Irvington National Action Network Chapter President and Essex County Freeholder Lebby Jones, center left, stands with, from left, Rev. David Jefferson of Metropolitan Baptist Church, N.A.N. founder the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Steffie Bartley at the recent grand opening of the new Community Tech Center in Newark, thanks to a collaboration with Mayor Ras Baraka, the city of Newark, the National Action Network and the Panasonic Corporation. As chapter president of N.A.N., Jones has organized a bus trip from Irvington to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Jan. 14, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
IRVINGTON, NJ — Essex County Freeholder Lebby Jones has organized a bus trip from Irvington to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Jan. 14, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
“I’m the president of the Irvington branch of the National Action Network and the group wanted to go, so we’re going,” Jones said Tuesday, Jan. 10. “There are still seats available on the bus, if anyone is interested in coming with us. We’ll be leaving Washington at 5 p.m. to come back home and the ride down there is only a couple of hours.”
Jones said anyone interested in taking the trip should contact former Irvington Police Department Capt. Monique Smith at 973-536-6822.
“I’ve been involved with civil rights for the last 50 years,” Jones said. “I think it’s important for all our people, especially the youth, to know their history, because that would solve a lot of problems in our community. If people really knew their history and truly understood where they come from and what we as a people have struggled and fought to overcome, then a lot of them, especially our young people, would not act the way that they do or say and do many of the things that they currently say and do.”
Jones once served as an at large member of the Municipal Council, in addition to helping former Council President D. Bilal Beasley co-found the Team Irvington social and political organization that dominated the township for more than 20 years, before turning leadership to handpicked successors in the Team Irvington Strong organization that now holds sway in town. She also helped found the Irvington Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Committee, which is hosting the annual Legacy of a Dream event at Irvington High School on Saturday, Jan. 14, the same day as the trip to Washington, D.C.
“Regardless of whether you’re from the United States or the Caribbean or any other place, the black continent is Africa and that’s where we all originated,” Jones said. “We’re all victims of circumstance that saw some of us get dropped off here or there by our oppressors during slavery. But, at the end of the day, Africa is our ancestral home, the place where we all come from, and we all need to recognize, understand and accept that.”
That’s one reason Jones said she decided to organize a local Irvington chapter of the National Action Network, a national civil rights, social justice and economic empowerment organization founded by civil rights activist Al Sharpton.
“We’re still fighting for the same things that Dr. King died for 50 years ago,” Jones said. “It’s kind of sad that we’re still having to fight the same battles over things that we thought we fought and won years ago. But Dr. King never said it was going to be an easy fight or a short fight. He said that it was going to be a fight and we all need to do our parts, no matter how big or small, to make this country live up to its promises of freedom, justice, equality and opportunity for all people, regardless of race, gender, religion or ethnicity. And, even today, 50 years later, I’m still ready and willing to do anything that I can to help the cause. That’s why we’re taking a bus down to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture.”
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