OP-ED: What Is Happening To Democracy In Newark?
NEWARK, NJ — The following op-ed comes courtesy of Madelyn Hoffman, the New Jersey Green Party's candidate for U.S. Senate in 2020. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.
On Friday, June 12, I drove to Newark to support and participate in the Mutual Aid march organized by the Newark Water Coalition. With all the rallies and marches being held since the murder of George Floyd on May 26th, and the on-going concerns about COVID-19, I've been doing my best to limit how many times a week I participate in one of these important protests.
But I specifically wanted to attend this one because it combined many different elements and themes -- many of which were shown to be problems during this pandemic. This rally highlighted the need to empower our communities, to find ways to help one another through the creation of Mutual Aid organizations -- clearly needed as so many people are one or two paychecks away from not being able to afford the food on their table, their rents, their health care and so much more.
I arrived about an hour late to University High School and saw no one. I drove around the streets in proximity to the High School and saw no one. Maybe I saw one woman with a cardboard sign under her arm, but I'm not sure. I spent about 20 minutes trying to find the march and then gave up and drove home. I found out later that the reason I didn't find anyone is that the march shut down. It shut down due to the presence of people who appeared to be sent to deliberately disrupt the march and shut it down.
I found this disturbing on so many levels. First, the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives us the right to peaceably assemble. Second, marchers were giving out water, fresh vegetables and baby supplies, all at a premium during these times of economic hardship. And third, two other protests in the city of Newark on the same issue of police brutality and the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, not only were allowed to proceed, but they had the support of the city of Newark's mayor, Ras Baraka.
As a Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate running against Senator Cory Booker, former mayor of Newark, I call on both Mayor Ras Baraka and Senator Cory Booker to explain the differential treatment. It is probably no coincidence that this march, in addition to calling for the police to be defunded, was led by an organization that has been highly critical of this administration's and the Booker administration's handling of the crisis of lead contamination in Newark's water. The Newark Water Coalition maintains its political independence so it can continue to point to ways in which the government of the City of Newark has failed its people and point to changes that need to be made to improve that reality.
As the Green Party of New Jersey's candidate for U.S. Senate in 2020, I know that the problem of lead contamination in Newark's water supply is still not completely addressed and that Newark's communities need less oppressive policing and more funds for education, recreation, jobs creation, affordable housing, repair of infrastructure, health care and more. The city's largest budget item, by far, is for the police. I support the Newark Water Coalition's call to defund the police and to take the money saved and use it to create stronger and healthier communities.
— Madelyn Hoffman, NJ Green Party's candidate for U.S. Senate 2020, www.hoffmanforsenate.com, hoffmanforussenate@gmail.com
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This article originally appeared on the Newark Patch
