The July Fourth holiday, for Candice Iheme, should be a day for protest — not celebration.
“We chose to not celebrate it because on Independence Day, July 4, 1776, Black people were not free and arguably Black people are still not free today,” Iheme said on Saturday to hundreds of demonstrators at the Essex County Historic Courthouse in Newark.
Iheme, a Rutgers Law School student, was part of a group of activists called the Young Professionals for Justice. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, they called for a long list of police reforms: the demilitarization of police, reallocation of police funding to more community services, mandatory college degrees for cops and a ban on the use of chokeholds.
Community activist Larry Hamm, left, and event organizer Candice Iheme, right, stand together as the Young Professionals for Justice and People's Organization for Progress hold a rally July 4, 2020 to protest police brutality and fight for Black lives by the Abraham Lincoln monument outside Essex County Historic Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey.Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media
Some of those reforms have already happened in Newark. Mayor Ras Baraka signed an ordinance that would divert about $11 million from the city’s public safety budget to create more social services in a newly created Office of Violence Prevention.
But more work needs to be done, activists said.
Demonstrators marched from the courthouse to Military Park. The courthouse’s seated Lincoln statue and the Wars of America monument in the park were created by Gutzon Borglum, who had ties to the Ku Klux Klan.
Iheme said she wanted to create awareness around the statues’ histories and would let residents decide what should be done with them. When protesters arrived at the Wars of America monument, it already had the word “DECOLONIZE” spray-painted on it.
“To us, it’s a testament to how racism and oppression are so embedded in this country and we have no idea,” Iheme said of the monuments. “We want to bring together likeminded people and also help to facilitate these discussions.”
The statue at Military Park was created by sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who had ties to white supremacy, and was pointed out as community members participate in a march to protest police brutality and fight for Black lives organized by the Young Professionals for Justice and People's Organization for Progress on July 4, 2020 in downtown Newark, New Jersey.Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media
The Young Professionals for Justice and People's Organization for Progress hold a rally July 4, 2020 to protest police brutality and fight for Black lives by the Abraham Lincoln monument, which was created by sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who had ties to white supremacy, outside Essex County Historic Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey.Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media
There has been heightened awareness around statues in Newark. The city removed a Christopher Columbus statue overnight last month, but some Italian groups were upset that it was done without public discussion first.
The city collaborated with Newark artists last week to paint the words “ALL BLACK LIVES MATTER” and “ABOLISH WHITE SUPREMACY” on two roadways. Mayor Ras Baraka said those words wouldn’t have been painted if white supremacy didn’t exist.
“If whiteness wasn’t put on us as an animal around our necks to destroy us, to bring us down, then we wouldn’t have to advocate being Black,” he told demonstrators.
People’s Organization for Progress Chairman Lawrence Hamm called for the state Supreme Court to uphold the Newark Civilian Complaint Review Board’s subpoena power to investigate allegations of police misconduct outside of internal affairs. The Newark FOP Lodge No. 12 is legally challenging the board’s power.
Hamm, who is challenging Cory Booker for his senate seat in the July 7 primary, also demanded state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal reopen the criminal investigation into Earl Faison’s death. Faison, a 27-year-old aspiring rap artist, died 21 years ago in Orange police custody but the cops involved were only found guilty of federal civil rights charges.
“We want justice not only for Floyd, not only for Breonna (Taylor), not only for Ahmaud (Arbery),” said Hamm, referring to Black people who have recently been killed in other states. “But we want justice for the people that were killed by the police right here in the State of New Jersey.”
Community members participate in a march to protest police brutality and fight for Black lives organized by the Young Professionals for Justice and People's Organization for Progress on July 4, 2020 in downtown Newark, New Jersey.Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media
Hamm and Faison’s family marched several times more than two decades ago to call on prosecutors to criminally charge the Orange officers, but they were never charged. The state Attorney General’s Office said it had no comment on reopening the Faison case when reached by NJ Advance Media.
Freeholder candidates Anthony Diaz and Sabre Burroughs also attended the rally.
“Be the generation that says no more Black bodies on TV,” Diaz said. “No more Black bodies in the street, no more Black bodies in the news.”
Community members participate in a march to protest police brutality and fight for Black lives organized by the Young Professionals for Justice and People's Organization for Progress on July 4, 2020 in downtown Newark, New Jersey.Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media
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Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com.
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These demonstrators don’t want to celebrate July 4 because ‘Black people are still not free today’ - NJ.com
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