New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

10/16/2026

Join us to Get Out The Vote 🗳️

If you care about social justice, organizing and making real change in your community, this is the perfect way to start taking action.

No experience needed. We’ll provide training, materials and everything you need to feel confident having meaningful conversations. Plus, canvassers get paid $18/hour!

➡️ Nonpartisan canvassing: 12-4pm
📍Camden: Sunday, 10/18
📍Newark: Saturday, 10/24
📍Newark: Sunday, 10/25
📍Trenton: Sunday, 11/1

➡️ Virtual Phonebank: 5:30-7:30pm
☎️ Thursday, 10/29
☎️ Monday, 11/2

🔗Sign up now: https://njisj.org/getinvolved/

10/15/2026

When we organize, we win!✊🏽
Today, the Institute was at the Black Agenda Rally in Trenton.

Assatta Mann, Community Organizing Manager, urged the state’s leaders to protect our democracy, reimagine our criminal justice and public safety system and build real opportunities to create wealth and finally close the staggering $600,000 racial wealth gap.

We must continue to organize, hold our leadership accountable and VOTE during the upcoming elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3!

10/15/2026

Busy day in Trenton for the Institute and social justice!

10/13/2026

FREE THE DEGREE!🎓

Last week during the Institute’s Free the Degree Campaign Launch, panel speakers Senator Andrew Zwicker (Senator Andrew Zwicker), Maria Heidkamp (Maria T Heidkamp) & Juanita Hoyos (House Of Hearts Network) discussed affordability, access and what they want the future of higher education to look like.

They also talked about how the Senate Higher Education Committee recently passed two critical bills aimed at lowering barriers to higher education and providing a critical safety net for students facing unexpected financial instability.

✅Automatic Admissions (S4128/A5049)
✅Emergency Student Aid (S4127/ A5382)

This is just the beginning of fighting to make higher education in New Jersey affordable, accessible and diverse!

10/13/2026

Join us at our Gala on Oct. 20 as we honor WilmerHale & Partner Debo Adegbile; Jenner & Block LLP; and Pashman Stein Walder Hayden PC with our Courage in Law Award. These firms stood firm against attacks on law firms from the current administration - while others did not. They deserve our recognition.

See you next week on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at our Fighting & Building Gala!

🔗Buy your tickets now: https://us.givergy.com/campaign-j3ity2qp/?controller=tickets

10/09/2026

This upcoming Tuesday, Oct. 13th, is the LAST DAY to register to vote for the critical Nov. 3 elections.‼️

Six years ago, voting rights were restored to more than 80,000 people on parole and probation in New Jersey. This historic victory meant people like our own Dameon S., Justice Fellow in the Criminal Justice Reform Program at the Institute, could exercise their sacred right to vote.

We sat down with Dameon who shared his past in the carceral system and how that only reinforced the importance to him of voting for the change we want to see in our communities.

He wants to make sure no one takes their right to vote for granted.

🔗Check out the link below to verify your voter registration, register to vote and find your polling place:

https://njisj.org/VOTE/

10/08/2026

10/08/2026

Black to School New Jersey Ep 5: Chicken Bone Beach

“That’s the one thing about Black people. All the segregation and the things that happened to us, we always managed to change lemon into lemonade, we always managed to enjoy ourselves. We couldn’t survive all these years if we didn’t do that.”

Henrietta Shelton, Atlantic City native and Founder of the Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation Inc., ( Chicken Bone Beach Foundation) talks about how even when faced with the injustice of segregation during New Jersey’s Jim Crow era, Black people turned Chicken Bone Beach and its surroundings into an atmosphere of fun and camaraderie — even visited by legendary Black figures like Sammy Davis Jr., Dr. Martin Lurther King Jr. and Joe Louis.

The beach got its name because Black people who weren’t allowed to eat at local restaurants brought fried chicken lunches with them to the shore.

Henrietta reminisces about her unforgettable time at this iconic beach and how Chicken Bone Beach demonstrates Black joy as an act of resistance.

For more information and photos of Chicken Bone Beach, check out Henrietta’s book “Chicken Bone Beach (Images of America).

10/08/2026

Whether you’re interested in nonpartisan canvassing with us for the critical upcoming elections or attending the activist training to learn how to organize in your own community, here are some ways to join us on the ground this month!

🔗 Register: https://njisj.org/getinvolved/

10/07/2026

We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Sen. Sandra Cunningham.

We were proud to partner with her on pressing racial justice issues facing NJ's communities of color, including restoring the right to vote to about 83,000 New Jersey residents on probation and parole.

She will be deeply missed.

We send our heartfelt condolences and love to her family, friends and colleagues.

Former New Jersey Sen. Sandra Cunningham, who served District 31 for nearly 17 years before stepping down in 2024, died on Oct. 6, 2026. She was 76.