Message Still Rings True Today for Youths
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
By DANIELLE SHAPIRO
HERALD NEWS
PATERSON – Despite a recent spate of violence, several of the
city's most civic-minded young residents were honored on Martin
Luther King Jr. Day for their contributions to ward improving
community life.
The aggression occurring in some troubled communities does not
mean that King's philosophy of nonviolence is no longer viable,
said people attending an awards breakfast sponsored by the
Paterson Youth Council.
"I don't think the unfortunate events of the last week will
discourage young people from fulfilling the dream of Dr. King,"
said Bob Guarasci, president and CEO of the New Jersey
Development Corp. "If anything, I think it will reinforce that
violence is not an option and love of each other is the true way we
will all progress as a society."
Guarasci called the federal holiday in King's name a "day on, not
a day off." It was a fitting time to honor the act of community
service.
Last week, Tyron D. Franklin, 23, an off-duty rookie policeman,
was killed during a robbery. Another unidentified man was
wounded with Franklin, and a 26-year-old man was shot and
killed three days later.
Yet Joseph Quinones, 17, a senior at the Garret Morgan
Academy on Spruce Street and a Youth Council member, said
King's message of nonviolence and racial tolerance are still
powerful tools.
"People need to learn how to accept everybody else, how to work
things out the right way," Quinones said. "We have one world
and we all have to find a way to share it. Violence should never be
the answer, and it should certainly never be the first answer."
Several of the adults and young people attending the first Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Recognition Awards Breakfast
seemed to agree that King's example of service and his dream of
racial and social inclusion remain valid 38 years after his death.
They also acknowledged there was still work to be done in
continuing the dialogue on equality, but King's birthday was a
good time to be reminded of his lessons taught and the
individuals who exemplify those ideals.
Michael E. Glascoe, schools superintendent, said in his keynote
remarks that leadership is an important character element,
especially among young people. He emphasized that youths, who
comprised the "armies of civil rights activists," marched and
protested against injustice during the civil rights era.
Glascoe said the Youth Council's mission to improve their social
condition and the quality of life in the community was "exactly
what Dr. King stood for."
Before the breakfast, Glascoe, who was given a surprise award for
community service by the Youth Council, said King's message
was still attainable because it represents hope for young adults.
"His doctrine of social justice and tearing down the barriers of
inequality is everything I hope young people will aspire to," he
said. "We still have a ways to go in our society and this country.
There are still barriers, some real, some perceived."
The Youth Council is funded by the New Jersey Community
Development Corp., a nonprofit organization dedicated to
providing education and youth leadership and other programs,
was launched in the summer 2006.
The Youth Council of about 30 youngsters, 12- to 18-years-old,
which is a citywide youth civic organization, chose to recognize
teenagers and adults on King's birthday because the idea of
helping others in the community really germinated with King,
said Quinones. Youth Council members said they wanted to
remind people of that fact and not allow the day to pass as a
regular break from work and school, Quinones said.
King, a 1964 Noble Peace Prize recipient, is widely regarded as a
hero of the American civil rights movement, in leading marches
and boycotts throughout the Deep South. He also preached a
philosophy of nonviolence in bringing about social change in
America.
But it was perhaps King's "I Have a Dream" speech delivered in
August 1963 against a backdrop of the massive March on
Washington that tugged at the nation's racial consciousness,
when he asked why people should be judged by the color of their
skin rather than the content of their character.
While in Memphis, Tenn., to support striking sanitation workers,
King was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968, as he
stood on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel. He was
39.
Though the young people being recognized only know of King
from what they read, they said he would still have an impact on
their lives.
Daniel Cobar, 16, a junior at Garret Morgan Academy and the
Youth Council's sergeant at arms, said that people can still learn
from King, even under the pall of recent violence in the city.
"By giving out these awards they'll realize some of the
characteristics of Dr. King," Cobar said. "His power, through
speaking and not violence, organization and not anarchy, people
can find solutions through talking, not fighting."
Reach Danielle Shapiro at (973) 569-7153 or shapiro@northjersey.
com.
* * *
Fast facts
2007 Winners of the first annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Youth Recognition Award, given by the Paterson Youth Council,
a citywide youth civic organization dedicated to improve
community and increase youth participation. All recipients were
commended for their extensive service to the community and
young people in particular.
Andre Sayegh: a lifetime Paterson resident who serves as chief of
staff for Sen. John Girgenti, D-Hawthorne, and as the vice
president for the Paterson Board of Education as well as the chair
of the curriculum committee.
Arthur Eason: former director of athletics for William Paterson
University, Eason is a member of the Paterson Planning Board,
chair of the Lewis Napier Scholarship Committee, and an
instructor in Paterson's Adult Basic Education Program.
Kerwyn Daniel: 16, a junior at the PANTHER Academy.
Ariel Williams: 15, a sophomore at Rosa Parks High School.
Tashera Bolds: 17, a senior at PANTHER Academy.
Shalaya Williams: 16, a junior at Passaic County Technical
Institute.
Fernando Santiago: 13, an eighth-grader at School 15.
Michael E. Glascoe: Paterson schools superintendent.
