Stories

As one of the most densely populated state in the nation, New Jersey has also been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The state as a whole has experienced a high number of COVID-19 cases from its northern most counties all the way to its southern most counties. Sadly, New Jersey also has one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases in its prisons and jails in the country. These facilities house large numbers of individuals with chronic diseases and complex medical issues, putting them at greater risk of contracting and spreading novel coronavirus. Unfortunately, this has resulted in many…

My grandson recently asked me why people are saying that they “don’t like black people.” My grandson is 6 years old and African American. When you consider the innocence of children, you struggle with how to even begin to explain it all – the technicalities, the decades of repression and suppression, the harsh and sometimes brutal realities of inequality and injustice prevalent in our society. You obviously cannot get into a geopolitical dialogue with a child – you have to break it all down into the simplest terms. You say things like, “They just don’t know you,” “They don’t know all…