Woodbridge Youth for Liberation and Equity: We Want Racial Change
WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Meet the members of the Woodbridge Youth for Liberation and Equity. They are a group of about 40 young people — nearly all of whom grew up here and attended Woodbridge public schools — who are advocating for racial change in the Woodbridge police department and school district.
Formed after the death of George Floyd, they affiliate with the Black Lives Matter movement, while "not specifically the organization," said Meshaal Bannerman, a 21-year-old Avenel resident and group member.
Bannerman was born and raised in Avenel, graduated from Colonia High School and is currently a rising senior at Harvard University, where he's vice president of the Harvard Black Men's Forum.
"I'm a product of Woodbridge Township; this town is my home and it means a lot to me," said Bannerman. "I was in seventh grade when Trayvon Martin happened. And then after the George Floyd incident, it just reignited a fire in me. I feel I have a personal responsibility now to speak out."
Bannerman said most of his fellow group members are college students.
"Wellesley (College), Boston University, U Penn, Rutgers," he said. "Everybody here grew up in Woodbridge and is a product of the Woodbridge school system."
The group has been busy: They presented a list of eleven specific demands to the Woodbridge town council and Mayor John McCormac, a Democrat, at the June 23 meeting. A few days after that, they held a conference call with Woodbridge schools superintendent Dr. Robert Zega (more on that below).
"We're not immune to racism here in Woodbridge, whether it be in our school system or racism just walking the street," said Bannerman. "Growing up here as a black person, there have been numerous times when I felt unsafe. I was often the only black person in my class; I was ostracized in my classes and would often hear the 'N' word being used — either directed at me or people would use it casually."
"Everything we're asking for is backed by personal experience or stats," he said.
Here are their 11 demands (their wording is italicized):
1. We demand Woodbridge Township does not increase the number of on-duty police officers for fiscal year 2021. McCormac has repeatedly said he plans on increasing the size of the police force this year and again in 2021.
2. We demand Woodbridge Township provides transparent information about the funding and appropriations of WPD to the public. (Ex: using federal funds for haircuts? What else is hidden from us?)
As Patch reported, the WPD got their wrist slapped by the county prosecutor when it was revealed they were giving police officers haircuts during the COVID lockdown, and possibly using federal CARES Act funding to pay the local barber.
"The haircuts are a small microcosm of the lack of transparency. For example, there was a 50 percent spike on Woodbridge police department spending on guns and military equipment," said Bannerman. "Things like those, as a taxpayer, I want to know where my money is going."
3. We demand that Woodbridge Township officers under investigation for using excessive force be denied benefits/pay while the investigation is present.
According to a statewide policy from the New Jersey Attorney General, police officers are placed on modified desk duty, and often have to hand in their gun, while under investigation for excessive force or another complaint. If they are found guilty, they are then fired.
Bannerman wants the policy changed. "They should not be allowed to continue on the job and should not be paid."
4. We demand that Woodbridge Township officers, and not the town taxpayers, pay for misconduct lawsuits and use-of-force settlements.
"We want individual police officers (convicted of a crime or named in a lawsuit) to pay for the settlements," said Bannerman. "These are six-figure-plus settlements. Where are they funded from? Taxpayer dollars. It's a bit backwards: The public funds the police budget, we fund their salaries, and then we also fund their misconduct."
Bannerman acknowledged that much of what he seeks to change are policies long established by both New Jersey's powerful police union, and the state attorney general.
"I know we're going up against the police union and the PBA, which is a strong force in our town," he said. "But I'm not one to shy away from any challenge."
5. We demand that Woodbridge Township does not rehire cops involved in excessive force.
Similar to what the Black Lives Matter movement is requesting nationwide, the group wants officers found guilty of excessive force to be listed in a publicly-available statewide database. They also should not be re-hired by another town, he says. While it's not clear how often this happens in New Jersey, it does indeed happen elsewhere in the U.S.
6. We demand that Woodbridge Township caps overtime accrual and overtime for military exercises.
"We want to strictly cap overtime pay," said Bannerman. "We want to take gradual steps to reduce it year over year, to the point where (overtime) is no longer necessary."
7. We demand that Woodbridge Township develops non-police alternatives to 911 calls involving people with mental health needs or other forms of health crises. Sending a trained mental health counselor instead of a police officer.
"Why would a police officer make that situation any better?" asked Bannerman.
