Focus on Hate Crime is Far Too Narrow

Villagers, we shared information about the onsite conversation that Shane Johnson organized in conjunction with the Al Sharpton rally in Washington DC yesterday. In another example of the mainstream media picking up on stories reported first in the afrosphere we see that nationally-syndicated columnist Clarence Page picked up on the story:

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Here's one from the "Taste of His Own Medicine" department: When the Rev. Al Sharpton led a recent Washington rally to protest what he called lax federal prosecution of hate crimes, at least one local black resident was waiting with a protest of his own.

Amid recent reports of noose hangings and other racial incidents, Sharpton, Martin Luther King III and other activists rallied outside the Department of Justice Friday to call for tougher federal prosecutions of hate crimes.

Shane Johnson, 32, a social worker by day and Weblogger on the side, staged a nearby dissent with a few sympathizers. He supported the prosecution of hate crimes, he said, but thinks Sharpton's definition of "hate" is too narrow. Johnson didn't draw much attention and he wasn't surprised. "Most people view me as taking on the black establishment," he told me in a telephone interview. "They think I am going to embarrass our leaders. My view is that they should be embarrassed."


Click here for the rest of Clarence's column

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Any thoughts on the two events held at the Justice Department in Washington DC yesterday?

Mychal Bell of Jena Six Released Today

Mychal Bell was released from prison in Jena, LA today when his bail was reduced and the district attorney, Reed Walters, finally stopped piling on new charges and new excuses.

Villagers recall that Walters vowed to appeal the decision to turn Bell's case over to the juvenile system because of Bell's previous criminal convictions. He caved on that decision when he got a call from Gov. Kathleen Blanco, Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III.

However, Walters couldn't leave well enough alone. He got up at his press conference today and said,

"I firmly believe, and I'm confident of the fact that had it not been for the direct intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ last Thursday, a disaster would have happened."

The momentum continues to build for racial justice in Jena, LA. However, The AfroSpear remains vigilante. We can count on the mainstream media to go back to ignoring racial INjustice as soon as OJ emerges from hiding.

Any thoughts on the developments since the Jena march last week?

Mychal Bell of Jena Six Gets Good News from Kathleen Blanco, Al Sharpton and Reed Walters

Good news today for Mychal Bell. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced that LaSalle Parrish DA Reed Walters would not contest the state appeals court ruling throwing out the adult convictions (calling for up to 15 years in prison) on Mychal Bell. The decision now must be made by Reed Walters on what he plans to do next with Bell and the other Jena Six juveniles.

Drumbeats came to us from Too Sense about the selective amnesia shown by Reed Walters in his recent New York Times op-ed. dNa wrote,

After completely ignoring the incident for months, a few white progressive bloggers declared Walters "reasonable" in his op-ed for the Times. But of course, since they just learned about the case on CNN, they have no idea how many other incidents of violence on behalf of white students Walters refused to prosecute. I wrote a very thorough rebuttal which notes that while Walters apparently thought the Jena Six's sneakers were deadly weapons, a beer bottle and shotgun in the hands of white person were not deemed to be similarly dangerous.

Click here to see the full rebuttal from dnA.

The momentum appears to be rolling in favor of the Jena Six. Hopefully this matter can be brought to a just conclusion in the near future. In the meantime, The AfroSpear will continue to monitor the situation.

Villagers, what is your take on the current Jena Six situation?