Come out on June 13th at 7 p.m. to learn more about the Department of Sanitation’s institutional inequities that negatively impact sanitation services in East Harlem.
• New research on DSNY’s Litter Basket distribution will be presented
• Share your opinions on how to improve community cleanliness
Event takes place Tuesday, June 13th, at 7 p.m. in the Henry J. Carter Hospital’s Community Space at 1752 Park Ave (122nd Street and Park Avenue).
Sponsoring organizations include The Harlem Neighborhood Block Association, CIVITAS, 1775 Houses, Harlem East Block Association, and Community Board 11
The Bed-Stuy based Laundromat Project will be hosting a three-day free and open event called “Artists as Neighbors: Living Liberation.” The get-together will tackle issues like gentrification, activism, and preservation and look at how they are being dealt with in the community.
The event takes place between June 9 and June 11 at 1476 Fulton Street in Brooklyn, NY 11216. Registration is available at their website, laundromatproject.orgFor more information call 718-574-0798 or email info@laundromatproject.org.
The NAACP Metuchen Edison Piscataway Area Branch, in collaboration with Edison Township, AT&T, Mobile Family Success of Middlesex County, Middlesex County Board of Commissioners & Arts Division, and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, is thrilled to announce the 23rd annual Juneteenth Festival, Middlesex County’s largest Juneteenth celebration. The event will take place on Saturday, June 10, from noon to 9 p.m. at Papaianni Park (100 Municipal Blvd., Edison).
Juneteenth “Freedom Day” commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. It is a day of reflection, education, and celebration of African American history and culture. This year’s festival aims to celebrate the diversity of New Jersey and foster unity among all communities.
Attendees can look forward to a lineup of exciting performances by artists and groups such as the Lumzy Sisters, Cimarrones Afro Puerto Rican Bomba Ensemble, Eastside Dance Project, American Dance Studios, Earth Wind and Fire Tribute Band, B2Z Dance School, Haynes Preparatory School, and Jai Bharat Dhol Tasha Pathak Dance Group. These talented performers will bring their vibrant energy to the stage to showcase the richness and variety of artistic expression.
Sports enthusiasts can participate in a basketball tournament, while children can enjoy pony rides, amusement rides, and face-painting sessions. The event will also feature a diverse array of merchandise and food vendors, offering a shopping and culinary experience for all.
One of the festival’s highlights is the attempt to break the record for the world’s longest soul train line. Everyone is invited to join in this moment of unity and joy.
For more information about the 23rd Annual Juneteenth Festival, contact Michelle Haynes at mhaynes@haynesprep.com.
Nine Democratic Party-aligned governors have signed onto a letter asserting their concerns about the censorship now taking place among school textbook publishers like McGraw Hill Education, Pearson, Cengage Learning, Goodheart-Willcox, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, Savvas Learning Co., Scholastic, and Teachers Curriculum Institute.
The governors of New Jersey (Phil Murphy), Illinois (JB Pritzker), Maryland (Wes Moore), U.S. Virgin Islands (Albert Bryan Jr.), Massachusetts (Maura Healey), New Mexico (Michelle Lujan Grisham), New York (Kathy Hochul), Rhode Island (Dan McKee), and Washington (Jay Inslee) all added their names to a letter challenging rightwing censorship.
“Sanitizing our educational texts for the mercurial comfort of a few today ultimately limits the next generation’s ability to make informed decisions for themselves,” the letter said. “Moreover, the negative impact that censorship and book-banning has on this nation’s students––many already marginalized and underrepresented in society––cannot be overstated during a time when we are facing an unprecedented youth mental health crisis. Each and every single student in the United States of America has the right to exist, to be seen, and to be represented. It is an important priority of our administrations to ensure that any educational materials censored to appeal to political pressure do not negatively impact our educational goals and values in our states.
“…please know that we will be working closely with all of our school districts to ensure they are fully informed of which texts include comprehensive and accurate educational information––and which have been inappropriately censored––when they consider procurement of instructional materials for the nearly 9 million students our states serve.”
New York state ranks as No. 47 out of the country’s 50 states in WalletHub’s new report “2023’s Best States for Racial Equality in Education.” In terms of Black children being able to obtain racial equality in education, New York only outpaces Connecticut, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Much of this has to do with the fact that, in New York City at least, local public schools can receive additional funding from higher income earning parents who bring additional resources to a school. Because of income inequality, white parents tend to be able to fund more programs for their children’s schools than Black parents can.
“Recent years have brought increases in racial isolation within schools and an increase in the number of racially identifiable schools,” East Carolina University’s Dr. Crystal Renee Chambers told WalletHub. “Given correlations between race and wealth with attendant reliance on local property taxes to fund education, there is a racially identifiable impact on school funding.”
And University of California, San Diego’s Dr. Holly Okonkwo noted that “whole communities have been barred from access to well-resourced neighborhoods and schools based on race. At the same time, schools in Black and brown communities continue to be underfunded and under-resourced which further contributes to the racial wealth gap.”
