Mayor Cory Booker welcomed the Nets to Newark's Prudential Center for the next two NBA seasons:
"I want to thank the National Basketball Association, the Devils, and the Nets leadership for their support, which has made Newark the new home for the New Jersey Nets. For the residents of the City of Newark, these are not just basketball games. Having the Nets call our city home signifies tangible hope, real inspiration, and many dreams coming true," said Mayor Booker.
Then he went one-on-one with Darryl Dawkins in his suit:
But I have to ask, what kind of attendance are the Nets expecting if the games are in the lobby?
Diana Taylor was walking home from a computer repair shop when two police officers abruptly stopped her on the street. Without any reason, they demanded she identify herself. Taylor provided her given name - Christopher Moore.
"You're right; I owe you 10 dollars," one officer told the other, "It is a man."
She was stopped, Taylor realized, to settle a dehumanizing bet about her gender.
As onlookers gathered, the officers went on to call Taylor derogatory names and make crude inquiries about her sex life. Then, without justification, they roughly cuffed and arrested her, taunting her the entire time. Once at the precinct, they scrambled to find something wrong on her record (it was clean) and then demanded she accept a ride home. During the two-block trip, the officers threatened to sic gang members in her neighborhood on her if she filed an internal affairs complaint.
Their threats couldn't stop Taylor. Still, it took countless calls to internal affairs before someone finally took down her complaint, and they still didn't take her seriously. The department then issued her summonses "after the fact" on false charges of littering and disorderly conduct.
This lawsuit on Taylor's behalf is the ACLU-NJ's third in as many years alleging misconduct by Newark police. We hope this case will finally penetrate the department's culture of impunity, and in particular, we hope Newark Mayor Cory Booker takes notice.
Cross-posted at Jack & Jill Politics, where founder Baratunde Thurston writes as Jack Turner - Promoted by Rosi
(Note from Baratunde: I'm a resident of Brooklyn, NY and co-founder of Jack & Jill Politics. I perform standup comedy and work by day at The Onion. Finally, GO BLUE JERSEY!)
Last night I visited Newark, NJ for the first time. I'd been through Newark on buses and trains between NYC and Philly or DC, but I had never bothered to stop. I'd become mildly obsessed with the city as my previous posts on Mayor Cory Booker and the Brick City documentary made clear. However, last night, I had good reason to exit the train station and stay a while.
These are all nice boxes one can check off on a list defining a "good progressive candidate," but these are not the things that convinced me to jump on a commuter rail and tell jokes to strangers. What stood out to me was that Rice helped start the West Ward Collective whose stated mission is:
To finish the business of the 1969 Black and Puerto Rican Convention by decentralizing the decision-making process of the city of Newark by example in the West Ward and to empower West Ward stakeholders to create a holistically stable ward for all of its residents.
The West Ward Collective is organized and run by workgroups and ward based organizations and non-profits... Each workgroup is made up of West Ward residents, community based organization leaders, ward business owners, etc. that have expertise and/or interest in working on these issues directly for the benefit of the West Ward. It is ward based.
The WWC is organized into a series of workgroups such as education, arts and culture, housing, etc and meets twice a month. It helps raise awareness of city resources within the community, and operates in the opposite direction, influencing city policy based on community involvement.
I was impressed with Rice's commitment to sharing and distributing power deeper within the community. Elected officials often use their positions to consolidate power for themselves, to make themselves indispensable to the extreme and create something that looks more like a kingdom than a democracy. Rice appears to be doing the opposite, and I was proud to support that effort in a small way last night.
Side note: I also learned that making Sharpe James jokes in Newark is still a bit risky. He has some vocal supporters who let me know my jibes and Marion Barry comparisons were unwelcome. As we often say in the business: too soon.
You can find out more about Ron Rice Jr on his website. (Incidentally, his father is State Senator Ron Rice, whom Booker defeated for mayor in 2006).
"I know I've been, I'm talking circuitous, but you understand... So all I want you to do is, you know help him," the feds say Salahuddin said to the cooperating witness -- with "him" referring to his co-conspirator, businessman Sonnie L. Cooper. "You know feed him, not a salad, you know, sometimes a man got to have a steak."
