Not In Our Town Princeton

On July 4, recognize the Black and Indigenous soldiers who helped win the Revolutionary War (Washington Post, July 3, 2021)

In her Washington Post op ed, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman stresses the need to present a full history of the American Revolution that includes the critical service of Black and Indigenous troops.

Breaking the color barrier: The forgotten story of the first Black coach at Rutgers (NJ.com, July 4, 2021)

Sandra “Sandee” Petway, who founded Rutgers’ women’s track and field program almost fifty years ago, “was the first Black head coach in Rutgers history, but that fact is nowhere to be found on the school’s official website.”

The international swimming federation just gave Black swimmers everywhere a wet slap in the face (Washington Post, July 3)

Karen Attiah takes FINA ( Fédération Internationale De Natation), the official international federation that administers international competitions in water sports, to task for banning Soul Cap, a swimming cap designed to accommodate natural afro-hair, in the upcoming Olympics, because they do not “ ‘fit the natural form of the head.’ . . . . In response to the backlash, FINA released a statement saying that the body is ‘currently reviewing the situation with regards to ‘Soul Cap’ and similar products.’ ” 

The bronze statues of Confederate Generals were removed on Saturday, July 10, 2021 (City of Charlottesville press release, July 9)

The City of Charlottesville announced its plan to remove and put into temporary storage Confederate statues of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson from the site that in 2017 saw a Unite the Right Rally, which resulted in the death of counter-protestor, Heather Heyer.

‘The real damage’ (Washington Post, June 11, 2021)

Hannah Dreier reports on why FEMA is denying disaster aid to Black families that have lived for generations in the Deep South.  “More than a third of Black-owned land in the South is passed down informally, rather than through deeds and wills, according to land use experts. It’s a custom that dates to the Jim Crow era, when Black people were excluded from the Southern legal system. When land is handed down like this, it becomes heirs’ property, a form of ownership in which families hold property collectively, without clear title. . . . the Department of Agriculture has found that heirs’ property is ‘the leading cause of Black involuntary land loss.’ Without formal deeds, families are cut off from federal loans and grants, including from FEMA, which requires that disaster survivors prove they own their property before they can get help rebuilding.”

Systemic Discrimination Among Large U.S. Employers

A National Bureau of Economic Research “experiment sending more than 83,000 fictitious applications with randomized characteristics to geographically dispersed jobs posted by 108 of the largest U.S. employers” found that “[d]istinctively Black names reduce the probability of employer contact by 2.1 percentage points relative to distinctively white names.”

SATURDAY, JULY 31,

JOINT EFFORT WITHERSPOON JACKSON PRINCETON SAFE STREETS FISH FRY & 1ST REUNION GATHERING – 3PM @ ELKS LODGE

SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 

JOINT EFFORT WITHERSPOON JACKSON PRINCETON SAFE STREETS

GOSPEL FESTIVAL 5:00PM-7:00PM @ 1ST BAPTIST CHURCH

John Bailey, Founder & Event Coordinator, Joint Effort Witherspoon Jackson Community Princeton Safe Streets Program  

(Introduction of Kahlia Fletcher, Miss Garden State American Teenager, Poem for The Occasion, Rev. Gregory Smith, Second Calvary Baptist Church, 2 Violin Spiritual Selections – Angela & Abigail Bao, 2 Musical Selections – First Baptist Church Choir, 2 Musical Selections – Sam Frisby & Friends, 2 Musical Selections – Jerome & Alissa Neal, 2 Musical Selections – JVR Music Group, Closing Selections – First Baptist Church Choir)

MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 

JOINT EFFORT WITHERSPOON JACKSON COMMUNITY PRINCETON SAFE STREETS  KICK-OFF RECEPTION 5PM-7:30PM @ HILLIER STUDIOS

“NEW VISION FOR PRINCETON” DISCUSSION #1 – WITHERSPOON STREET CORRIDOR 

6:00PM COMMUNITY PROGRAM

Welcome, Introduction & Acknowledgements

John Bailey, Founder & Event Coordinator, Joint Effort Witherspoon Jackson Community Princeton Safe Streets Program  

(Introduction of Kahlia Fletcher, Miss Garden State American Teenager, Remarks Honorable Mark Freda, Mayor of Princeton, Honorable Andrew Zwicker, NJ Assemblyman & Candidate for NJ Senate, Honorable Andrew Koontz, Mercer County Commissioner, Honorable Mercer County Commissioner Sam Frisby, Shirley Satterfield, President, Witherspoon -Jackson Community Historical and Cultural Society, Vision For The Witherspoon Street Corridor, Bob Hillier, Architect & Principal, Hillier Studios.

