Kidsbridge’s Second Annual MLK Afternoon of Service was held on January 19, 2015 from 1-4pm in the Kidsbridge Tolerance Museum located in the Ewing Senior & Community Center in Ewing, NJ. This year’s event was co-sponsored by GLSEN of Central New Jersey, the Coalition for Peace Action, and the Ewing Senior & Community Center.
The Tolerance Museum was open to the public, and crafts and activities for children and youth included: signing the Birmingham Pledge; casting a vote in the Kidsbridge voting booth; creating puppets and performing puppet shows; and other interactive activities relating to being an UPstander and appreciating the differences in people led by Kidsbridge museum docents and volunteers.
Kidsbridge was pleased to present Carol Watchler of GLSEN of Central New Jersey, spoke and led a discussion entitled “Creating Respectful Schools/No Name Calling Week (January 19-23, 2015)” (www.glsen.org/centralnj)
A second presentation included a panel discussion featured four powerful women including:
- Local civil rights icon Edith Savage Jennings, a colleague of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Jonette Smart, President of Trenton NAACP (www.naacp.org)
- Irene Etkin Goldman, Board Chair of the regional Coalition for Peace Action (www.peacecoalition.org)
- Thelma Napoleon-Smith, daughter of Berline Williams who was a key figure in the Hedgepeth-Williams vs. Trenton Board of Education in 1944 – the precedent-setting school integration legal case upon which Brown vs. Board of Education was based in 1954, ten years later
Under the general heading of “Social Justice and Prejudice Reduction,” this powerhouse panel shared content and insights, comparing civil rights’ efforts in the 1960’s to our situation today. Ms. Jennings’ accounts of being with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the struggles they faced were both fascinating and inspirational. Panelists created vivid picture of where we are and where we need to go.
Questions. Answers. Opinions. Dialog.
In terms of prejudice reduction, is where we are today really where we want to end up? Or really that far away from where we were fifty to sixty years ago?
Click here to view a flyer promoting the event.
