The Jena 6 are attracting attention all over the country. Thousands of people rallied in Jena, Louisiana, (pop: 3,000) this morning in support of the six African American students charged for beating up a white student last December. Read about it here.

And here in Los Angeles, crowds came out all over the city. One of the biggest gatherings was at Lamert Park around 4pm today.

I was over at Southwestern College this afternoon. Hundreds of students from Locke High School marched out of their building, down Imperial Highway for a couple miles, and to the college to stage a rally.

The students, mostly dressed in black, were shouting, chanting, cheering, waving posters, doing whatever they could to speak their mind. (And, of course, some were too busy flirting with each other.)

They told me they were there to offer their support to the Jena 6. A number of black students from the high school and college also told me they were there because they knew it could have been them. They said racism and injustice still exists all over the country, and there is no reason it couldn’t have been them being treated unfairly by the justice system.

The Jena 6 were arrested after beating Justin Barker unconscious on December 4, 2006. The incident came after months of racial tension in Jena. White students had hung three nooses in a tree at the school; those kids were briefly suspended.

Five of the Jena 6 were originally charged with attempted murder. The charge was reduced to battery for all but one of them. Read more about it here.

I saw three high school teachers at the rally today. They were standing back, letting the kids talk. One teacher was clearly proud of the students— he felt like they were learning how to speak their minds. The others said they were there to make sure the kids were safe and the rally didn’t get out of hand. They said no one would get in trouble for walking out of school.