Remembering Najee Seabrooks – Two Years Later

Credit: Najee Seabrooks, Paterson Healing Collective

Last month, March 3rd marked two years since the Paterson Healing Collective (PHC) lost Najee Seabrooks, who was killed by Paterson police during a mental health crisis. Even though PHC is one of the most highly regarded programs of its kind in the country, Paterson police refused to allow their members to intervene for Najee… Continue reading Remembering Najee Seabrooks – Two Years Later

Rest, Recharge, Rebuild

Greetings in this new year.   Just weeks ago, I had the pleasure of traveling to Arizona to the EJUSA retreat that was so on time! Our team’s time together was a ray of collective light.  It came, however, against a hard background and reality… Daniel Penny, the ‘unofficial’ killer of Jordan Neely, was cleared by… Continue reading Rest, Recharge, Rebuild

Setting the Agenda

Leading from the back isn’t easy…especially when the voices upfront are powerful, dynamic, and fearless. Such was indeed the case in April when Will Simpson, EJUSA’s director of community safety and justice, had to ride behind the vortex of passionate progressive leadership that is Congresswoman Cori Bush, a brave survivor of homelessness who transcended her… Continue reading Setting the Agenda

Ecosystem in Action

Photo taken by Mona Cadena

The night before Thanksgiving, legendary Newark street peacemaker Sharif Amenhotep found himself surrounded by legions of city police officers as they sought to confiscate his mini-bus from his vending area on Branford Place and Broad Street. The incident got particularly dicey when officers appeared to be cutting or doing something to the underside of the… Continue reading Ecosystem in Action