A Critical Conversation about Race and Policing in Newark Pt 1

Steve Adubato goes on-location to NJPAC in the heart of downtown Newark to attend the "Moving New Jersey’s Community Forward: A Critical Conversation about Race and Policing Forum" to talk with community leaders and lawmakers about where Newark is now and how the city can be made safer. Guests include Ryan Haygood, President & CEO NJ Institute for Social Justice; Zellie Imani, Lead Organizer Black Live Matter; Roger Jacobs, Attorney Jacob's Center for Justice; Shavar Jeffreis, President Democrats for Education Reform, and Carlos Lejnieks, President & CEO Big Brothers Big Sisters of Essex, Hudson & Union Counties.

#1922 11/10/2016

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"Hi, this is Steve Adubato. More importantly, I'm here at the atrium of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. his is an extraordinary place where the most important conversations often take place, and tonight is no exception. Tonight is a conversation that is called "Moving New Jersey's Communities Forward: A Critical Conversation About Race and Policing". The Institute For Social Justice has put it together, along with some partnering organizations, and we decided to come here and talk to some folks, folks who are part of the audience. 600 people have RSVP'd, a group of distinguished panelists representing all different perspectives in the minority community and in the law enforcement community, so the question becomes could Newark be, with all of its challenges in the police and minority community over the years since the Rebellion of 1967, could Newark become a model for how the police and the minority community interact moving forward? That is what the discussion is about tonight at NJPAC. Those are the people that we'll be talking to. That is the subject, and this is a half hour that is worth checking out. Ryan Haygood, president, CEO of New Jersey Institute For Social Justice. My friend, let me ask you, we're here to have an important conversation. Why and how did it come about? So thanks for having me on your show Steve. This conversation really emanated from a broader national discussion that's happening around race and policing, and as you and your viewers know, over the last several years, we've been watching and holding our collective breaths as we respond to a number of violent encounters with law enforcement in communities that left mostly African American men dead. And then we saw, following those tragedies, police officers whose lives were also claimed in Dallas and in Baton Rouge, and there were people here in New Jersey who were wondering, you know, what does that mean for us here? And more importantly, how can we treat what we've seen happen nationally as a cautionary tale about how we should be building relationships between law enforcement and community leaders here in New Jersey. Hmm. And so, actually, I started talking to Mayor Baraka shortly after the most recent shooting about how we could, together, put something together for the broader community around race and policing, but Steve, that looks at this from an opportunity perspective..."