"We Will Not Be Ignored" Jena, Louisiana — 2007 2

"We Will Not Be Ignored" Jena, Louisiana — 2007

This sign, held high above the crowd at the Jena Six demonstration, captures something essential about why people showed up. The message is simple but powerful: we refuse to accept invisibility, and we refuse to move on until justice is served.

The hand-lettered words on cardboard speak to a deeper frustration. For too long, stories about Black Americans facing injustice are told, then forgotten. Cases get buried in local news cycles. Families are left to fight alone while the national spotlight moves elsewhere. This sign says: that stops here. With us. We are making sure the world sees what's happening to the Jena Six, and we're not looking away until something changes.

The final line—"It Isn't Over"—is a declaration of persistence. It's a warning to those in power that they can't wait out this movement, can't hope that time will make people forget. It's also a promise to the Jena Six themselves: we won't abandon you. We're in this for the long haul. Thousands of strangers traveled to Jena to say with their presence: your fight is our fight, and we will keep fighting until justice is done.

What makes this sign so effective is its directness. There's no jargon, no complexity—just a straightforward demand to be heard and seen. It's the kind of message that sticks with people, that captures the moral clarity of a movement. We will not be ignored. It isn't over. Four phrases that together say everything about what the Jena Six movement stood for: visibility, accountability, persistence, and the refusal to accept defeat.