March For Black Teen Abused By Police In NJ Mall Announced

Photos: Facebook\Screenshot\Event Flyer

On Saturday, March 19th, a grouping of Bridgewater based African American organizations are marching together in what they are calling a ‘March for Respect: Respect For Z’Kye and Respect for The Community’ in reference to the February Bridgewater Mall where a local Black teen, Z’Kye Husain, was racially accosted by Bridgewater police officers in an incident that has drawn national attention.

Z’Kye Husain on CNN with his mom and attorney Ben Crump

The march will assemble at 519 Mercer Street at the Macedonia Baptist Church at 1pm and march from the nearby David and Phillip Hobbs Park, in Bridgewater, NJ. Participants will rally at the Bridgewater Mall on the course of their march to condemn the behavior of the police officers involved, the lack of transparency shown to the community since the incident, and Mall management banning Z’Kye for three years.

Organizers are marching because of the incident, how it has been handled, and how it has been insulting to the entire Bridgewater Black community.

The principal march sponsors locally is the Hobbs Family Union, a non profit organization dedicated to preserving and honoring Bridgewater’s historic African-American community originally known Hobbs Town. The purchase and settling of this land by the Hobbs family in 1919 led to the neighborhood becoming a magnet for African-Americans migrating from racial abuse in the South. They observed their Centennial anniversary in 2019.

Macedonia Baptist Church has served as the lifeblood of the African-American community for decades. Just last year, the former Somerville Manor Park was renamed the David and Phillip Hobbs Park to honor the Hobbs Town legacy.

In addition to the Hobbs Family Union, the action is being endorsed by the New Brunswick NAACP, which covers the greater Middlesex and southern Somerset County, by the People’s Organization for Progress, who has led several actions in Bridgewater already, and by Newark Communities for Accountable Policing, who has been pushing for meaningful police reform legislation over the past several years.

For more information, please call Scott Hobbs at 908 295-9097…