Ras Baraka Brings Statewide Black Agenda Tour to Salem, Urges Residents to Claim Their Seat at the Table
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka speaks at the Stateside Black Agenda meeting at Mount Zion Church in Salem on Saturday, March 7, 2026. Photo by AC JosepH Media.
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
SALEM — Newark Mayor and former New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Ras Baraka called on Salem residents to demand their place at the local and state economic table during his latest Statewide Black Agenda meeting on Saturday, March 7.
The gathering at Mount Zion Baptist Church drew about 50 residents, nonprofit leaders, public officials, and community supporters. Salem Mayor Jody Veler helped lead the discussion.
Baraka: “These Things Belong to Us”
Baraka told attendees that Black New Jerseyans have earned the right to shape a statewide agenda because of the historic struggles African Americans have endured throughout U.S. history.
“It belongs to us because there’s a railroad of human bones at the bottom of the Atlantic [Ocean],” Baraka said. “It belongs to us because Emmett Till’s body was at the bottom of the Tallahatchie River. It belongs to us because we marched to Pettis Bridge.
“It belongs to us because we fought Jim Crow and those women marched for over a year instead of getting on those busses in order to destroy and dismantle segregation in the South. These things belong to us because we fought in every war this country has ever experienced and came back to experience segregation once we got back.”
Residents Outline Priorities, Call for Accountability
Participants discussed local and statewide needs in the Black community and how to hold the new administration of Gov. Mikie Sherrill accountable. Baraka said the administration has been responsive so far, but he expects conversations about economic and public opportunities to translate into concrete action.
“We’re hoping and praying that the work we do will have some dividend and our kids may benefit from our meeting today,” Baraka said. “I’m just giving you a chance to give people a chance to look at what we put together here.”
Next Stop: Atlantic City — and Then the State Legislature
Baraka announced that the next Statewide Black Agenda meeting will take place April 17 at the Tropicana Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City. He added that he hopes to take the movement even further.
“Our plan is to have a Black Agenda meeting on the floor of the [New Jersey] Legislature,” Baraka said. “We want to go to the state legislature on the floor and get sponsored by our legislators, hopefully all of them.
“[We want to] get on the floor and discuss the black agenda with the legislatures of the State of New Jersey, what needs to happen and why it needs to happen. We need to do that and hopefully all of the seven places where we’ve been amassing our agenda, the amount of people that came out to the Black Agenda meetings will get on busses and we come down to Trenton.”
Financial literacy, Freedom Schools, and healthcare disparities were among the issues raised during the meeting.
Statewide Black Agenda Mission
Baraka finished second to Sherrill in the NJ Democratic gubernatorial primary. Since then, he has convened a series of Statewide Black Agenda meetings designed to unify Black communities and leaders around a shared set of policy priorities. The initiative, supported by organizations such as Salvation and Social Justice and the NJ Institute for Social Justice, aims to create a comprehensive framework for equity and justice across New Jersey.
Core Issues Highlighted
Across the statewide meetings, participants have consistently elevated several priority areas:
• Housing equity, including support for first-time and first-generation Black homebuyers
• Economic justice and closing New Jersey’s racial wealth gap
• Black maternal health
• Education reform, including investment in Freedom Schools
• Youth employment and anti-poverty initiatives
Organizers have stressed that the agenda is not about endorsements but accountability — ensuring elected officials commit to measurable action.
Building Toward Political Power
The meetings have also served as a mobilization tool ahead of statewide elections. Baraka and other leaders have urged attendees to hold candidates accountable and ensure that Black communities’ needs are centered in policy discussions.
Local Voices: “It Is Our Time to Resume Our Rightful Position”
Salem’s Joyce Johnson said she encouraged Baraka to bring the meeting to Salem so he could hear directly from residents in this part of the state. Only one other South Jersey meeting has been held so far — in Williamstown last August.
“I believe there is a spiritual movement going on in the world,” Johnson said. “We look at what’s happening in Africa and in different parts of the world, people of color, our people, are preparing to take our rightful place.
“The first shall be last and the last shall be first. We work first, and it is our time to resume our rightful position. But we have to get ourselves together. We cannot come in attacking one another.”
Chandra Pitts, a Salem native now living in Wilmington, Del., spoke about a youth conference focused on middle and high school students and credited Johnson for inspiring her civic engagement.
“I think all of you have to pour in and support our children,” Pitts said. “We cannot do it unless they [the children] know who they are and love where they come from.”
Community Leaders in Attendance
Notable attendees included:
• NJ Assemblyman Dave Bailey
• Carneys Point Committeeman Gregory Martin
• Salem Councilman Jamal Long
• NJ Congressional candidate Tim Alexander
• Former Millville Commission candidate Rachel Green
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