According to the indictment, Salahuddin told the government informant that "it's not a deal when you are giving it all and nothing in return... that's Santa Claus... you understand... and none of us believe in Santa Claus."
Update: Here is the non-Twitter version of Booker's statement:
"My administration is committed to holding all our employees, regardless of their position, to the highest level of ethics and accountability. That is why, as Mayor, I have zero tolerance for corruption.
"My commitment to hold all City employees to the highest ethical standards is evident by our creation of Newark's Office of the Inspector General, who is specifically charged with aggressively bringing those who break the public trust to justice. To date, investigations conducted by the Inspector General have led to 19 indictments and guilty pleas. Under my administration, no impropriety - big or small - will be tolerated.
"When other law enforcement partners have brought instances of misconduct or corruption to our attention, we have fully cooperated with the investigations and parted ways with those employees.
"I do not, and never will, tolerate any abuse of the public trust by any municipal employee or anyone doing business with the City. These allegations, if proven true, are outrageous and are a violation of both my trust and the public trust. We will continue to work with authorities to get to the truth."
We're going to have a packed house. Over 175 people have RSVPed already and we're getting new rsvps every hour. Join us for this event before it sells out! If you haven't supported one of New Jersey's strongest progressive champions, please consider doing so this Thursday evening.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker will be giving the 4th annual State of the City speech tonight
Mayor Cory A. Booker will present his fourth State of the City Address before the Municipal Council and Newark residents on Tuesday, February 9, at 6:30 PM, at Newark Symphony Hall, located at 1020 Broad Street.
Mayor Booker's speech will highlight the accomplishments of his administration which are building a stronger, safer, prouder City of Newark.
Now, you don't have to go to Newark to see it because the speech will be streamed live at live.corybooker.com. Also, "Residents can also watch the speech on Newark Government Access Channel TV 78 and on the City of Newark website at www.ci.newark.nj.us"
NBC Nightly News took a look at Grio's 100 current history maker and Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Brian Williams sat down for this interview with the Mayor:Here's more of Cory Booker on the Grio's 100 list, whose members they identify as history makers in the making. In the interview with Williams, Booker said he's not going to be one of those Dynastic Mayors that stays in place for 20 years because he doesn't believe it's good for the city. On the race topic, Booker said it's ridiculous to talk about a post racial America. He said we should celebrate that. In closing, Booker said he wants to be in a trench with people as noble or more noble than him doing the work to make America real. You can click on the video to see the interview yourself and if you want, Booker will be streaming his state of the city address live at 6pm tonight.
The City of Newark held an event today to launch their "Status is Everything" campaign and frankly we all should pay attention. The fact that AIDS is now a disease that can be controlled through treatment means it's all the more important to get tested.
The social marketing campaign is a partnership between the African American Office of Gay Concerns and the Mayor's Office's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Commission to use traditional and modern social media to provide 24-hour instant access to local HIV/AIDS testing centers. The campaign will feature traditional large-scale outdoor advertising and cutting-edge interactive functionalities like e-cards, and social media integration on StatusisEverything.org, the campaign's official website.
"Since my administration took office in 2006, we have taken significant strides to unite create a healthier Newark," Mayor Booker said. "Today is another example of a great community partnership which is using 21st-century technology to communicate a simple message to persons at risk: get yourself tested for HIV and AIDS. Only with the health of our residents can we build a stronger, safer, prouder City."
Timothy Daniels, a 22-year-old regional AIDS and HIV activist pictured below, said:
"Young people need to speak directly to other young people because they will listen. You can save your life by knowing whether or not you have HIV or AIDS. This campaign reaches people's hearts and it the best way to get the message out there. By using social media and new technology, the organizers of this campaign have taken the time, and maintained the courage to get this message out into the community,"
According to the City of Newark, there have been 50,694 cases of AIDS in New Jersey and there were 13,218 people living with HIV or AIDS (PLWHA) in the Newark area as of December 31, 2008. The Ryan White act is important in their lives:
The Newark EMA's Ryan White program provides care and treatment to almost 7,000 people, which is approximately 51% of the total infected population throughout the EMA. The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program was established by Congress in 1990 through the CARE Act and was last reauthorized in 2009 and renamed the Ryan White Treatment Extension Act.
Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile will speak in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. next Tuesday, Jan. 12 at the Newark Public Library.
King's assassination triggered her commitment to political and social activism, she says, and she started local: at age 9, she campaigned for a candidate who promised to build a playground in her neighborhood.
In 2005, Donna Brazile held the Senator Wynona Lipman Chair in Women's Political Leadership at CAWP, the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, where she participated in CAWP's groundbreaking Ready to Run program. This year's Ready to Run, by the way, is March 20, with a run-up program the day before focused on women of color interested in campaigning for any level of office.
Brazile of course was also Al Gore's campaign manager, and incidentally the first-ever African-American woman to manage a presidential campaign. She is currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, a syndicated political columnist and a regular on This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
The event begins at 5:30pm Tuesday, January 12 in Centennial Hall at the Main Library, 5 Washington St. in Newark. Doors open at 5 p.m.
Mayor Booker doesn't use twitter to replace anything, he uses it to supplement the work he would be doing anyway and amplify the reach of the message in the process.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker went to serve food at the Salvation Army yesterday on Thanksgiving and brought along the video camera to capture this:Everyone who is there, whether they are serving or being served have a story to tell.
Within the past week, I received two emails concerning little girls and princesses.
The first was from the City of Newark, alerting me that on November 19 Newark Mayor Cory Booker would offer motivational words to Newark girls aged eight to 12 at the "Girl Power" Event at Prudential Center.
Girl power? I love Girl Power!
And, boy, do the girls of Newark will need some power to avoid the many pitfalls they face as they grow into womanhood on this city: poverty, premature sexual activity, dropping out of school, pregnancy and STDs, domestic violence. Our girls are struggling. We do need some girl power around here.
But then I kept reading: "Disney will introduce Princess Tiana, the first Disney African-American Princess." Then, the Mayor and the skater who plays the role of Princess Tiana in Disney on Ice, would offer inspirational messages and sign autographs prior to a performance of Disney on Ice's "Let's Celebrate" at the Prudential Center.
Gag me with a scepter!
The second email I received was from an organization called TrueChild, which has a mission of creating a world in which boys and girls are free from stereotypes and instead can learn, grow and reach their full potential.
TrueChild's email, titled "The Princess Plague," discusses Disney's billion-dollar, 2,000-item princess line. For the most part Disney's princesses are white, skinny and esteemed for their beauty above all other -- often considerable (at least among the more modern princesses) -- assets. Their images promote not only attributes that most girls lack (thus marginalizing those who don't fit that princess ideal), but also choices no parent should want a daughter to make. Let's face it, being pretty is great, but being smart gets you through life regardless of how you look.
I recognize that Newark is hungry for activities for kids, but promoting an African American Princess from Disney doesn't help our girls one bit. Instead, it gives them something false and superficial to aspire to, with a guarantee of failure.
If Newark really wants to help its girls, it needs to have pro-girl programs independent of corporate sponsorship. The only gender-specific thing I've seen in the Newark press releases in recent years is the rededication of Boys' Park to be named, again, "Boys' Park." This took place earlier this year, despite the cries of the National Organization for Women and other advocates (in fact, the city wouldn't even meet with NOW about it).
The way to motivate girls is not by giving a speech and signing autographs at a Disney event celebrating a title that no one in the U.S. actually even holds. It's by investing in programs that cultivate girls' intellects, creativity and physical strength.
OK, maybe I'm asking too much from this city. But, at the minimum, let's not sell out to Disney and pretend we're helping our most vulnerable and precious community members, when in fact we're perpetuating stereotypes that fail girls every time.
Most of Blue Jersey knows Newark Councilman Ron Rice pretty well. Aside from being an occasional front-page blogger, we know that he has championed progressive ideals for years. He joined Mayor Booker in going against the establishment in 2002 and again in 2006 when he was elected to the Newark City Council, now representing the city's West Ward.
As an early endorser for Barack Obama for President, he joined Mayor Booker in being an Obama surrogate throughout New Jersey - widely increasing his profile. He was an early and strong endorser of Sen. Frank Lautenberg's re-election campaign during the 2008 Democratic primaries - working hard to deliver a a strong turnout for Lautenberg in Newark's West Ward.
