Listen to the Language of the Unheard

Katarina Connery (left) and Irmgard Baynes (right)

“Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear?...It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity...Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.” -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “The Other America”, 1967

At the intersection of Springfield and 15th Avenue in Newark, NJ is a small patch of grass, “Rebellion Park,” which holds a monument honoring the 26 men and women who lost their lives during the 1967 riots in Newark. Indeed, just down the road, at Springfield and Bergen, was the epicenter of the riots which occurred in the summer of 1967 and left hundreds injured, over $10 million dollars in damage, a heavy toll on the families who had lost their siblings, parents, or children from the wanton violence, and much more. (Read more about the multi-faceted elements leading up the riots and the aftermath for the city here.)

When Peace Road 2020 was announced with its focus on reconciliation and understanding between races, Irmgard Baynes, WFWP Financial Administrator, looked around for how she could contribute to her community. She came across an article about Rebellion Park published in 2017 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the riots. Upon reading the article, she visited the park and saw that it was again sadly left in disrepair. The flowers surrounding the monument had been overrun with weeds and one could barely determine that there was a planter in front of where the names of the dead were etched. She felt inspired to do this one small act of kindness for those men and women of Newark who had died in tragedy.

Thus, on a rainy Wednesday morning, August 19th, Irmgard, her husband, Tyndol, and I visited the park to clear the weeds from the planter and replace them with some new flowers. Before departing we prayed in remembrance of those men and women and everything their deaths represented. We prayed that their voices, and the voices of many more, will not remain unheard and that we can take the steps necessary to amplify voices of “justice, equality, and humanity.” Irmgard also decided that day to adopt the spot and keep it clean and free of garbage moving forward.

Of the 26 who were killed during 5 days of rioting, two were police officers, two were in relation with looting incidents, and the remainder were civilians. For example, Eddie Moss, only 10 years old, was hit by a stray bullet from a National Guard checkpoint. Eloise Spellman, mother of 11 children, was mistaken for a sniper when she leaned out her apartment window and was shot by a National Guardsman. Rose Abraham, a 45-year-old mother of 6, was looking for her children when she was shot. Several of those who were killed were by authorities looking for supposed snipers, though very little evidence had turned up to support the existence of snipers. In all, over 12,000 bullets were used by the National Guard and State Police over the course of the five days.

Though our planting and prayer is one small, symbolic act in remembrance of this history and more which is not written here, we hope it will be one step toward fighting complacency. We pray for the wisdom and foresight to hear the cries of the unheard long before rioting seems to be the last resort and to respond with love and compassion for those who have historically been disenfranchised. Surely as the flowers surrounding the monument to these 26 victims require care and attention, our relationships with each other and how we take care of those most in need demand careful and prayerful investment.

Editor’s Note: This initiative was inspired by the Peace Road 2020 project (read more here) and it was reported as a tributary event as part of the national peace road tour.