RED BANK: ‘HOPE FOR HUMANITY’ VIGIL SLATED
Inspired by an interfaith breakfast held at Brookdale College in the spring, members of Red Bank’s Lunch Break community plan to host a “Hope for Humanity” candlelight vigil Thursday, September 21.
RED BANK: MARCHERS UNITE AGAINST HATRED
Hundreds gathered at borough hall for a rally before a march and vigil, including Mx Rowan, below, who wore a yarmulke with the Hebrew alphabet. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Answering the racist and anti-Semitic shouts heard last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, about 400 Red Bank-area residents gathered Wednesday night to affirm their belief in love over hate.
“We’re all standing here together united in our humanity,” said Hazim Yassin, of the American Muslim Action Network, at a vigil in Ralph ‘Johnny Jazz’ Park on Shrewsbury Avenue that followed a one-mile march from borough hall. Read More
RED BANK: RALLY TARGETS RACISM & TRUMP
Several hundred protesters assembled at Riverside Gardens Park Saturday evening. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Hours after violent clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, about 150 local residents and community leaders gathered in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park for a “unity and peace” demonstration Saturday night.
But unlike a rally held in the West Front Street park one day after the start of the Trump Administration, this one did not avoid mentioning Trump’s name, as several speakers laid responsibility for the day’s outburst of hatred and deadly violence in Virginia on the president.
RED BANK: RACIAL ROOTS OF MEMORIAL DAY
Walter Greason in 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
As part of a continuing series of discussions called “Let’s Talk About Race,” the Red Bank Public Library hosts a lecture Wednesday night on “The Surprising Origins of Memorial Day.”
RUMSON: EX-FHPD CHIEF VISITS RCDS
Press release from Rumson Country Day School
It was the 1960s when a police chief visited Darryl Breckenridge’s home to offer Darryl’s mother a job. During the visit, the chief placed his hat on young Darryl’s head. It was this moment that inspired Darryl to become a police officer.
Fast forward to the 1980s, when Darryl was driving through Asbury Park to get a haircut and he saw the red and blue flash of police lights in his rearview mirror. That night he was pulled over by police because of his skin color.
RED BANK: ‘INCLUSIVE’ MEASURE SQUEAKS BY
Monica Urena speaks to the borough council Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A resolution that thrust Red Bank into a national debate on illegal immigration won narrow approval by the borough council Wednesday night.
A watered-down version of it, that is.
RED BANK: IMMIGRATION STANCE REVISITED
Rabbi Marc Kline at Monday’s Human Relations Advisory Committee meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
After weeks of silence, the Red Bank council is expected next month to consider a proposed resolution that has thrust the borough into a national debate on illegal immigration.
Human Relations Advisory Committee Chairman David Pascale told the group Monday night that he’ll be at the April 12 council meeting to “stand by” a statement that calls for town officials to “monitor and challenge” any costs arising from federal efforts to find and deport undocumented aliens.
The HRAC, meanwhile, rejected member Ashley Homefield’s proposal that the committee simply “make a statement on behalf of the community rather than pushing [a resolution] to vote by the council.”
RED BANK: HRC HEAD CALLS FOR RESIGNATION
Human Relations Committee Chairman David Pascale, seen above with member Kate Okeson, and his comment on a Facebook post by committee member Michael Clancy, below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The head of Red Bank’s Human Relations Committee has asked one of its members to resign for characterizing the testimony of Latino witnesses at a meeting last month as “sob stories.”
HRC Chairman David Pascale also questioned whether member Michael Clancy, who leads the borough Republican party, is committed to the panel’s mission of fostering a “welcoming and inclusive community” after Clancy said he thought he was joining a “nothing committee.”
TINTON FALLS: COME TOGETHER IN FAITH
Press release from Monmouth Reform Temple
We bear witness to the vandalism of Jewish Cemeteries and the bomb and terroristic threats on Jewish institutions. We bear witness to the burning of mosques and the harassment of Muslims in America.
We bear witness to the violence inflicted upon our minority populations. We bear witness to the community-destroying finger pointing that accuses innocent and guilty alike, for the pain felt because of the growing and unanswered violence that plagues our nation.
Torah mandates that we respond and bring people together in prayer and support of our common dream for peace and equality. And on Monday night, March 13, Monmouth Reform Temple invites the community to come together to pray and share grace and support as people of faith from a spectrum of religious traditions.
RED BANK: NO ACTION ON IMMIGRATION
Protesters outside borough hall on February 27. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
[See correction below]
By JOHN T. WARD
A controversial proposal to have Red Bank oppose “any forced collaboration” between its police and federal immigration authorities generated no official action by the borough council Wednesday night.
Meeting for the first time since hundreds of protesters from both sides of the national immigration debate packed an advisory committee meeting eight days earlier, the council still had nothing in hand to vote upon, Mayor Pasquale Menna told the audience at the governing body’s semimonthly meeting.
