Newark Residents And Leaders 'Occupy The City'

Mayor Ras J. Baraka, the Newark Municipal Council, actor-rapper-activist Common, and thousands of Newark residents united to “Occupy the City” on Saturday, meeting at five rallying points in each of Newark’s five wards and walking to the City’s historic downtown “Four Corners” at Broad and Market Streets for an anti-violence rally.

According to a release, the event was held in an attempt to “unite residents from the entire City against despair, violence, and crime, and to promote love, hope, and empowerment.”

“Occupy the Block is a community engagement tool modeled after the historic ‘Occupy’ movement, which advocates social disruption of harmful or ineffective constructs,” organizers stated.

During the rally, thousands of purple t-shirt clad supporters marched to Broad and Market Streets. City and community organizers from a variety of groups joined the walkers, including Municipal Council members who led marchers from their wards to the rally.

At the event, the Newark Fire Department provided information about recruiting new firefighters, while workers with Newark’s Read and Believe program gave out free children’s books.

In his remarks, Baraka called upon residents to take action against violence in their neighborhoods by reporting incidents of crime to the police, organizing themselves and their neighbors as communities, and raising and mentoring their children.

“We need peace in our community. We need it now,” Baraka extolled. “It’s not enough to be on Twitter and Facebook cursing people out. You have to get out into the street, and stop blaming people. How many kids have you talked to? How many kids have you mentored? How many organizations have you joined? What are you doing? Have you gone into your schools? Have you joined the PTA? Have you gone to School Board meetings?”

Mayor Baraka called upon parents to set examples by using culture as a positive force, noting that while many parents use social media to complain about conditions in Newark, their neglected children are misbehaving and listening to music that preaches violence and destruction.

“Turn off that radio,” Mayor Baraka exhorted repeatedly. “They listen to songs that say ‘I got high last night’ and ‘murder, murder, murder.’ We need music that is positive. Teach your babies to sing positive songs at age 8, 9, and 10. We want them to sing at age 10: ‘I am beautiful on purpose and outstanding.’ Not that I’m going to shoot some dude on the corner. Put on songs that make babies love each other and make kids think they are big strong and powerful. Put on songs that say we can do anything we want to do and that we should love each other. If you don’t have it, I’ll give you my playlist. Listen to that in your house instead of complaining on Facebook about where are police at. They should be in your living room. Take responsibility. Culture is a weapon. It can be for us or against us. It is for us and kept us as a people from slave shouts to gospel, jazz to blues. The music that is going on is aiding in death and destruction of own children.”

The Mayor also addressed pain in the community as a cause of violence. “We have to address the pain of hopelessness, poverty, unemployment, and death. We have to address the pain of destruction in community, of powerlessness, and of inequality. We have to address the pain our kids have, of having no money in pocket, having no clothes to wear to school for five days, and no food in the house when our kids get get home. We have to address the pain of having an older brother in jail or a youth being in jail at age 17 or having just got out of jail and not being able to get a job, or a driver’s license. We have to address the pain of being a crime victim. We have to address the pain of being 17 years old and can’t read.”

Photos courtesy of the City of Newark