Ms. Harriet’s Way

07/06/2025

🤝 Local Integration: South Orange–Maplewood Coalition on Race

This grassroots coalition works to sustain integrated, culturally rich communities in South Orange and Maplewood—championing racial unity since 1996.
📲 Explore their legacy:

The South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race[1] is an intentional integration organization located in Maplewood and South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1996 as the Racial Balance Task Force by the governing bodies of the two towns, it is a grass roots non-profit with 501(c)(3) status.

07/05/2025

🏳️‍⚧️ Bayard Rustin Center: Safe Space in Princeton

The Bayard Rustin Center fosters intersectional support across LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities—providing therapy, youth programs, doula services, and more in Princeton.
📲 More info:

The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice is a nonprofit organization located in Princeton, New Jersey.[1] It hosts programming and events geared towards public health, gender and sexual advocacy, and civil rights for marginalized people, particularly LGBTQIA+ youth.[2] The center was named in hon...

07/04/2025

🇺🇸 July 4th: A Complicated Freedom

As fireworks light up the sky, we honor the truth: Independence Day didn’t bring freedom for all. While the nation celebrates July 4th, many of us know our ancestors were still in chains in 1776.

But we also know this—we are the descendants of the dreamers who built this nation, brick by brick, with hands calloused by labor and hearts full of hope.

Today, we honor our resilience, our survival, and our right to celebrate freedom on our own terms—every Juneteenth, every July 4th, every single day we exist in joy, resistance, and power.

🎇 Let this day be a reminder:
We are still here.
We are still rising.
And we are still redefining what liberty truly means.

✊🏾 Stay safe. Stay proud. Stay rooted.

07/03/2025

NJ’s Campaign for BIPOC Mental Well‑Being

NJ launched a statewide Student Mental Health Initiative to expand access and cut costs—especially supporting students from marginalized communities.
📲 Learn how it’s growing:

Office of the Secretary of Higher Education - Campus Sexual Assault Commission

07/02/2025

🏠 Racial Equity in NJ Housing

White NJ households have a 76% homeownership rate; BIPOC households hover around 40%. This wealth gap traces back to redlining and still needs urgent attention.
📲 Discover the data:

Our organization remains steadfast in its vision for a just and equitable New Jersey, where people of all races and communities have opportunities to thrive. In this piece, we will examine issues related to housing justice and affordable housing initiatives, while also highlighting organizations who...

07/01/2025

🧠 Mental Health Month: A BIPOC Message of Hope

Mental Health Month in NJ featured stories of resilience from BIPOC folks like Sieu Nguyen, celebrated by the Mental Health Association of NJ.
📲 Get inspired:

One of your neighbors posted in Health & Fitness. Click through to read what they have to say. (The views expressed in this post are the author’s own.)

06/30/2025

💸 Affordable Home Ownership: Meet Britnee Timberlake

Assemblywoman Britnee Timberlake founded the Essex Community Land Trust—helping NJ families, especially BIPOC, secure permanently affordable housing.
📲 Read her journey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britnee_Timberlake 

Britnee N. Timberlake (born May 14, 1986) is an American Democratic Party elected official, community advocate, nonprofit executive, and humanitarian. She has represented the 34th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate since January 2024, when she became New Jersey's youngest state senator. B...

06/29/2025

✊ Harriet Tubman Honored: Newark Monument

Newark’s Harriet Tubman monument, Shadow of a Face, was unveiled in March 2023. At 25 feet tall, it features artwork and audio from Queen Latifah and community voices—a beautiful tribute to Black liberation.
📲 See the story:

Shadow of a Face is a monument to abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Newark, New Jersey's Harriet Tubman Square designed by architect and artist Nina Cooke John. It was unveiled on March 9, 2023. It replaced a monument to Christopher Columbus in the same location which was removed in 2020 by the city to...

06/28/2025

🎶 Preserving Our Culture: The Turf Club in Asbury Park

A historic music venue on Asbury Park’s West Side, the Turf Club was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. A vital landmark for Black entertainment and arts in NJ.
📲 Read all about it:

The Turf Club is a historic music venue located on the west side of Asbury Park, New Jersey undergoing building improvements as of 2024.[4] It is the last remaining venue along Springwood Avenue, a once-thriving African-American business and entertainment district.[4][5] It was listed on the Nationa...

06/27/2025

🏡 Land and Legacy: Timbuctoo, NJ Historic Community

Did you know? Timbuctoo in Burlington County was founded in 1826 by formerly enslaved and free Black families. Though small today, it remains a powerful story of resilience—and it’s now part of the NJ Black Heritage Trail.
📲 Learn more:

Timbuctoo is an unincorporated community in Westampton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey.[2] Located along the Rancocas Creek, Timbuctoo was settled by formerly enslaved and free Black people, beginning in 1826.[3] It includes present day Church Street, Blue Jay Hill Road, and adjacent areas.....