NJ Activists Will Mark 55th Anniversary Of Newark Rebellion

NEWARK, NJ — In 1967, the brutal police beating of a Black cabdriver in Newark triggered one of the most important urban uprisings in the modern era. And on Tuesday – 55 years later – a group of activists in the Brick City will pay homage to that “epic uprising” with a rally and march.

On July 12, the People’s Organization for Progress (POP) will host its annual remembrance event for the Newark Rebellion.

According to a statement from the group, participants will rally at 5 p.m. at Rebellion Monument Park, 250 Springfield Avenue, then march to the former 1st Precinct – where the uprising began.

Many Newark residents have been pushing to relabel the “rioting” that took place that day, which they are now calling a “rebellion.” Read More: Newark Remembers 1967 Uprising: 'Not A Riot, A Rebellion'

The POP wrote about the events of that day in their statement about Tuesday’s march:

“On July 12, 1967, the brutal, near fatal police beating of an African American Newark cabdriver named John Smith triggered one of the most important urban uprisings in the modern era. It would ignite over 100 uprisings around the country including the largest uprising in Detroit on July 25th. It would continue on until July 17th when occupying federal and state military forces finally withdrew from the beleaguered city. Although the historic uprising would take 26 lives, it would also ignite a wave of protest and organizing that would forever change the political landscape in segregated American cities, leading to the elections of a new generation of Black elected officials in largely Black communities by the full use and mobilization of a new access to the ballot and more. In Newark, that would mean electing Ken Gibson the first Black mayor of a major eastern seaboard city, and displacing urban gangster apartheid that brutally chained local politics prior to that groundbreaking election in 1970.”

The POP continued:

“Newark would become the epicenter of the new national Black Power Movement as the late Amiri Baraka led pivotal organizations such as the Committee For A Unified Newark (CFUN) locally and the Congress of African People (CAP) nationally and launched the Black Arts Movement. Having survived a brutal police attack and arrest himself at the beginning of the uprising, Baraka courageously chaired the National Black Power Conference just days after the Rebellion in downtown Newark.”

“Another national expression of the organizing that emerged from the Newark Uprising is what is known as ‘The Gary Convention,’ or the National Black Political Assembly and Convention,” activists said.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the ‘Gary Convention,’ which took place in Gary, Indiana. Read More: Newark Is Home Of 2022 National Black Political Convention

The delegates at that milestone gathering included POP chair Lawrence Hamm, the group noted. Read More: Newark 'Radical' Celebrates 50 Years Of Activism – By Protesting

According to the POP, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka – the son of Amiri Baraka – sought to tackle the same question of police brutality and corruption when he tried to implement the “strongest civilian review board in the country” upon his election in 2014: “one with full subpoena power, one with the authority to do independent and concurrent investigations, one with genuine community character and one with a solid discipline matrix.”

After a bitter legal fight with local police unions, the New Jersey Supreme Court stripped the new review board of several critical powers, although activists and supporters continue to push for its restoration.

“Do we realize that if we had Civilian Review Boards like what we are fighting for here in Newark, George Floyd would still be alive in Minnesota and Carl Dorsey would still be alive in Newark?” Hamm said.

• See related article: Newark Tries To Bring Battle Over Policing To US Supreme Court
• See related article: Newark Group Says NJ Should Have Done More After George Floyd

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