New Jersey’s Urban, Black Leaders Prep For Trump Presidency

As Martin Luther King Jr. Day arrives and a Donald Trump presidency creeps closer to reality, a consortium of New Jersey’s urban leaders – including several prominent African-American politicians – are preparing to make their stand.

Mayors from several of the Garden State’s largest urban centers – including Newark, Camden, Orange and Plainfield – joined other members of the New Jersey Black Mayors Alliance for Social Justice for a roundtable policy planning session on Jan. 9 at the office of U.S. Senator Cory Booker in Newark.

The key topic on their agenda: hash out how the policies proposed by President-elect Trump could impact New Jersey’s urban communities.

During the meeting, the community leaders discussed topics such as:

• Possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act
• Criminal justice reform
• Threats to the diversity of their communities
• Trump’s cabinet selections,
• Trump’s lack of an agenda for urban communities
• Infrastructure funding and investment
• Living wage issues

"The things Donald Trump was saying in his campaign about immigrants, about minorities, about women, about gays and lesbians, demand that we work together to defend those populations," Booker said. "We're going to do everything we can as a team to defend our fellow New Jerseyans.”

The municipal leaders didn’t elaborate on what kinds of steps they might take to oppose Trump's policies during their meeting. But several said they wouldn't remain silent about human rights issues, even if it means the loss of federal funding, NJ.com reported.

TRUMP’S CABINET

As his Garden State peers planned for the effects of a Trump presidency, U.S. Congressman Donald Payne Jr. (New Jersey) issued a powerful message against the President-elect’s cabinet nominations during the first Congressional Black Caucus Special Order Hour of the 115th Congress.

In particular, Payne Jr. took aim at U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (Alabama), Trump’s choice for attorney general.

While serving as a U.S. prosecutor in Alabama, Sessions was rejected for a federal judgeship nomination in 1986 by a Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee because of racially charged words and actions.

Testifying before the committee, former colleagues said that Sessions had referred to civil rights groups — including the NAACP — as “un-American” and “Communist-inspired.”

An African-American federal prosecutor then, Thomas Figures, provided testimony that Sessions had referred to him as “boy.” He added that Sessions said the Ku Klux Klan was “OK until I found out they smoked pot.”

• See related article: Jeff Sessions Declares Independence In Attorney General Confirmation Hearing

“If confirmed as U.S. Attorney General, Senator Sessions will pose a grave threat to our justice system and to the communities that system is meant to protect,” Payne attested. “His ideologies are in direct contrast with the Justice Department’s mission.”

Payne continued:

"The next U.S. Attorney General must build on the progress of the last few years under Attorney General Lynch and Attorney General Holder. He or she must safeguard civil rights, prosecute hate crimes, protect the right of due process, and uphold the Constitution and our basic values and freedoms. Every indication is that Senator Sessions is too extreme and unwilling to protect the safety and rights of every American."

Read Payne’s full statement here.

Photo: New Jersey Black Mayors Alliance / City of Newark

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