Today’s Good News: Black Blogosphere Comes Into Its Own With Jena 6
By now you have all probably heard of the Jena 6 – the black teens in Jena, LA whose case brought thousands to town for a protest recently. The mainstream media didn’t see this as a story when the boys were arrested 10 months ago. But now, thanks to the activism of the black blogosphere, it can no longer be ignored. NPR (to their credit, one of the few mainstream outlets on this story relatively early) covered the story of how it was done. Eric Weiner writes that “recently, a group of black bloggers organized a “blog-in.” They agreed to write about the Jena Six case on one day, raising the profile of the story. Within a matter of weeks, African-American bloggers had helped collect 220,000 signatures and raised $130,000 in donations…Al Sharpton says he first heard about the case on the Internet.”  Facebook has been another hotbed of activity. “I am so disappointed with the media right now. I live in Connecticut and I never even heard of this. Honestly if it wasn’t for Facebook, I still wouldn’t know,” wrote Jennifer Hightower.
See the NPR story here.
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