A couple of weeks ago, I read a story that really shook me.  For those who know me well, you already understand how much passion I have for my people.  I was appalled to hear about the misjustice happening in Jena, Louisiana to six young black males who seemingly had their entire lives ahead of them. Baited and harassed by a predominately white town, just to see their entire lives taken away with a "stroke of a pen" for fighthing back.  None of the whites involved in this case face any charges.  It is a classic example of the Jim Crowe law standard still being enforced in this country.  Stiffer sentences and charges for minorities.  Louisiana is number one in the country for imprisonment.  Black folks make up 32% of the population in Louisiana, yet constitute 72% of the state's prison population. There is alot of work to be done people.  Rather than going into all of the specifics of the case I will post some links for you to follow:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070307B.shtml

http://www.blogcatalog.com/post-tag/jena%20six

http://pursuingholiness.com/2007/06/26/jena-6-update/comment-38843

http://www.rwor.org/a/098/Jena-ice-en.html

So, I decided that rather than simply complaining about the situation, I would try to help.  With the help of 3 other poets, (Reggie, Shawna, and Momowilly) I am recording a track about the Jena 6.  The single will be on my album, Joe Strut, as well as released as an independent CD. Proceeds of the CD single will be donated in its entirety to the Jena 6 Defense fund.  I am still looking for a producer to donate a beat for the effort.  Once I get a grasp on the overall direction of the piece, I will choose a track from the beats submitted.  The producer will have rights to include this track on their album, be recognized on my offering Joe Strut, as well as contribute in selling the single for the Defense fund.  If you would like to donate any time or resources toward the project feel free to contact me.

Here is my verse for the single tentatively titled, Justice for the Jena 6:

Justice for the Jena Six

written by Daniel Jefferson

Jena moves forward, a local paper reports
A backwards town inches toward
a calculated
clean slate,fertilized mort green
Hate tree cut down
leaving
Katrin-a B.S.,
dimming shadow,
and a slave receipt
Suppressed
plantation po' boy heat
once exposed a darker side of morality
now, left are movements that appear to be
right
to the un-trapped caster
Plight,
mapped south in massa's
knot
legacy
And the big-ole-tree spirit survives through
bigotry,
but not just da ohhh and uhhhh mixes
from the conflicted reports of eye witnesses
Bruh,
the roots remain
Seeded with Jim Crowe doctrine,
Black youth locked in
inhumane
juvenile walls,
forgotten waters shackled prisoners fall-ing
into mace induced vomit,
and fresh paint from an un-audited
illegal immigrant torture facility
Rotted fruit don't fall too
far from the tree
This ain't no Hallmark movie crime
Jena Times can't edit a history
written in noose threats
and prison sweats
The six have paid their debt
and now we can accept
nothing less
than clemency.