Dozens gather to support 'Jena 6'

Nearly 50 students gathered around the Cook Carillon on the Allendale Campus Wednesday night to support the 'Jena 6.' Jena is a small Louisiana town where thousands of residents marched after six black teens from Jena High School were accused of beating a white classmate.
  
Racial tensions began in August 2006, when three white teens hung nooses from a tree on high school grounds after a group of black students received permission from school officials to sit under the tree, a place where white students normally gather. The three white students were briefly suspended from classes. Three months later, six black teens were charged with attempted second-degree murder after beating a white classmate. Those charges have since been reduced and all but one of the teens has been released from custody.
  
Grand Valley students who attended the rally spoke out about the power of communication. “We can’t be afraid to talk about race relations,” said Chelcee Johns, a member of the NAACP on campus. “Communication is a huge step to recover.”
  
“I’m hear to move you, educate and enlighten,” Joy Nwabulze, a member of Student Senate Intercultural Affairs, told the crowd. “Knowledge is contagious. We must conquer complacency and ignorance. This is the only way to stop incidents like what happened in Jena. Get involved; there are no boundaries to your community.”