I was asked recently to speak to the New York Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NYCNLG) about my experiences attending the Jena Six protest held in Jena, Louisiana, September 20, 2007.  I became involved with the NYCNLG during the 2004 RNC antiwar protest whereby legal observer workshops were conducted throughout the city and I’ve remained an active member.  I was one of four people who traveled to Louisiana from the Guild. This is the transcript of my conversation with Guild members.  While one of the Guild members discussed the context of the Jena Six case I examined the faces of the Guild members—blank often non-expressive.  One, two, three, and then it was my time to speak and I did from my heart. I began that I'm not an attorney nor lawyer but hold a PhD and I educate your children and grand children.  I'm trained to teach courses in international and comparative development and structural inequality. 

I went to Jena as part of a film crew doing a documentary on lynching in the United States and I was responsible for interviewing local residents and rally participants. As the interviewer I was responsible for asking individuals at the protest why they came to Jena, Louisiana and their thoughts about the ordeal?  When I told my mother that I was going she asked me "why did I have to go" and I told her that I was obligated to go and had a responsibility-- you see my parents are both from the south and my mother is from Birmingham, Bombingham, Alabama so the south holds a certain resonance for her.  My parents fled the south and I grew up in the west.   So, when we arrived the film crew had to visit Jena in the evening and as I rode down those dark roads I thought of the freedom riders as being part of the black freedom movement something I had only read about in books. We met at the church, faith based institutions are still the major social space for the community.  The minister I interviewed began to tell us about decapitated black bodies being dumped in swamps. I had never heard about this and asked him, “was this in the news because I didn’t hear about this?”  I realized that the black Jena community is still being subjugated and living under the fear of white violence and terror.  

Black students via the Internet organized the rally-- technology is a wonderful tool.  I had brought my green hat just in case something happen (legal observers ware green hats to be recognized)-- the crowd was overwhelmingly black and the only white faces that I saw were the green hats who I introduced myself to.  As the interviewer I also thought it was important to interview white supporters of the protest all five of them that you saw on CNN or Fox news, the white female holding up the sign, "that not all white folks are crazy"  (I got some laughs).  I asked them why they chose to participate in the protest and one young man stated that whites are in denial of what's really going on and that he doesn't talk to his mother about this because she thinks like the white Jena community so he is alienated from him family.  I also asked another female respondent what does this say about how whites raise their children?  Her response, "that she understands this to be an expression of white supremacy."   

On the way back from Jena the police stopped me driving a truck with three other black people since they were harassing protestors.   The police officer asked me to step out of the truck.  While standing in front of the police car with his partner standing to the side the police officer attempted to provoke me by asking me where I was going and where did I live and where did I work? Having hung around you guys I asked him are these legal questions? (the audience sighed).  It was obvious that I could not ask those questions because he became angry and told me, "he could be the nicest guy or he could make my life..." at that point I interrupted him and said “we don't want to go there do we?”  He repeated my statement, “we don’t want to go there?”  He also asked me, “why didn’t I like the police?”  And I simply stated, “I did not express my opinion about the police one way or the other.” And I told him, “I’m a professor at Columbia University in New York.”  Now, I was very calm as a result of legal observing and my spiritual grounding. By the end of the conversation the police officer was telling me about his travels to New York and California having been stationed as a Marine.  I reciprocated his attempt to get things back on track and stated that yes, “my father was also a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton.”  By the end of the transaction I had my $210 ticket and my body wasn’t rivitted with bullet holes.

As a social scientist I believe that it's important to connect real world events with what we study in the classroom. So I asked my students had they heard about the event and one student stated that she heard about it through MySpace and that everyone should wear green in support of the protest. I stated wrong color but they got the idea.  My students are great they keep me up to date with what's going on with the use of technology.  So, I asked them if they took the time to search any articles to understand why people were protesting and could make an informed decision?  Likewise, I attended the student meeting regarding the noose hanging at Columbia and one of my white male students from my black civil society, international affairs, and US foreign policy class approached me and asked me for advice about how to approach the administration since I had years of experience.  I actually felt old and experienced at this point.  I shared with him to take care of each other first, identify their short and long-term objectives if they want institutional change, and to have a lawyer available since the administration will target student leaders.  Finally, I discussed the transformation that occurs with students when they become aware of the social system that they live in and it's not all roses, then they have to make a decision will they be responsible for changing the system or simply acquiesce to the system?  This is what I do as a scholar activist.  I want to thank you for inviting me to speak with you tonight because usually those with PhDs only interact with other PhDs and those who are lawyers only interact with those who are attorneys but I don't believe in that I believe we can learn from each other.