I received many e-mails yesterday urging everyone familiar with the Jena Six case to wear all black today in protest. Not familiar with Jena Six? Basically 6 black teenagers from Louisiana have been jailed and could face life in prison due to a series of racially charged events that culminated in a fight with a white student. While the boys did participate in some pummeling, many protesters contend that their charge, attempted murder, is too harsh for the crime.
The urge to wear all black is a political as well as a fashion statement, and I decided to show my support (I have plenty of little black dresses in my repertoire, so didn't find it hard...) but wondered if others supported as well. I went out during a brief lunch break...
...to see what I could see.Surprise: the all black was in full effect!
Kelly, an executive assistant...
...looked smart in glasses, a black dress, and silver flats.Shakema and Elizabeth...
accented their all black with bright orange shawls.Attorney Gigi...
...looked amazing in a black turtleneck sweater, pencil skirt, and hot suede mustard peep toes.
And Elsa and Lisa...
...accent their black with cool retro specs and necklaces.Cute!
A few people didn't get the memo.
Accountant Andre...
...said he didn't know that people were wearing black. Besides, he said, he's from Jamaica, and was unaware of the national news.And lastly, Cherise, right, was in all black...
But her friend, Natalie, said she just didn't know!A bit of a mixed bag, but it seems that people (in midtown at least) dusted off their old black pieces to show their disdain for a sad case in racial politics.
How's it look where you are?
Smootches!
PS Not familiar with the case? Read about it here and here.
PSS Send me pictures!
I am so glad you did this post. I am happy to see that many people decided to show their support and wear black (like me!) Here in Dallas I have not seen too many people wearing all black but that may just be the environment where I work (a lot of people have to wear a uniform). But this post made me feel good, thanks.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently in Tennessee and I see lots of ppl (blacks and whites) wearing all black. Not sure if all those I see are wearing it in support of the Jena 6 but I'm just going to pretend/assume that they are ;o)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post, Claire!
The q train has a good deal of people wearing black clothes...i was tempted to ask if they were wearing it for jena 6.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Chicago, and I noticed people wearing all black in the downtown area. I even saw one woman in a black "Free Jena 6" T-Shirt! The Chi is definitely representing. While at lunch w/one of my friends, some men thought we were just trying to make a fashion statement. Of course we had to inform them of the cause.
ReplyDeleteIN BLACK all the way down to my socks and drawers...
ReplyDeleteIn honor of the tears and the scars, those that have come and those that are gone, We Give Thanks! The Struggle Continues...No Justice, No Peace!
OneLuv
~Ascend~
It's crazy how people would rather make 300 posts about Diddy's baby mother or Lil Kim and only one person posted about the Jena 6. Well, I guess that's our problem now...Well, I had on my black today in Philly. FREE THE JENA 6!
ReplyDeletedown here in Raleigh,NC we here at a heating, cooling and plumbing company's call center supported the jena6 today wearing all black unfortunately i can't reveal the name of the company but just want to let them know that even here in nc we are supporting them and the cause we think that the charges were to harsh for them and we want to let them know that we would wear all black everyday if need be until justice becomes blind down in LA thank you and we support you i cant say that enough
ReplyDeletesincerly, Dominique, Aesha , Monique, MIllicent, Crystal, Tonya, Cherly, Tiffany, Andrea, Jasmine, Retonya and for those I forgot I'm sorry
This is sooo touching love it!!!...I'm in all black today!! Unfortunately just wearing black isn't going to be enough!! Email, write a letter, rally and protest some more!!! --> http://www.freethejena6.org/
ReplyDeleteAtlanta, GA
ReplyDeleteI work for a State agency and am proud to say the the blacks at our coorporte office showed up in full affect. I would say 95% were in all black. It is reassuring to see that altough on surface, it seems that we are always against one another. It is comforting kowing that when it counts, we are still united.
Not just New York...Today in Baltimore, Maryland, there were so many people who showed up in black, so I am very proud of my people for supporting their own.
ReplyDeleteMaryland college campuses held support rallies today, as well as the general public, so it's a nationwide support system.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was just the F train that I took this morning and afternoon, but I found myself to be one of maybe three people wearing all Black...I was pretty disappointed at the turnout. I think that most people just didn't get the memo.
ReplyDeleteWell, here in New York we supported the Jena 6 from those that I saw today. Well, I told my co-workers, and we all wore black today. It felt truly good to know that we sent a strong message.
ReplyDeleteIT DEFINITELY WAS A BEAUTIFUL THING FOR AN UGLY CAUSE!!!! WE SHOULD ALL DO THIS AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR TO SHOW JUSTICE FOR ALL.
ReplyDeletehere in delaware pelope was text mesg.... adv people about the memo..... even when i showed up at work which is a bank almost 95% was wearing black and i can count the white people on my hand...but i't shows that they care...even in the school's kids was wearing their black! young kids......
ReplyDeleteWhen I got on my elevator my neighbor said JENA 6 I was like you know it. I noticed his all black also. I wore an African American flag pin and earrings. But where I live I didnt see that many people wearing all black. In fact alot of people on the east side of manhattan didnt get the memo..but later on in the evening I saw a few fellow protesters in my African Civilizations class and my professor looked at me and smiled. Every time I hear the story it makes me sad, its like we have come so far yet we still have to prove ourselves I feel that everyday going to a college where its 94% white, and asian. I view the black kids at my school only want to party and dont really give a damn about the cause.
ReplyDeleteLove you Claire for showing love to a cause that was not so much discussed in blog life while still bringing a fashion spin to it! I didn't see too many people on my train (V) wearing black but on the streets I saw and blacks and whites wearing it.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I didn't get the memo until I was already at work yesterday. I lucked out by having worn black pants and shoes, though my shirt was not.
ReplyDeleteIn Memphis, we were wearing black An old co-worker and I had lunch and quite a few people were in compliance. Yesterday was a good day.
ReplyDeleteflorida peeps r here 4 u jena 6 we r deck down 2 the tee in our blk keep ur head up and stay strong
ReplyDeleteI didn't see ANYONE wearing black that day. I felt like I was the only one in NYC who knew what was going on. I felt like such a shame. No one knew about the story. It's even worse that I find out about this story back in May and it is only now getting nationwide coverage.
ReplyDeletewhoops! I meant to say "IT felt like such a shame."
ReplyDelete