Joy Huntley points to memorabilia from the Civil Rights movement on Saturday, Feb. 25, during her and other township children’s visit to the Schomburg Center in New York City with South Ward Councilwoman Sandy Jones.
IRVINGTON, NJ — On Saturday, Feb. 25, South Ward Councilwoman Sandy Jones and Lil Williams took a group of township children on a trip to New York City to visit the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem.
“There’s so much living history in and around the area that we live in that we owe it to ourselves and future generations to go out and enjoy it,” said Jones, who hails from Brooklyn, N.Y., on Saturday, Feb. 25.
The New York City history adventure with the children was the second time this year that Jones has spent her personal time interacting with children from the Irvington community. The first time was Monday, Jan. 16, when she and Omar Bilal Beasley went with Steve Harris and the Irvington Coalition for Empowerment and a group of children from Irvington, Newark and Jersey City for a skating outing at the Floyd Hall Arena in Little Falls.
The skating trip took place on the heels of Jones and Beasley’s successful annual Holiday Toy Drive and Gift Giveaway.
Beasley said at the time, “It’s all about the kids and showing them that there is more than what they see of a corner and on the news,” and carrying on the family tradition of public service that his father, former Municipal Council President and Essex County Freeholder D. Bilal Beasley, began many years ago.
“Our children need to be exposed to more than the neighborhood.” said Beasley on Monday, Jan. 16.
Jones agreed with Beasley, saying the skating trip was great for her, too, since it took her back to her childhood, as a black girl growing in Brooklyn who used to go on family outings to the local skating rink.
“On Monday, Jan. 16, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we’re taking about 15 to 20 kids to Montclair State University to skate,” said Jones on Monday, Jan. 16. “This is a mission to get our kids introduced to things that they have not tried,” said Jones on Sunday, Jan. 10.
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