RED BANK: WESLEYAN HONORS BLACK HISTORY
Press release from United Methodist Communities
Dressed in the tradition of her native Liberia, executive director Gertrude Kehleay (left in photo) greeted an intergenerational, multicultural group of about 100 people, gathered at United Methodist Communities at The Wesleyan for their annual Black History Celebration. All American citizens, they came together on the last day of February to celebrate the history and contributions of African Americans, as well as their ancestry representing nearly every continent around the globe.
Keynote speaker Rev. Darlene Wilson (right in photo) of the Pilgrim Baptist Church in Red Bank, recounted, “Although we dig down deep in February to discover Black History, it is every month…Black History is history.”
RED BANK: SQUARING OFF OVER IMMIGRATION
Pro-immigrant protesters, above, outnumbered opponents outside borough hall both before and after Monday’s meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
With rallies before and afterward heavily favoring the rights of undocumented residents, Red Bank’s Human Relations Committee voted Monday to oppose “any forced collaboration” between borough police and federal authorities when it comes to enforcing immigration law.
Short of declaring Red Bank a “sanctuary city,” the committee passed, by a 5-2 vote, a resolution that instead calls for town officials to “monitor and challenge” any costs arising from federal efforts to find and deport undocumented aliens.
RBR HOSTS SPECIAL ‘UNIFIED SCHOOL’ GAMES
Pictured at the recent Buccaneer Unified Club Sports (BUCS) game in which both regular and special education, intellectually disabled students played together as teammates are (standing, left to right) Nick Arnone, Lauren Keale, Zoey Kallerher, Michael Eulner, Stephen Navitzky; (kneeling) Sarah Keale and Diana Santamaria Delgado.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
This past year, Red Bank Regional High School Athletic Director Del DalPra was able to secure a $3,500 grant from the Special Olympics Organization with the aim of becoming a Special Olympics Unified School.
RBR joins over 4,300 middle and high schools in the United States which have adopted this program, in which able-bodied kids play side by side with special education children who are intellectually disabled. According to the Unified Olympic website, “Unified Sports is also an integral part of the Special Olympics Unified Strategy for Schools, which was founded in 2008 and funded through the U.S. Department of Education to use Special Olympics as a way to build inclusion and tolerance in schools.”
The winter basketball program included eight special education students from the school’s “self-contained” program, and 18 regular education students. All were equal participants in the program and all had an equally great time playing a competitive basketball game every Tuesday night over the past two months. The name of the team, BUCS, is an appropriate acronym for Buccaneer Unified Club Sports.
RBR CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Pictured above left to right at Red Bank Regional’s Black History Month celebration are event emcee senior Corey Van Huff, Multi-cultural Club co-advisor Odilia Lligui, keynote speaker Lynese Rawlins, RBR Principal Risa Clay, and Multicultural Club co-advisor Karina Tedeschi. Below, RBR Dance majors presented their own original choregoraphy during the program.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
“Education is the key to life,” Lynese Rawlins told her audience at Red Bank Regional High School, as she addressed the student body during the school’s Black History Month observance on February 2.
A college student who recently graduated early from Montclair State University, and who plans to attend law school in the fall, the Class of 2013 RBR grad returned to her alma mater as keynote speaker for the special event.
A high-achieving student at RBR as president of her senior class, captain of the cheer-leading squad and recipient of the NJ Governor’s award in 2013, Lynese serves as a as a local role model and example of how hard work and determination breeds success.
LINCROFT: UUCMC HOSTS BLACK VOICES EVENT
Press release from Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County
On the evening of Saturday, February 18, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County will be the setting for a special Voices of Black Experience presentation, under the theme “Inspiring Us to Resist the New Jim Crow.” A Black History Month followup to the February 3 screening of the film 13th, which examined the connection between the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution and the imprisonment of African Americans, the 5 p.m. event will feature a trio of guest speakers.
RED BANK HUMANISTS MARK DARWIN DAY
Press release from Red Bank Humanists
Since 2005, the Red Bank Humanists have used the February edition of their monthly forum to celebrate International Darwin Day. The goal of Darwin Day is to inspire people to reflect and act on the principles of intellectual bravery, perpetual curiosity, scientific thinking, and hunger for truth, as embodied in the life and work of Charles Darwin.
On the morning of Sunday, February 12, RBH will host the latest in its monthly series, hosted at the Red Bank Charter School, 58 Oakland Street. The program, going on from from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon, is open to the public and admission is free — and the theme for Darwin Day 2017 is “The Self-Domestication of Humans,” featuring guest speaker Ron Flannery (pictured).
RUMSON SCHOOLS MAKE ART FOR CHHANGE
Press release from Rumson School District
Continuing a yearlong partnership between the Rumson School District and CHHANGE (the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights and Genocide Education center at Brookdale Community College), Forrestdale School provides its 7th and 8th grade students with several fantastic educational opportunities.
In January, Rumson art teachers Amy Lepping and Robin Yaeger attended a professional development opportunity that focused on fostering an artistic response from our students as they witness the world around them. During their time at the Chhange center, the teachers were provided with a first-hand account from artist and Holocaust survivor Claire Boren, who has taken her experiences and created artistic representations in response to the events of her childhood.