Source: New Jersey Community Development Corp.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
By DANIELLE SHAPIRO
HERALD NEWS
PATERSON – Despite a recent spate of violence, several of the
city's most civic-minded young residents were honored on Martin
Luther King Jr. Day for their contributions to ward improving
community life.
The aggression occurring in some troubled communities does not
mean that King's philosophy of nonviolence is no longer viable,
said people attending an awards breakfast sponsored by the
Paterson Youth Council.
"I don't think the unfortunate events of the last week will
discourage young people from fulfilling the dream of Dr. King,"
said Bob Guarasci, president and CEO of the New Jersey
Development Corp. "If anything, I think it will reinforce that
violence is not an option and love of each other is the true way we
will all progress as a society."
Guarasci called the federal holiday in King's name a "day on, not
a day off." It was a fitting time to honor the act of community
service.
Last week, Tyron D. Franklin, 23, an off-duty rookie policeman,
was killed during a robbery. Another unidentified man was
wounded with Franklin, and a 26-year-old man was shot and
killed three days later.
Yet Joseph Quinones, 17, a senior at the Garret Morgan
Academy on Spruce Street and a Youth Council member, said
King's message of nonviolence and racial tolerance are still
powerful tools.
"People need to learn how to accept everybody else, how to work
things out the right way," Quinones said. "We have one world
and we all have to find a way to share it. Violence should never be
the answer, and it should certainly never be the first answer."
Several of the adults and young people attending the first Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Recognition Awards Breakfast
seemed to agree that King's example of service and his dream of
racial and social inclusion remain valid 38 years after his death.
They also acknowledged there was still work to be done in
continuing the dialogue on equality, but King's birthday was a
good time to be reminded of his lessons taught and the
individuals who exemplify those ideals.
Michael E. Glascoe, schools superintendent, said in his keynote
remarks that leadership is an important character element,
especially among young people. He emphasized that youths, who
comprised the "armies of civil rights activists," marched and
protested against injustice during the civil rights era.
Glascoe said the Youth Council's mission to improve their social
condition and the quality of life in the community was "exactly
what Dr. King stood for."
Before the breakfast, Glascoe, who was given a surprise award for
community service by the Youth Council, said King's message
was still attainable because it represents hope for young adults.
"His doctrine of social justice and tearing down the barriers of
inequality is everything I hope young people will aspire to," he
said. "We still have a ways to go in our society and this country.
There are still barriers, some real, some perceived."
The Youth Council is funded by the New Jersey Community
Development Corp., a nonprofit organization dedicated to
providing education and youth leadership and other programs,
was launched in the summer 2006.
The Youth Council of about 30 youngsters, 12- to 18-years-old,
which is a citywide youth civic organization, chose to recognize
teenagers and adults on King's birthday because the idea of
helping others in the community really germinated with King,
said Quinones. Youth Council members said they wanted to
remind people of that fact and not allow the day to pass as a
regular break from work and school, Quinones said.
King, a 1964 Noble Peace Prize recipient, is widely regarded as a
hero of the American civil rights movement, in leading marches
and boycotts throughout the Deep South. He also preached a
philosophy of nonviolence in bringing about social change in
America.
But it was perhaps King's "I Have a Dream" speech delivered in
August 1963 against a backdrop of the massive March on
Washington that tugged at the nation's racial consciousness,
when he asked why people should be judged by the color of their
skin rather than the content of their character.
While in Memphis, Tenn., to support striking sanitation workers,
King was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968, as he
stood on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel. He was
39.
Though the young people being recognized only know of King
from what they read, they said he would still have an impact on
their lives.
Daniel Cobar, 16, a junior at Garret Morgan Academy and the
Youth Council's sergeant at arms, said that people can still learn
from King, even under the pall of recent violence in the city.
"By giving out these awards they'll realize some of the
characteristics of Dr. King," Cobar said. "His power, through
speaking and not violence, organization and not anarchy, people
can find solutions through talking, not fighting."
Reach Danielle Shapiro at (973) 569-7153 or shapiro@northjersey.
com.
* * *
Fast facts
2007 Winners of the first annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Youth Recognition Award, given by the Paterson Youth Council,
a citywide youth civic organization dedicated to improve
community and increase youth participation. All recipients were
commended for their extensive service to the community and
young people in particular.
Andre Sayegh: a lifetime Paterson resident who serves as chief of
staff for Sen. John Girgenti, D-Hawthorne, and as the vice
president for the Paterson Board of Education as well as the chair
of the curriculum committee.
Arthur Eason: former director of athletics for William Paterson
University, Eason is a member of the Paterson Planning Board,
chair of the Lewis Napier Scholarship Committee, and an
instructor in Paterson's Adult Basic Education Program.
Kerwyn Daniel: 16, a junior at the PANTHER Academy.
Ariel Williams: 15, a sophomore at Rosa Parks High School.
Tashera Bolds: 17, a senior at PANTHER Academy.
Shalaya Williams: 16, a junior at Passaic County Technical
Institute.
Fernando Santiago: 13, an eighth-grader at School 15.
Michael E. Glascoe: Paterson schools superintendent.
Source: New Jersey Community Development Corp.
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ONE PEOPLE.
ONE PURPOSE.
ONE PATERSON.
ONE PURPOSE.
ONE PATERSON.
Sayegh For The Sixth
Bringing Neighbors Together