New Jersey protesters organized in Newark and East Orange Thursday to show support and unity with the thousands gathered for the "Jena 6" protests in Louisiana.

Five of the six teens, dubbed the ?Jena 6,? were at one time charged with attempted murder for beating a white classmate. The charges were later downgraded for four of the students. The sixth was charged as a juvenile. Hundreds of people dressed in all black gathered at the Newark site with signs and flags for their local "Jena 6" protest.

"I am a mother of seven, and a grandmother of seven and when I heard that there was an injustice it didn't matter the color it didn't matter to whom it was done and injustice breathes injustice," said Newark protester Doreen Muhammad.

East Orange Mayor Robert L. Bowser held a rally on the steps of City Hall in a sign of solidarity with the other rallies. Protesters in East Orange were also clad in all black.

"This is not a protest against whites," said Bowser. "It is about the obvious continuing saga of the scales of justice [that] don't balance."

Local students were bused to the East Orange protest site on their lunch breaks. Administrators called the rally an opportunity for the students to experience a "modern day history lesson."