RED BANK: SANCTUARY CITY STATUS ON TABLE
A sign installed by the Human Relations Committee in Veteran’s Park at Riverside Avenue and West Front Street in 2011. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Even as President Donald Trump threatens to cut federal funding to so-called “sanctuary cities” across America, Red Bank may adopt the designation, redbankgreen has learned.
In response to requests by residents, the borough’s Human Relations Committee is expected to discuss the issue later this month, said Chairman David Pascale.
RANNEY STUDENTS LEARN OF UNTOLD HISTORY
Press release from Ranney School
On January 25, the ongoing Distinguished Speaker Series at Ranney School gave students the opportunity to hear from writer, teacher, and Harvard doctoral candidate Clint Smith.
A 2014 National Poetry Slam champion, Mr. Smith (pictured) has focused on the sociology of race and the history of inequality in the United States in his published works, the most recent being the poetry collection Counting Descent. His two TED Talks, “The Danger of Silence” and “How to Raise a Black Son in America,” have collectively been viewed more than 5 million times — and this past Wednesday he shared several of his poems, and the meaning behind them, with nearly 400 Upper School students and faculty on Ranney’s Tinton Falls campus.
LINCROFT: A SPIKE IN ATTENDANCE AT UUCMC
The “Earth Room” of Lincroft’s Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse is the setting this Sunday, for a free winter’s afternoon jazz concert featuring pianist Mike “Spike” Wilner.
Its “Earth Room” sanctuary has served for years as the greater Red Bank green’s go-to venue for guest lectures on progressive causes, in addition to regularly scheduled Social Action Film screenings of hot-topic documentaries — and, beginning in 2016, a slate of concert events that’s placed some internationally acclaimed modern folk music artists in front of Monmouth County audiences for the very first time.
This Sunday afternoon, January 29, Lincroft’s Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County becomes a jazz club, albeit one that trades the candlelit-cool night owl vibe for the streaming light of the stained glass windows and the afternoon delights of pianist Spike Wilner.
RUMSON: A HISTORY LESSON FOR RCDS KIDS
Storyteller Len Cabral address students at Rumson Country Day School in January 17 assembly. In addition to learning about Dr. King, the students learned about their school’s history during a special Scavenger Hunt event on January 20.
Press release from Rumson Country Day School
On Tuesday, January 17, the students of Rumson Country Day School attended a special assembly to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A gifted orator, Dr. King used the power of words to inspire others and to achieve seemingly impossible goals. The overall theme of the assembly focused on the values that Dr. King’s legacy upholds, specifically kindness, which parallels the qualities of character that are the cornerstone of the RCDS experience.
The main event featured Len Cabral, an internationally acclaimed storyteller who has been enchanting audiences with his storytelling performances at schools, libraries, museums and festivals since 1976.
RED BANK: CHARTER KIDS MARCH FOR MLK
Press release from Red Bank Charter School
Students at Red Bank Charter School took to the streets last Monday, January 16, carrying signs while marching through the community to mark the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday. The exercise was part of a series of events held at the school on Martin Luther King Day, to teach students about the legacy of the slain civil rights leader.
The day began with teachers in every classroom handing out bagels to students, an exercise designed to create fellowship among students. Students also created a CNN-like news program in which they produced segments about the Dr. King, the Taliban, the Dakota Access Pipeline and the controversy over their own school.
RED BANK: WOMEN UNITE AGAINST (UNNAMED)
Several hundred participants flowed into Riverside Gardens Park for the Greater Red Bank Women’s Initiative Rally Saturday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
One day after the start of a new administration in Washington, D.C., hundreds of protesters gathered in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park to push back against its promised agenda.
But if the policies of newly inaugurated President Donald Trump were foremost on their minds, speaker after speaker at the event avoided mentioning him by name.
RED BANK: WOMEN PLAN ‘NONPARTISAN’ RALLY
A gathering to reaffirm Red Bank’s “inclusiveness and tolerance” is planned at Riverside Gardens Park the day after the Trump inauguration. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
[REPOSTING OF JANUARY 9 ARTICLE, with additional details about who’s speaking.]
By JOHN T. WARD
A group of Red Bank-area women have obtained an OK to hold an open-air rally for human rights and other concerns one day after the Trump inauguration.
The newly formed group, called the Greater Red Bank Women’s Initiative, won approval Monday from the borough government’s special events committee to hold a rally in Riverside Gardens Park on Saturday, January 21, according to Ellen Herman, one of the organizers.
RED BANK: WOMEN PLAN ‘NONPARTISAN’ RALLY
A gathering to reaffirm Red Bank’s “inclusiveness and tolerance” is planned at Riverside Gardens Park the day after the Trump inauguration. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A group of Red Bank-area women have obtained an OK to hold an open-air rally for human rights and other concerns one day after the Trump inauguration.
The newly formed group, called the Greater Red Bank Women’s Initiative, won approval Monday from the borough government’s special events committee to hold a rally in Riverside Gardens Park on Saturday, January 21, according to Ellen Herman, one of the organizers.