Dr. Tanya Maloney OpEd

Dr. Tanya Maloney, Assistant Professor in the Teaching and Learning Department, recently wrote an OpEd for NJ.com, entitled, “Black History Month: The power of Black youth ending racial injustice for us all.”

She wrote:

One afternoon last summer, I found myself sitting with twenty young people, campers, and counselors in a youth-led summer camp for future activists organized by members of the Black Lives Matter Paterson Youth Council.

It was just before lunchtime, and the counselors gathered the campers in the multipurpose room to view a documentary about “The Birmingham Children’s Crusade” of 1963.

Between the time Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. penned his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and gave his “I Have a Dream” speech at the “March on Washington”, a group of Black youth led a significant victory in the Civil Rights Movement.

Students staged a school walk-out and gathered at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham to march for their freedom. On the first day, they were arrested by the busloads.

On the second day, the police sprayed the children with water hoses, beat them with batons, and chased them with dogs. Though many were injured, brave, young demonstrators converged on the city.

One week and thousands of arrests later, the city finally conceded. Black parents could now sit at the lunch counters that their children helped desegregate.

Twenty-five student organizers convened over 4,000 locals for the “Black Lives Matter Unity Walk” in Montclair in the summer of 2020. The organizers were reeling in the wake of the murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd and wanted to create a platform for themselves to be heard.

The event featured Black students and recent graduates of Montclair High School. Many shared their experiences with racism. The youth called teachers and leaders to task with a list of demands to change the learning curriculum and to introduce professional development offerings for teachers.

February is the month when we remember remarkable Black figures in history who have paved the way for future generations. “The Birmingham Children’s Crusade” and “The Black Lives Matter Unity Walk” remind me of the power of youth to end racial injustice for themselves and the adults in their lives.

As founder of Bethune-Cookman University, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, so eloquently wrote in her last will and testament, “We have a powerful potential in our youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends.“

I hope the Paterson youth left the library that day recognizing their powerful potential. I await their direction.