The North: a new collection of interactive multimedia stories of Newark that “must be told”

The NorthAuthor of Unfinished Agenda: Urban Politics in the Era of Black Power Dr. Junius Williams introduces The North multimedia storytelling project with these words:

THESE STORIES MUST BE TOLD
Sometime ago, those of us who entered political movements for change walked on our first picket line or marched in our first demonstration. At some point we got hooked on concepts like “Freedom”, “Direct Action” and “Resistance” to get rid of Jim Crow racism. Eventually we came to learn how to spend time in jail, survive police and vigilante violence; to organize poor and working class black people; to extract perks and building blocks from federal programs and build coalitions among unpredictable community groups; to fight city hall; to negotiate agreements that produced opportunities and skill development for community development; and to manage campaigns to elect black politicians. read more

This year’s NJ Urban Mayor’s Conf on 5/5 features Urban Ag – public is invited to attend, free

Urban Ag Mayor's Conf bannerThe NJ Urban Mayors Association (NJUMA) will convene the 2016 Urban Agriculture as an Economic Development Tool Conference in Trenton, NJ this coming Thursday on May 5. The event is open to the public and is free, but we ask that you register.

Municipalities and partners across the state will be introduced to the economic possibilities that exist through urban agriculture. Participants will gather and demonstrate their commitment to the shared goals of creating jobs, growing our economy and improving our quality of life. read more

Truly scathing excerpts from NYT writer’s article on Cory Booker, circus barker

cory, legend in his own mind
Source: campaign photo
Michael Powell of the New York Times totally kicks butt in this scathing 2014 report on former Newark mayor Cory Booker, whom Powell comes just short of actually calling a circus barker. The short article is worth reading in its entirety but I especially loved these little treasures:

Cory A. Booker talks of his adopted city of Newark as if it were his very own Wild West … This makes for excellent commencement speech fodder … But a recent state audit underlines that the former mayor might have paid more attention to the prosaic business of running his city. Instead of shoveling driveways — he loved on snowy days to run about Newark with his shovel — he could have attended a meeting, just one, of his Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corporation. read more