The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Speaking to a cheering audience in the Township Senior/Community Center, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on February 3 delivered a fiery speech honoring “champions of justice” in the African-American community and extolling those in attendance to continue the struggle toward racial equality in the United States.
Baraka was the keynote speaker in a Black History Month celebration sponsored by the Somerset County Democratic Committee’s Black Caucus held at the center.
The Caucus also honored former Township Councilwoman and current Somerset County Commission Director Shanel Robinson.
The event featured speakers, several vocal and dance performances and a handful of vendors.
Celebrating American history, Baraka said, is impossible without “celebrating, commemorating or recognizing” African-Americans.
“America’s strength and power in the world was born from the sweat on the brow and the scars on the backs of Africans that worked from South Carolina to Brazil in cotton fields and cane fields and the accumulated wealth from over 250 years of free labor, and they still haven’t paid us yet,” he said.
“Right now, across the country, they’re banning books, taking us out of the curriculum, trying to erase our authors, our intellectuals, our creators, our ideas,” Baraka said. “This makes this celebration, this program, more relevant than it’s ever been. We have a duty not to just remember our history, but to teach it, and live it in its present and evolving form.”
“We can’t sit back and watch basic freedoms be denied to African Americans, in fact, to any Americans,” he said. “We celebrate courageous leaders who made progress in wrestling these injustices and those activists all across our country who continue to stand and help right the wrongs of our past and extend the promise of America to all of our people.”
“We come together to honor these champions of justice and the sacrifices they endured to bring us to this point, we celebrate the contribution of African-Americans throughout our history, and those who sit amongst us here today,” he said. “And we commit ourselves to realizing a nation where no one is marginalized, isolated, treated inhumanely because of the color of their skin, the language they speak, the religion they practice or the person who they choose to love.”
“It’s not enough to say it’s wrong, we have to do something about it,” Baraka said.
The Black Caucus honored Robinson for being a “trailblazer” in Somerset County politics.
In his introduction of Robinson, Terence Byrd noted her accomplishments, and said, “That’s commitment to all of us, that’s commitment to the County and that’s commitment to the state of New Jersey.”
Among other firsts, Robinson was the first Black woman to be named a Director of what was then known as the Somerset County Freeholders.
“Understanding that being the first, I don’t want to be the only, and the last,” she said. “For the young people in the room, stay engaged, get involved, and stay connected. We as adults haven’t done a great job in embracing your ideals. Where we may have the knowledge and the wisdom, you all have the energy and the movement.”
“We need to come together to continue to move not only our community forward, this county, this state and this country forward,” she said.
“The blueprint has been given to us, we just have to continue to do the work,” Robinson said. “Our unity and our community is our power.”
“Let us not forget that we have a responsibility and obligation to continue to the good and to stay in good trouble,” she said.
Somerset County Democratic Committee chairwoman Peg Schaffer told the crowd that they have an obligation to continue what the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia called “good trouble.”
“Let’s not lose sight of the fact that we still live in a country that’s systemically racist,” she said.
“We must understand that we have an obligation to do something,” she said. “Whatever you can do, as little as it might be, it’s important to maintaining and creating a more level playing field.”
Speaking to its members, Mayor Phil Kramer said the Black Caucus is “a party within a party to remind the rest of us how important the cause is. How important it is to reach out to all people.”
“I thank you for what you do, it’s wonderful working with Shanel, she’s a great leader,” he said.
Performing at the event were the Movie Brothas, East Side Dance Project, Jaiden Freeman of NJ Orators, the Dew Ministries Liturgical Dance Group, Samora Karen Williams, Dale Genesis Harris, Adrienne Sykes, Herrin Fontenette, and Enydia Lynn Haynes. Music was by Sidikie Jabateh.
Here are some scenes from the event:
