Civil Rights At 50: To Create Peace, Try Justice!

Civil Rights at 50: To Create Peace, Try Justice!

New Jersey Peace Action (NJPA) is honored to present as keynote speakers at our 57th Annual Fall Peace Gathering, Teaneck resident Theodora Lacey, noted civil rights pioneer and leader, and her son, Clinton Lacey, a civil rights pioneer in the criminal justice system. They will address the theme of the day, “Civil Rights at 50: To Create Peace, Try Justice.”

The Fall Peace Gathering will take place on Saturday, November 8th, from 1:00pm until 4:00pm at Columbia High School, 17 Parker Avenue, in Maplewood, New Jersey. To purchase tickets for the event, go to http://njpeaceaction.givezooks.com/events/nj-peace-action-s-57th-annual-fall-peace-gathering

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Why should New Jersey Peace Action sponsor such an event?

“Ferguson, Missouri is a symbol of everything wrong with our militarized foreign and domestic policy,” said Madelyn Hoffman, Executive Director of NJPA. “Instead of working steadily for peace and mutual understanding, we grab onto brutal force as an immediate remedy for our differences. Ferguson is an example of how our military mindset impacts even our domestic policy. Significantly, it was military vehicles that, surviving their original use in Iraq or Afghanistan, were ‘donated’ to Ferguson for use by their police – affecting the community’s civil rights and civil liberties.”

Theodora Lacey began her life as a civil rights activist working closely with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. Later she traveled throughout Alabama, researching voter registration and injustice in the political system there. After moving to Teaneck, New Jersey, Theodora played a major role in helping to integrate the public school system.

She was sent by Bergen County SANE/Freeze (later Peace Action) as a delegate to the former Soviet Union in the Bridges for Peace exchange. Upon her return, she made presentations about her experiences in the Soviet Union to churches, schools, civil rights, and peace groups.

Theodora has chaired the Bergen County Martin Luther King Birthday Observance Committee since its inception and is now co-chair of the MLK Monument Committee, a monument unveiled on October 12th. She has received numerous awards for her outstanding teaching and her leadership in the community, in civil rights, and in government.

“NJPA is glad to honor the Bergen County Martin Luther King Birthday Committee (MLK Committee) at our Annual Fall Peace Gathering,” said Peggy Monges, long-time Board member of NJPA. “The MLK Committee means a lot to Teaneck and Bergen County. The Committee holds annual Martin Luther King celebrations and for over a decade has recognized hundreds of high school students in Bergen County for their community service and high academic achievement.”

Clinton Lacey is Theodora Lacey’s son and Deputy Commissioner, Adult Operations, NYC Department of Probation, with 25 years of experience working with youth and families involved in the criminal justice system. Clinton served as Director of the Youth Justice Project at the Vera Institute of Justice, overseeing a technical assistance project focused on the reform of NYS juvenile justice policies. Clinton now supervises 27,000 clients on probation and is leading initiatives to reform the Probation Department’s policies and practices.

“Let’s all remember one of the most powerful mottos of the civil rights protesters in the 1960s, ‘there can be no peace without justice’” said Larry Hamm, Chairperson of the People’s Organization for Progress (POP), a civil rights organization founded in 1983 and growing out of the struggles of the African-American community during the late sixties and seventies for justice.

“People working in the civil rights movement and those working in the peace movement have grown to accept that truth and to understand how we all must work together to bring about a more peaceful and just world. We honor Theodora Lacey and her son, Clinton, for their work for civil rights and their understanding that civil rights are human rights.”