NEWARK – On Monday, June 19 (Juneteenth) at 11 a.m., against the backdrop of waters that carried ships of enslaved people from Africa to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice will gather with esteemed advocates, experts and elected officials to announce the launch of the New Jersey Reparations Council. A unique collaboration…Read More…

NEWARK – A coalition of civil rights advocates today sent a letter to the United States Department of Justice calling for a federal investigation into the Paterson Police Department’s pattern of illegal, abusive and racially disparate policing. The letter follows the recent police killing of Najee Seabrooks while he was in his own home experiencing a mental health…Read More…

NEWARK – The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice today was joined by the family (estate) of Najee Seabrooks and over 55 organizations in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) strongly urging the DOJ to investigate Paterson Police Department’s (PPD) longstanding pattern of illegal, abusive and racially disparate policing. The letter follows a previous request for…Read More…

NEWARK – Today, 55 years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Newark to promote the Poor People’s Campaign, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice released The Two New Jerseys By the Numbers, a brief containing several points of data that demonstrate the vast financial disparities between New Jersey’s Black, Latina/o and white residents. “Whether we are…Read More…

NEWARK – In response to body camera footage released this afternoon of the killing of Najee Seabrooks by Paterson police, the following can be attributed to Yannick Wood, Director of the Criminal Justice Reform Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice: “What we saw today is heartbreaking video of a distressed Black man in the middle of…Read More…

PATERSON –Today (Thursday), March 16 at 4 p.m., a coalition of social justice advocates (see below) will call for justice for the March 3 killing of Najee Seabrooks by officers of the Paterson Police Department. Over 40 organizations have called on the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene and investigate, citing the widespread and pervasive pattern…Read More…

NEWARK – With a rally at the statehouse and a letter delivered to New Jersey elected officials today, a coalition (the “NJVRA NOW Coalition”) of voting rights advocates called for New Jersey to protect the right to vote by passing a strong version of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New Jersey (A4554/S2997). With…Read More…

NEWARK – The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice today celebrated the momentous Presidential Medal of Freedom award granted to Mr. Fred Gray. At Mr. Gray’s invitation, Institute President & CEO Ryan Haygood attended the ceremony.  “If there’s anyone who deserves this prestigious honor, it’s Mr. Gray, who changed the course of civil rights history in America,”…Read More…

NEWARK – The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Fair Share Housing Center, NAACP New Jersey State Conference and Salvation and Social Justice today wrote to Gov. Murphy urging him to conditionally veto A2426, a bill that will make it easier to detain people accused of certain firearm offenses. A2426 weakens the Criminal Justice Reform Act –…Read More…

NEWARK – The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and the League of Women Voters of New Jersey today wrote to Gov. Murphy urging him to veto bill A3820/S2869 and conditionally veto bill A3823/S2867, both of which are on his desk awaiting action and which will, if signed, harm New Jersey’s democracy. Bill A3820/S2869 will change the law to no…Read More…