Hundreds of people crowded into a sweltering South Orange auditorium on July 12 for an evening of candid conversation about recent police-involved shootings – including the highly questionable shooting deaths of black men by white police officers in Baton Rouge and Minnesota, as well as the assassination of five white police officers by a black gunman in Dallas.
It was an opportunity for five young black adults, who had led a protest march the week before, to present a moving skit demonstrating their anger, fear and determination.
It was an opportunity for local police officials to discuss the split-second, life-or-death decisions that they sometimes have to make, and to describe the training they receive for that role.
And for two local Episcopal rectors, it was an opportunity to build relationships in the community and join in God’s work outside the walls of the church.
The event was spearheaded by the South Orange-Maplewood Clergy Association, and the Rev. Dr. Canon Sandye A. Wilson of St. Andrew and Holy Communion, South Orange, served as host. The Rev. Bernie Poppe of St. George’s, Maplewood also made preparations for the event, along with clergy from other faiths and denominations.
“Bernie and I take really seriously the joy of our relationships across denominational and interfaith lines in our community and beyond,” Wilson said. “We consider that to be bearing Christ in the world.”
South Orange and Maplewood are municipal siblings, and share a single public high school. Felisha George, Emanual Grant, Cory Hardy, Alfonso Spottswood and Sydney Scruggs all graduated from that high school in recent years, and they used social media to pull together a spur-of-the-moment, peaceful march on the evening of July 7 to protest the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Minnesota. The shootings in Dallas occurred later that same evening, claiming the lives of five police officers – Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael Smith, Brent Thompson and Patrick Zamarripa – and wounding nine others.
The five young adults followed up on their protest by creating a movement and a website called “Not In Our Two Towns,” declaring that bigotry, hatred and racism have no place in South Orange or Maplewood. The clergy association quickly connected with the youthful energy to plan a public forum.
“We brokered a meeting with both mayors, both police chiefs, the Essex County’s Prosecutor’s office” and other public officials, Wilson said, drawing on relationships the clergy association has made over the years.
After securing official support, the clergy association met with the young adults for four hours on Saturday, July 9, solidifying plans for the public forum in time for announcements from local pulpits the next day.
Wilson opened the event by urging the several hundred people in the South Orange Middle School auditorium to avoid giving in to “compassion fatigue,” even though they might well be suffering from “tragedy fatigue.” The young people then presented a series of brief but powerful skits in which they each played the role of a black citizen who had died previously: Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray and Eric Garner. Each skit ended, hauntingly, with the words, “Welcome to my funeral.”
A dozen or so local residents lined up at an open microphone to voice their concerns. Several mothers expressed fears for the safety of their young black or mixed-race sons, and inquired about the training given Maplewood and South Orange police to prepare them to serve in these racially diverse communities.
The mayors of both towns spoke, and police supervisors encouraged residents to introduce themselves and their children to the officers they see around town. To put a human face on the police, all of the local officers in attendance from both towns were invited onto the stage and introduced by name. This led to a spontaneous receiving line, with a dozen multi-ethnic officers shaking hands and exchanging greetings with the five young black organizers.
Despite a few emotional moments, there was a general awareness that Maplewood and South Orange have been spared the worst of the racial tensions and police-community hostility that have plagued other parts of the country. Felisha George expressed gratitude for the professionalism and courtesy shown by police at the earlier protest, where officers from both towns approached the organizers to volunteer their assistance, by stopping traffic as necessary to enable the march and safeguard the marchers.
Attendees were eager to continue the community conversation, and another event for youth and adult residents of the two towns is planned for August 20.
Other churches in the diocese have organized similar events. Clergy from several traditions hosted an “Interfaith Vigil for Peace and Justice” in Morristown on July 13, where the Rev. Susanna Cates, Associate Rector of St. Peter’s, gave the opening invocation. On Sunday, July 17, Trinity & St. Philip’s Cathedral in Newark held an afternoon vigil.
See also Community Gathers for 'Not In Our Two Towns' Discussion at South Orange Middle School (TAPintoSOMA, July 15, 2016).
