Hartford CT. Support the Jena 6 March

About 150 marched Saturday in Hartford CT in support of the Jena 6, including current Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez and former Mayor Thirman Milner. For a grassroots march called on short notice with little time for outreach, getting this many people in downtown Hartford at 9am on a Saturday showed clearly that many care about this issue.

At the press conference, Kamora Harrington said she was tired of her 17 year old son being looked at as being criminal simply because he’s Black.

At the rally at Bushnell Park, several members of the state legislature spoke about the broken, unjust Connecticut criminal system. 75% of those in CT prisons are people of color, as are 85% of those in the juvenile justice system. That’s what Jena is about, separate and unequal systems of justice based on race and class.

The lawmakers urged us to get involved and help stop the current push in the legislature to enact a Draconian Three Strikes-like law in CT, this in reaction to the hideous recent Cheshire home invasion murders (which were white-on-white.) But the effect of any such law will fall disproportionately on people of color.

Y’know, there aren’t many cities where a current and former mayor will march in support of the Jena 6. But they did in Hartford.

Minister Cornell Lewis with noose

Former mayor Thirman Milner

Current mayor Eddie Perez