Organized by the Chicago chapter of the National Action Network, the group is expected to join thousands from around the nation on Thursday in support of the "Jena 6," a group of black high school students initially charged with attempted murder in an attack on a white student.

Organizers say the incident highlights a history of unequal treatment of African-Americans in the small town.

"This goes to show that racism is alive and well and it's time for us to stand up and say, 'Enough is enough,' " said Nina Hall, 55, of Hoffman Estates.

Hall, who found out about the rally from others in her church, was one of hundreds boarding buses this morning in a parking lot at 87th Street and Lafayette Avenue on Chicago's South Side.

Trouble first started in Jena a year ago, when a group of black students asked permission from their high school administrators to sit beneath a shade tree used by whites. White students then hung three nooses from the tree, which was dismissed by the superintendent as a prank. He punished the white students with three-day suspensions.

This outraged black students and parents and led to a series of fights between whites and blacks. Whites implicated were charged with misdemeanors or not at all; blacks were charged with felonies.