Here's a bit of background on this video from AZCentral:
LOS ANGELES - John Mellencamp, the heartland rocker who has not been shy about lacing his music with politics and social commentary, posted a new music video on the Internet on Oct. 2 for a song called Jena. The lyrics, which include the chorus "Oh oh oh Jena ... take your nooses down," are a barbed reference to the ongoing controversy in Jena, La., where six Black youths were charged as adults in the alleged assault last year on a fellow student who is White.
The assault on the White student took place after nooses were hung from an oak tree near Jena High School. Although there were a subsequent number of racially motivated fights, the punishment for white students involved was minimal in comparison to the so-called "Jena Six." The resulting furor has received international media coverage.
Mellencamp's Jena video is a jagged montage of black-and-white images, intercutting scenes from the small Louisiana community with signature images from the civil-rights movement as well as a photograph from a lynching. Mellencamp plans to include the song on an upcoming album.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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