New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

Yesterday, we heard the New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin announce the creation of the Youth Justice Working Group: From Secure Care to Restorative Care, tasked with providing recommendations regarding repurposing the two facilities due to close. We’re proud to serve on that working group.

Thank you for this special recognition, GSBA family!

This is what democracy looks like! #AdvocacyIsPower #FromTheGroundUp

Today we released From Shackles to Scholarship: A Vision for a 21st Century Bordentown School, a report that urges New Jersey to close its three youth prions, reinvest in community-based programs and establish a 21st Century version of the illustrious Bordentown School.   The Bordentown School, formally the Manual and Industrial Training School, was founded by formerly enslaved Civil War veteran Rev. Walter Rice in 1866 as the “Tuskegee of the North.” It developed a sterling reputation for preparing Black students for a lifetime of leadership through vocational training and academic studies. “Everything we did, we excelled in,” said Nate Hampton, former Bordentown student, class of 1948, in a 2014 interview. “They tried to get the best performance, no matter what it was – academic, sports, music, vocations. It changed my whole life.” The Bordentown School closed in 1955 after it failed to receive the support necessary to succeed after Brown v. Board of Education. In a tragic twist in 1997, the campus was repurposed as a site for the Hayes girls youth prison and the Juvenile Medium Security Facility for youth. “The Bordentown School was a beacon of Black excellence in New Jersey and across the country. Now, on a campus that produced lawyers, doctors and skilled tradespeople and was visited by luminaries like Booker T. Washington and Paul Robeson, we are incarcerating our young people – the embodiment of a school to prison pipeline,” said Ashanti D. Jones, Policy Analyst at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, and primary author of the report. “In the very place we once saw investment in our youth, we now see incarceration. Where we once saw promise, we now see prisons.” From Shackles to Scholarship: A Vision for a 21st Century Bordentown School documents the history and impact of the Bordentown School and builds the case for returning Hayes youth prison back to a center for learning and excellence that would serve the New Jersey community and support our young people. “Frederick Douglass said that it is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men,” added Jones. “New Jersey now has the opportunity to redeem itself by bringing that truth to life – and by turning away from criminalizing our youth toward building them up.” https://lnkd.in/eqsxX2yr

Slavery shaped every aspect of New Jersey, but too many believe it never happened here. That’s why, last Juneteenth, we created the first-of-its-kind New Jersey Reparations Council. Co-chaired by Taja-Nia Henderson and Khalil Gibran Muhammad, and convened by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice’s Jean-Pierre Brutus, in partnership with RWJF’s Rich Besser & Maisha Simmons, the Council’s ultimate goal is not only to repair the enduring harm to Black people from slavery and its enduring impact, but also to answer this foundational question: What kind of reparative system does New Jersey need to build and invest in for Black people here to finally be free? To thrive? To win? Register to join us at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on June 19, one year after we created the Council, for “The Promise of Juneteenth”: https://lnkd.in/evnYKt7J Many thanks to Tehsuan Glover for his creation of the powerful video below.

Join us on Juneteenth!

Welcome, Tanuja Dehne!

NEWARK – The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice is pleased to announce that Tanuja Dehne has joined our Board of Trustees, effective May 8, 2024. “We are so fortunate to have Tanuja join us on the Board of Trustees,” said Paulette Brown, Chair of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice Board of Trustees. “A visionary leader with a keen sense of purpose, Tanuja joins a dedicated team of highly respected leaders committed to advancing solutions to the greatest social and racial justice challenges of our time.” Tanuja most recently served as President and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, which has generously supported and partnered with the Institute since 2019. Under Tanuja’s leadership, Dodge transformed its grantmaking portfolio to focus on racial and social justice. She led the organization through numerous national and statewide crises, from a global pandemic to natural disasters like Hurricane Ida, executed critical relief efforts, and spearheaded the relocation of the Foundation’s headquarters to Newark. During Tanuja’s tenure, Dodge dispersed approximately $60 million in funding, primarily to organizations directly addressing the root causes and repair of structural racism across New Jersey. “Tanuja’s leadership at Dodge exhibited that she has her finger on the pulse of the kind of bold and transformative advocacy that is necessary to allow New Jersey to live up to its potential as a leader in democracy and racial justice across the country,” said Ryan P. Haygood, President & CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “For the last five years, the Institute has been a beneficiary of Tanuja’s vision and Dodge’s generous support of our work. Now, we are even further blessed by her service on our own Board of Trustees. I am confident Tanuja will help make the Institute even stronger.” “While at Dodge, I was consistently impressed by the impact that the Institute and its partners are able to make to change narratives and policy when it comes to achieving racial justice,” said Tanuja Dehne. “I am thrilled to be able to work with the Institute even more closely now as a member of its Board of Trustees. I know the organization’s footprint will only continue to grow.” Before leading Dodge, Tanuja built a distinguished career as a corporate attorney, energy executive and public company director. Her current roles include serving on the boards of Granite Point Mortgage Trust, Lafayette College, New York Public Radio, Drexel University’s Gupta Governance Institute, Philanthropy New York and AAPIP (Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy). These diverse experiences bring a wealth of knowledge and perspective to her new role on the Board of Trustees. ###

Thank you, Darnella Frazier.

Today marks 9 years of Ryan P. Haygood’s grace, generosity and genius leading the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Under his watch, we've strengthened and expanded New Jersey’s democracy, including restoring the vote to 83,000 people on probation and parole, a right denied since 1844; established online voter registration and early voting; ended prison-based gerrymandering; and lowered the voting age to 16 for Newark School Board elections. And that's just the beginning. We couldn't be more grateful for Ryan - and we know New Jersey feels the same way.