There is a gathering storm.

President Bush used that phrase regarding the Iraqi war. He took it from Winston Churchill’s book, “The Gathering Storm.” I use it in regard to the Jena 6 debacle swirling around the predominantly white town of Jena , LA.

It appears to be the Scottsboro Trial revisited, only this time there is no case of alleged rape against women from the larger community. The so-called culprits this time have been charged with a heinous crime that otherwise
would be tantamount to kids engaging in fisticuffs, and one kid getting the better of the other.

The Jena 6 case began rather innocently. Three young black high school kids asked to sit under a tree designated apparently for "whites only." They asked their principal if they could sit under this so-called sacred space.

The principal answered in the affirmative. Ever since.they plopped themselves under that tree, it's been h-e-l-l for the three black boys. The following day, three nooses were found hanging from that very tree. The white kids received a slight reprimand for putting what blacks know as lynching ropes on the tree, and went merrily on their ways. Some how a fight ensued about this scenario and Mychal Bell, a black youngster who was involved, is now facing a 15-year sentence as this article is being written. Five other students face lesser charges and will be tried in the juvenile justice system.

For those blacks who believe they've arrived because they can travel more freely than they could back in the '30s, '40s and '50s, I remind you that the prophet Amos says, "Woe to those who are at ease in Zion ."

We've come this far by faith. But we haven't come far enough in these United States to feel comfortable all the time, and at every place.

Yes, there's a public outcry about this travesty of justice. That's fine. What bothers me is that these modern-day Bull Connors feel comfortable enough to engage in this kind of injustice to young men of color.

What bothers me is that a number of "brothers" and "sisters" in the hip-hop community have remained conspicuously silent, erroneously believing that this could never happen to them. The black community that has lived through Jim Crow and Mr. James Crow, Esq., is lamenting the fact that we seem to be back to square one on the political stage. Well, we are in many ways. Racists have become emboldened yet again to do the unthinkable. And, those blacks who casually take notice of such things around them ought to be reminded that racism itself doesn't care where you reside, what your portfolio looks like or who you are in your sacred churches.

It is as ugly today as it was when blacks and whites marched together hand in hand singing the civil rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome." The clarion call of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was this: "Organize, organize, organize." The same charge must be given to the black masses and others of good will today. We blacks seemingly are at war and the other side is united while we still sit, for the most part, determining whether we should get involved or not.

I have always heard that the first law of nature is self-preservation. It still is. And, we'd better be about our Father's business taking care of business for ourselves and for those we say we love.

Editor’s Note: Following a protest demonstration on September 21 by thousands of people who traveled from around the country to Jena , the “white” tree has been cut down, Mychal Bell has been released from jail and will be retried as a juvenile.There has been no disposition on the other five students.