"We're All in this Together" Jena, Louisiana — 2007

"We're All in this Together" Jena, Louisiana — 2007

This photograph captures a pivotal moment from the Jena Six protest, showing massive crowd gathering beneath large Pan-African flags. The sign reading "We're all in this together" accompanied by the Statue of Liberty imagery articulates a unifying message that transcends geographic and demographic boundaries.

The monumental scale of the flags—towering above the crowd—visually dominates the composition, asserting Pan-African consciousness as a central organizing principle of the movement. The Statue of Liberty imagery on the sign creates deliberate irony: the nation's symbol of freedom and universal welcome is juxtaposed with a declaration of collective struggle, suggesting that promised ideals of American democracy remain unrealized for marginalized communities.

The statement "We're all in this together" functions as both inclusive political claim and assertion of solidarity. It positions the Jena Six case as affecting not only the teenagers and their families but as implicating broader communities sharing experiences of systemic marginalization. This rhetorical move transforms the case from a localized legal matter into a collective struggle, asserting that institutional racism threatens all Black communities and requires unified resistance.

The photograph documents how the Jena Six movement mobilized symbolic resources—flags, monuments, public space—to construct alternative narratives about American democracy and belonging. By gathering masses beneath Pan-African symbols while invoking American democratic ideals, protesters asserted claims to full citizenship and justice while simultaneously critiquing the nation's failure to deliver on its foundational promises.