Approximately 70 students attended a rally Thursday at the University of Southern Mississippi in support of a group of students in Louisiana who have come to be known as the Jena Six.

"We wanted to show our support," said Brandon Dobson, 21, president of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, the 16-person group who organized the rally at Southern Miss. "Since we are unable to actually go there, we wanted to show our support here. We wanted to bring attention to it at USM because everybody knows about it, but nobody is doing anything."
 
Dobson said the goals of the rally were to get more information out into the community and raise money for the families of the Jena Six to ease court costs. Organizers say they collected more than $200.

"Hopefully we can get petitions signed and get them some retrials," Dobson said.

The hour-long event featured a DJ, free energy drinks and a brief speech by Phi Beta Sigma member Kawaski Owens following his solo a cappella rendition of "Lift Every Voice and Sing."

"We must stand up for justice," Owens said. "We will not stand for racism."

"I'm here to support the Jena Six cause," said B.J. Chaney, a 21-year-old Spanish major. "It is a travesty when it comes to race relations in America. We've all taken steps forward, but some people are determined to take steps back. This reflects on Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of integration in our schools. The way the six kids were treated, they were a minority at that high school, to see they were not welcome is a step back."

More than 20,000 people converged in Jena, La., last week to protest the case of six black Jena High School students arrested in December after a fight that left white student Justin Barker unconscious.

No charges were filed against three white teens suspended from the high school for allegedly hanging nooses in a tree on campus - an incident followed by fights between blacks and whites, including the attack on Barker.

Critics accused local officials of prosecuting blacks more harshly than whites.

"This is a historic event," Dobson said. "If I was in the situation they are in, I would want someone to do something like this."

This article was provided by: Hattiesburg American
Written by: David McRaney