists overseas, but because of terrorists lurking in this country, waiting to steal, kill and destroy those of us blessed with color, those of us who love members of the same sex and/or gender, those of us who are poor, those of us with uteri, vulvas, and vaginas, and those of use who aren't rich, white men. It's time for us to take action.

"Up, you mighty race, accomplish what you will!" Marcus Garvey