As part of the "defund police" movement, several U.S. cities, such as Los Angeles, are exploring sending in a social worker instead of a police officer for some calls, such as suicide, domestic violence and neighbor disputes. Eugene, Oregon has had such a program in place for years, and other cities are now trying to model it.
8. We demand that Woodbridge Township make the Woodbridge Township Domestic Violence Response Team a separate entity from Woodbridge police and pay individuals on these teams and provide legitimate training for those working in this department.
9. We demand that Woodbridge Township defunds 15 percent of the police department and reallocates those funds to other underfunded departments such as public health, with an emphasis on instituting mental health resources, parks & recreation services, and community resources that fosters a township less reliant on asking police to do so much.
10. We demand that Woodbridge Township remove police officers from schools.
"We've heard the school shooter argument a number of times," said Bannerman. "But police don't necessarily stop school shootings. They react to them."
He recalled seeing a police officer every day while at Colonia High.
"Having a cop in Colonia High School did absolutely nothing for my safety," said Bannerman.
In fact, he said it made him nervous "because he may have implicit race-based biases. I often saw the cop breaking up conflicts that involved black people. His job was reduced to getting involved in school conflicts or patrolling the hallways — and those conflicts tend to involve black and brown students."
"At at a bare minimum they should be outside our schools (outside the physical school building)," he said. "They should not be in schools at all."
11. We demand that Woodbridge Township remove the blue strip on Main Street (if not removed already).
Bannerman and the other students have asked for a response from Mayor McCormac and the council to these eleven concerns by this Thursday, July 16.
"The Township is aware of the communication presented by the Woodbridge Youth for Liberation and Equity to the municipal council at the June 23 meeting and will review appropriately," Woodbridge spokesman John Hagerty said on Monday.
Previously, an outside member of the group — an adult man who lives in Elizabeth — said they are planning several civil disobedience events, including sit-ins. But Bannerman emphasized that that man does not speak for the whole group, and said he could not speak to next steps.
"But we do need an answer to our demands," he said. "It's a bit disrespectful of them to be presented a list of demands and then not at least come up with something. But I'm not going to go on record and say we're going to do X, Y and Z."
In Woodbridge public schools
Bannerman said he was often the only student of color in the honors and AP courses at Colonia High.
"Teachers wouldn't think I was capable of doing things and I had to prove them wrong," he recalled. "It was microaggressions. That's a product of teachers having their own implicit biases, especially at Colonia High School, which is predominantly white. I was the only black person in the class and teachers didn't think of me the same way."
He also said black and brown students were often "not encouraged to take AP or honors classes" at Woodbridge's three high schools.
The group raised these demands in the call two weeks ago with Zega:
"Adjusting the curriculum to include ethnic studies and to teach how various events in history plague minorities today."
Teachers being held accountable for discriminatory or racial acts
Getting rid of student lunch debt
Hiring more teachers of color
"Instituting an ethnic studies course and revamping the curriculum to include more effective Black history, LGBTQ+ history and proper teaching of sexual education."
When asked by Patch, Zega described the meeting as "very positive" and said "We will be incorporating the suggestions that came up," but did not elaborate.
The student movement has attracted support from adults who live in Woodbridge.
"I attended the Black Lives Matter protests and marches in town," said Leigh Darden, who was raised in Woodbridge and currently has two children in the school district. "Based on the accounts I heard from the students, I was motivated to assist them. Since I first started learning about the issues in town, I have spoken to many people who have experienced racist or discriminatory behavior."
"As someone who has spent a majority of my life in Woodbridge, it pains me to see the extent of what is happening," she said.
"Unfortunately, the topics we are bringing up makes everyone uncomfortable and results in deflecting and not focusing on the actual issues that are being raised. We just need for both town leadership and members of all opinions to sit down and have an honest, perhaps moderated, conversation," she continued.
"I want to make clear that no one in my group condones violence in any form. We are peaceful. Our goal is to bring unity to the town, while at the same time rectify issues some residents are having. We can't rectify them by staying silent and allowing others to suffer. We have to work through them so we don't have the problems anymore. We truly, honestly just want peace."
Amid Dueling Petitions, Woodbridge's Thin Blue Line To Remain (July 8, 2020)
County Prosecutor Looking Into Woodbridge Police Haircuts (June 17, 2020)
Dispute Between Woodbridge Cops, Man Who Says He Was Beaten (June 10, 2020)
This article originally appeared on the Woodbridge Patch
