"Love Has No Color" Jena, Louisiana 2007

"Love Has No Color" Jena, Louisiana 2007

Above the crowd, a sign in bold primary colors carries a message that feels almost simple compared to the legal arguments and systemic critiques of other banners: "LOVE HAS NO COLOR." Red, yellow, green letters against a black background. A protester holds it high, surrounded by people of different backgrounds, all unified by conviction.

This sign speaks to something deeper than strategy or policy debate. It's about the moral foundation of the movement. Behind the demands for justice, behind the anger at an unfair legal system, behind the organizing and the protests, there's this fundamental belief: we are one human family. Racism divides us. Love connects us. And love is stronger.

What's powerful about this message in this moment is its inclusivity. The Jena Six case could have been framed narrowly—as an issue only for Black communities. Instead, this sign declares that racial justice belongs to everyone. A person of any background can hold this banner because the principle is universal: hatred based on color is wrong. Love that transcends color is right. That's not just a Black issue—it's a human issue.

The protester holding this sign is surrounded by a diverse crowd—you can see people of different races and ages around them. That visual reality backs up the message on the banner. This movement wasn't just Black people demanding their rights, though that was essential to it. It was people from different communities recognizing that racism harms everyone, that justice requires everyone, that building a better world demands we work together across lines that racism wants to keep us divided.

The schoolbus visible in the background reminds us that this is about young people—about the Jena Six themselves and about young people everywhere watching to see if adults would stand up. The message "Love Has No Color" is partly addressed to them: this is what we're fighting for. A world where children aren't divided by color. A world where the law treats everyone fairly. A world where love, not fear, shapes our institutions.

This sign, held by one person but representing thousands, captures the spiritual and moral core of the movement. It answers the question "Why do we fight?" The answer isn't just legal—it's deeply human. We fight because we believe in love. We believe in justice. We believe that people of all backgrounds deserve dignity and equal treatment under the law. That's what movements are built on. That's what keeps them going even when progress feels impossibly slow.