Response Remarks (Honorable Michelle Lambros, Princeton Councilwoman, Honorable Mia Sacks, Princeton Town Council, Leighton Newlin, Chairman, Princeton Housing Authority & Candidate for Princeton Council)

TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 

JOINT EFFORT WITHERSPOON JACKSON COMMUNITY PRINCETON SAFE STREETS

5:00PM-7:30PM @ PUBLIC LIBRARY “NEW VISION FOR PRINCETON” DISCUSSION #2 – MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT & YOUTH SERVICES 

5:00PM COMMUNITY NETWORKING

5:30PM YOUTH SERVICES VISION

(Adam Welch, Executive Director, Arts Council of Princeton, Evan Moorhead, Deputy Director, Princeton Recreation Department, Leigh Zink, Senior Director, Youth Development and Outreach, Princeton YMCA, Susan Conlon, Director of Youth Services, Princeton Public Library, Thomas Parker, Youth Program Advocate & Long Time Coach)

6:30PM MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT VISION

(Honorable Mark Freda, Mayor Mark of Princeton, Honorable Leticia Fraga, President, Princeton Town Council, Honorable David Cohen, Princeton Town Council, Honorable Eve Niedergang, Princeton Town Council, Honorable Michelle Lambros, Princeton Town Council, Honorable Mia Sacks, Princeton Town Council, Bernie Hvozdovic, Princeton Town Administrator)

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 4,

JOINT EFFORT WITHERSPOON JACKSON COMMUNITY PRINCETON SAFE STREETS CULTURAL PROGRAM 

5:30PM-8:00PM @ ARTS COUNCIL  

5:30PM CHIP FISHER & ROMUS BROADWAY MEMORIAL ART EXHIBIT – COMMUNITY PHOTO COLLAGE 

Art provided by Aaron Fisher and Tracey J. Hill

Witherspoon Jackson Princeton Community Collages provided by The Broadway Family

Music provided by Princeton High School Students – Abigail & Angela Bao

“Meet & Greet” Community Reception 

New Princeton Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Carol Kelly and Introduction of

New PHS Principal, Frank Chmiel

6:00PM Remarks, Welcome & Acknowledgements

John Bailey, Founder & Event Coordinator, Joint Effort Witherspoon Jackson Community Princeton Safe Streets Program

(Poem For The Occasion, Rev. Gregory Smith, Second Calvary Baptist Church, Reflections on Growing Up In The Witherspoon Jackson Community, Evelyn Turner Counts)

(Remarks Honorable Princeton Public Schools Board of Education President Beth Behrend, Princeton Public Schools Superintendent Superintendent, Dr. Carol Kelley, PHS Principal, Frank Chmiel, Honorable Princeton Mayor Mark Freda, Honorable Mercer County Commissioner Sam Frisby, Honorable Mercer County Commissioner Andrew Koontz, Honorable Michelle Lambros. Princeton Town Council, Honorable Mia Sacks, Princeton Town Council, Leighton Newlin, Candidate for Princeton Town Council)

Recognition and Presentation of Founder’s Award John Young, A Founder of Joint Effort Youth Foundation (Posthumously)

Recognition and Presentation of Mildred Trotman Community Service Awards Princeton Councilman Honorable Dwaine Williamson

Recognition and Presentation of Jim Floyd Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award Princeton University – Commitment to Social Equity & Social Justice

Presentation of Joint Effort Book Scholarships Brothers From The Neighborhood Scholarship [Thomas & Lawrence Parker, Leighton Newlin, Dwaine Williamson] 

FRED YOUNG JR. (Lincoln Univ.) & JAY JACKSON (The University of The District of Columbia)

Hill Family Scholarship [Name of Barbara Hill & Wilma Kennedy] HAILEY YOUNG (Brown University) & JORDAN YOUNG (Syracuse University)

