Coffeehouse draws support, reproach from community

MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The South Orange-Maplewood Community Coalition on Race presented its coffeehouse discussion “RACISM: It’s in Our Backyard Too” on Tuesday, Sept. 12, at The Woodland in Maplewood and tackled community issues surrounding local law enforcement, public school district inequities and the role that recent events in Charlottesville, Va., play on […]

Unity Rally draws crowd on Labor Day

WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange human relations commissioners took advantage of a sunny Labor Day morning when they and about 60 West Orange residents gathered on Main Street at the steps of Town Hall for the Unity Rally. Organized by Mike Taylor and Simone Shenassa, the event featured speakers from various local religious groups […]

‘Unity in our Community’ rally

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The events in Charlottesville, Va., on Aug. 11 and 12 and the raging debate it has spawned was a watershed moment in America. According to West Orange Unity, a recently created group, this is a dangerous time for the nation as some try to use our differences to drive wedges between […]

WO community gathers for candlelit vigil

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Approximately 80 West Orange residents marched down Main Street and held a candlelit vigil on Thursday, Aug. 17, to show their support for the victims of violence in Charlottesville, Va., as well as to stand up against the white supremacist rallies and terror attacks at the University of Virginia that occurred […]

Gomez organizes March for Peace in East Orange

EAST ORANGE, NJ — East Orange 4th Ward Councilman Casim Gomez held an anti-gun and anti-violence rally Saturday, Aug. 12. “It was amazing all the support East Orange received today for the March for Peace,” said Gomez on Aug. 12. “The plague of gun violence is not quarantined to a single city or community and […]

Vigil for tolerance and peace in Maplewood

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Members of the South Orange and Maplewood community gathered in Ricalton Square the evening of Aug. 13 to participate in a vigil for tolerance and peace in response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va., in the previous days. On Aug. 11 and 12, white supremacists and neo-Nazis gathered in Charlottesville for a […]