Tuesday Rally – A Call For Equality, Awareness, & Action
The 1 p.m. event is being held at 60 Neptune Blvd in Neptune Township
A call for equality, awareness, and action is being planned by The National Action Network [NAN] and other community groups and organizations within the Neptune and Asbury Park areas.
Founded in 1991 by Reverend Al Sharpton, NAN is a civil rights organization that works within the spirit and tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote one standard of justice, decency and equal opportunity, regardless of race, religion, nationality or gender, according to its website.
Event organizer Felicia Simmons [at right], a former Asbury Park School Board of Education member defeated in the April 25 election, said community leaders are organizing to address unspoken racial tensions that have been brewing in the communities.
Simmons, who is among the NAN state leadership team and serves as the local Asbury Park Charter’s secretary, said a number of recent incidents sparked the rally to be held 1 p.m. Tuesday in front to the Brookdale Community College satellite campus at 60 Neptune Blvd.
She sites the following:
The case of two Neptune High School students who posed in front of a bios graffiti wall in Wall that depicts swastikas and a racial slur.
The April 25 resignation of Elena Gonzalez, an 11-year veteran of the Neptune Township Police Department, who cited sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliatory conduct before the Township Committee.
The demotion of 21-year Asbury Park Police Department veteran Marshawn Love following a Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office investigation into the handling of the tragic death of Tamara Wilson-Seidle by her estranged husband a then sergeant with the police force.
A lack of viable jobs.
And, despite multi-million dollar condo projects, resulting in sales of over $800,000, no affordable housing options throughout Asbury Park.
“The minority communities feel its needs are not being addressed,” Simmons said in a Monday night interview. “There is an ongoing racial tension being cultivated in Neptune and Asbury Park over the last couple of years. We’ve been trying to stop it but now instead of placing band-aids over it, we want to address it head on.”
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