Mercer County Commissioner’s Scholarship [Honorables Cimino, Frisby, Koontz, & Melker] JANIYAH WILLIAMS (Montclair State University) & TONIYAH HARRIS (St. John’s University)

Liverman Family Scholarship SKYLAR HALL (Rutgers University) & EMMA JOHNSON (High Point University) 

Introduction of Kahlia Fletcher, Miss Garden State American Teenager

Jim Floyd Memorial Lecture Speaker: Rev. Marjorie Lewis, Ph.D, D. Min., LMFT, LAC & Behavioral Economist, Topic: “Resilience, Rehabilitation and Recovery in The Black Community”

THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 

JOINT EFFORT WITHERSPOON JACKSON COMMUNITY PRINCETON SAFE STREETS 2ND REUNION GATHERING

7:00PM @ ELKS LODGE

FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 

JOINT EFFORT WITHERSPOON JACKSON COMMUNITY PRINCETON SAFE STREETS  3RD REUNION GATHERING  & SALUTE TO JOHN “HAWK” YOUNG

7:00PM @ ELKS LODGE

SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 

JOINT EFFORT WITHERSPOON JACKSON COMMUNITY PRINCETON SAFE STREETS ACTIVITIES AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS [SEE SCHEDULE]

9:00AM – 12NOON

YOUTH BASKETBALL CLINIC @ COMMUNITY PARK BASKETBALL COURTS Directed by Kamau Bailey, Bailey Basketball Academy & BBA Shot King and PPD

10:00AM – 12NOON NEW VISION FOR PRINCETON DISCUSSION # 3 @ FIRST BAPTIST

10:05AM ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT VISION (Honorable Michelle Lambros, Princeton Councilwoman, Josh Zinder, Architect & Principal, Landau Zinder Architecture, Bob Hillier, Bob Hillier, Architect & Principal, Hillier Studios, Jim Levine, Businessman, Honorable Jo Butler, Chair, Princeton Coalition For Responsible Development (PCRD) 

10:30AM

Recognition and Presentation of Mildred Trotman Community Service Awards (Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO), Princeton Municipal Democratic Committee (PMDC))

10:35AM CANDIDATE FORUM (Honorable Andrew Zwicker, Assemblyman LD#16 & Candidate for NJ Senate LD#16, Sadaf  Jaffer, Candidate for NJ Assembly LD#16, Honorable Sam Frisby, Mercer County Comm & Candidate for Re-Election, Terrence Stokes, Candidate for Mercer County Commission, Leighton Newlin, Candidate for Princeton Town Council)

11:00AM CANNABIS VISION (Ed DeVeaux, President, NJ CannaBusiness Association, Jennifer Cabrera, Attorney, Vicente Sederberg, Honorable Princeton Council President, Leticia Fraga & Member, Princeton Cannabis Task Force, Honorable Princeton Councilwoman Michelle Lambros & Member, Princeton Cannabis Task Force, Peter Young Jr., Member Princeton Cannabis Task Force

1:00PM -7:00PM COMMUNITY BLOCK FESTIVAL @ PRINCETON YMCA FIELD

-Meet  & Greet Kahlia Fletcher, Miss Garden State American Teenager, Abigail & Angela Bao, Sam Frisby & Friends, Jerome and Alissa Neal, JVR Music Group, Mike Carthan Experience (Featuring JXTT, Deanna Aliyah Counts, Soulful T, Big Country & FPG Band)

7:30PM  4TH REUNION GATHERING @ ELKS LODGE

SUNDAY, AUGUST 8,

JOINT EFFORT WITHERSPOON JACKSON COMMUNITY PRINCETON SAFE STREETS ACTIVITIES

10:00AM-7:00PM PETE YOUNG MEMORIAL GAMES & COMMUNITY AWARDS @ COMMUNITY PARK BASKETBALL COURTS

5:00PM Recognition and Presentation of Mildred Trotman Community Service Award (Retiring Princeton Recreation Department Director Ben Stentz)

7:00PM LAST REUNION GATHERING (After the Games) @ ELKS LODGE

For More Information Contact John Bailey at 720-629-0964 or johnbailey062@gmail.com