Newark Rebellion Commemoration Will Highlight Police Brutality, SCOTUS Attacks On Black Progress

The demands of the march include justice for victims of police brutality, passage of bills  (A-1515/S-2295) by the New Jersey legislature that will enable cities and towns to establish police review boards with subpoena powers, and impeachment of Clarence Thomas and other members of the U.S. Supreme Court ultra-conservative super majority because of their decisions that negatively impact peoples’ rights.

The monument is in an area popularly known as Rebellion Park which is located on Springfield Ave between Hayes Street and Irvine Turner Blvd. It is dedicated to those killed during the unrest.

Participants in the event will march from the monument to the 1st Police Precinct, 10  17th Avenue, and back. The precinct is where the 1967 Newark Rebellion started.

“The 1967 Newark uprising was sparked by a police brutality incident. Newark police officers beat an African-American cab driver named John Smith,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated.

“This led to a confrontation between protestors and police outside of the police precinct building in the city’s Central Ward which ignited the uprising that spread to other parts of Newark,” Hamm said.

“Police brutality was a major problem in the United States in 1967 and it is still a major problem today. In fact, police killings of civilians continue to increase. Last year was the highest number since experts started tracking them,” he said.

Hamm said although police violence continues to be a problem the major demand for police reform has yet to be realized.

“At that time people in the city demanded a police review board with subpoena powers. Fifty-six years later we are still demanding the same thing,” he said.

“It’s outrageous that we have to fight for something that other cities like New York have had for more than 50 years. However, we will continue to fight until we get it,” Hamm said.

“At the march on Wednesday POP will once again call upon the New Jersey state legislature to pass A-1515/S-2295 that will enable cities and towns to establish police review boards with subpoena powers,” he said.

Hamm said that this year’s march will also deal with the impact of recent US Supreme Court decisions on Black progress.

“While ignited by police brutality the Newark rebellion was a collective response to Black oppression, exploitation, injustice, and inequality. The Newark rebellion, Black Power Movement, and Civil Rights Movement were all part of the historical struggle for Black liberation, freedom, and equality,” he stated.

Decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court in in a number of areas including civil rights, voting rights, and affirmative action, have helped to roll back nearly 70 years of hard won gains of African Americans and others in our society, he continued.

“At the march on Wednesday We are going to call for the impeachment of Clarence Thomas and the other members of the court’s ultra-conservative super majority because of the harm they have done to the cause of social progress in this country,” he stated.

The speakers at the event will include people who lived through the rebellion, family members of recent victims of police brutality, community leaders and activists. They will discuss how what happened then is still relevant today.

For directions and other information call the People’s Organization For Progress at (973)801-0001.