SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — A year after the attack on the U.S. Capitol building that claimed five lives and injured more than 100, area residents turned out at Spiotta Park in South Orange to rally for democracy on Thursday, Jan. 6. Protesting the attempt by white supremacists to overturn Joe Biden’s election to the presidency, Newark-based activist group People’s Organization for Progress stressed the importance of protecting citizens’ right to vote.
“It has taken us all time to process the atrocities that occurred that day,” Assemblywoman Mila Jasey said in her speech at the rally. “Democracy is not a spectator sport. You must stand up, speak up and vote.”
Other local officials also spoke at the event, including South Orange Village President Sheena Collum and Maplewood Deputy Mayor Vic DeLuca. South Orange Trustees Summer Jones and Bob Zuckerman were at the event, as were Maplewood Mayor Dean Dafis and Committeewoman Nancy Adams. In his own speech, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said that a broken system – not former President Donald Trump — is the problem.
“A lot of us give credit to Donald Trump. He’s just a figurehead,” Baraka said at the rally. “While we were focusing on Donald Trump, they were destroying voting rights. They put together a plan to invade the Capitol. Why are we fighting to save the things we’re supposed to have anyway?”
U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., who represents South Orange and Maplewood in Congress and will until the next redistricting goes into effect, spoke about the laws that some states have either introduced or passed to make voting harder.
“We thought it was safe from attack,” Payne said at the rally, referring to the Capitol. “We never thought any of the buildings or beliefs would be attacked. We were wrong. Nineteen states have passed 33 laws to make it harder for certain people to vote.”
But Payne was optimistic, also adding that many other states have passed laws that go in the opposite direction.
“Twenty-five states have enacted 60 laws to make it easier to vote in America,” he said. “We must act to protect democracy. If we take these actions, we can make democracy safe.”
The rally organizers said at the event that most of the attendees and speakers were Democrats and progressives, but that they should unite with people in the Republican party, despite their differences, to protect democracy. Maria Rodriguez-Gregg, a former state assemblywoman from Burlington County and a Republican, was invited to speak at the event.
“We need leaders in my party to stand up for accountability,” Rodriguez-Gregg, who has gone on record that she did not endorse Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election, said at the event. “I’m here to ask that the voices of voters not be suppressed. I stand here to show that we can rise above partisanship. I was elected to represent the people, not my party.”
POP Chairperson Larry Hamm said that people in the United States are fighting against fascism.
“Democracy has been in danger for quite some time,” Hamm said at the rally. “We must organize, and we must fight back. We must have voter registration and mass voter mobilization. Every election must be a mass mobilization, from the school board all the way to up to the president of the United States.”
The last speaker of the night was U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who represents the 11th district of New Jersey; South Orange and Maplewood will be moved into her district. Sherrill was in the Capitol gallery during the attack last year.
“I had two distinct thoughts in my head last year,” Sherrill said at the rally. “One was, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’ That is the hopeful side, the side that sees this country positively.”
But Sherrill also said she thought something else.
“The other, more cynical side of me thought, ‘I knew this was going to happen,’” she said. “There is this path we can go down where we lose faith. But then we have another path, and I know which path this country is on. There are too many people who fought too hard.”
Later that night, after the attack, members of Congress returned to the Capitol and certified the election results.
“The thing that protects all of that is that our vote counts,” Sherrill said. “That’s why we’re here tonight. On the darkest day of our democracy, we decided that we would go back and we would certify the election, and democracy prevailed.”
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