Many of us admire his strong independence - in 2007, Ron supported and worked hard for his father - State Sen. Ronald Rice - who was successfully re-elected to the state senate despite opposition from the entire Newark political establishment.
Right now, Ron is working hard to re-elect Jon Corzine as our Governor and elect Loretta Weinberg as our first Lt. Governor.
His progressive ideals, commitment to justice and his depth of integrity are the reasons why Ron Rice has a following, not only in Newark, but across New Jersey. Just last month he was the keynote speaker at the Lacey Township Democratic Party's Annual Fish Fry in Ocean County - where over 150 people gave several standing ovations for the rising star city councilman.
Now the primary reason for this blog post - one week after the election, Ron will be having a major re-election reception at The Spot in Newark with a great host committee.
I've had the pleasure of working for Ron since before he was elected to the city council. I remember writing press releases for the launch of his campaign in 2005 to dropping door hangers at 3am on election eve in May of 2006. I can tell you first-hand there are few elected officials in New Jersey who match Ron's integrity. Ron represents a new generation of leadership in New Jersey politics.
This major re-election event will be a great time to not only meet the rising star councilman but mingle with a fantastic host committee.
The event is affordable and will be a great way to get ready for the 2010 municipal elections. Over 150 people have already RSVP'ed to help kick off Ron's re-election...we hope that you will be able to join us!
(Here's the live stream. Obama is going to speak soon in Camden. Jason Springer is there but may not be able to post until afterwards. - promoted by Hopeful)
(Update 2:27PM: The stream is active again, with Representative Pallone speaking at this moment.)
The New Jersey State Democratic Committee today announced that President Barack Obama will be coming back to New Jersey on November 1 in support of Governor Jon Corzine and Senator Loretta Weinberg in their campaign for the statehouse, as well as Democrats up and down the ticket. This will be the President's third visit to the state in support of New Jersey Democrats. President Obama will be joined by Governor Corzine and Senator Weinberg at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden for a rally and then will head to Newark for another rally at the Prudential Center.
"The enthusiasm and energy that accompany President Obama's visit are unmatched and we are certainly very excited to have him come back to New Jersey," said Democratic State Committee Chairman Joseph Cryan. "These rallies provide us a much broader platform to show people across the state that Democrats are fighting for what matters most to New Jersey families. Jon Corzine and Democrats have helped get over 100,000 more kids health care and fought for paid family leave so people can take care of a new baby or sick family member and not have to worry about losing their whole paycheck. President Obama's on the weekend before Election Day is in the middle of the final push by energized Democrats to make sure we elect Democrats up and down the ticket."
Commenting on the national popularity of Newark Mayor Cory Booker following his appearance on the Tonight Show last night, Steve Adubato offered this comment in an AP story:
The only time a Newark mayor made national headlines before Cory Booker was when they were indicted or went to jail," Adubato said.
The long awaited showdown between Mayor Booker and Conan O'Brien on the Tonight Show took place last evening. As he walked on stage, the Mayor checked to make sure the seat wasn't rigged, but Conan said they didn't have the money for that, before they began:
"Many jokes are made about Newark by comedians," O'Brien said on Friday's show. "You honed in on me like a cruise missile. Why me, Mayor Booker?"
"When there's a herd going after you, you have to sort of look at the weakest gazelle," Booker joked
Here was the segment, which starts at 19 minutes of the show:Don't miss the Newark Joke Jar either. The two played off each other very well for an entertaining 15 minutes split in 2 segments. I thought the Mayor did really well. He took the opportunity to talk about some of the accomplishments Newark has made before a national audience. He even collected a $100,000 contribution from Conan, his wife and NBC to help the Mayor's Newark Now non-proft charity. Conan closed by saying that it was one joke and man was it expensive.
Tonight is the night that Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien put an end to their feud... maybe. But before Mayor Booker appears with Conan, he'll be participating in a live chat will be hosted on Ashton Kutcher's Ustream & Facebook Channels. Here's what the Mayor says will go on during the 5pm pre-game:
"We're going to focus on urban America and how Newark, New Jersey is doing things that have an impact on really on where our country could go and I believe must go for ever to make real on the promise of this nation," Booker said.
Will you be watching? We'll post the segment from the Tonight show over the weekend.
