6. Olive Giles, vice president of the Princeton Regional Educational Support Staff Association, leads an annual event closing tradition: singing “We Shall Overcome.”
NJEA celebrates 50th anniversary of the NJEA MLK Human Rights Celebration
The 50th anniversary of the NJEA Martin Luther King Jr. Human and Civil Rights Celebration was marked on Jan. 12. Four NJEA members and a community organization were honored that evening for their leadership in equity and justice: Sundjata Sekou, Deborah Zitomer, Ronnette Smith-Powell, Danielle Earle, and the Phillip Pannell Foundation.
NJEA Secretary-Treasurer Petal Robertson honored NJEA President Sean M. Spiller for his accomplishments overcoming barriers to be the first Black man to serve as NJEA’s secretary-treasurer, vice president and president. That special moment featured video testimonials from Spiller’s family.
The following day, the NJEA Equity Alliance Conference featured six films carrying social justice themes: The Inventor, Ben in Bloom, Harlem Fragments, Two Distant Strangers, The Fifth Wave, and Intelligent Lives.
Six NJEA committees comprise the NJEA Equity Alliance: the Human and Civil Rights Committee, the Minority Leadership and Recruitment Committee, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Committee, the Urban Education Committee, the Women in Education Committee, and the Exceptional Children Committee.
In addition to the photos printed here, hundreds more can be found atflickr.com/njea/albums.
Representatives of the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape Tribe present a land acknowledgement and performance.NJREA member and Delegate Assembly member Jacqui Greadington delivers the invocation. The former president of the East Orange Education Association, Greadington was the longest-serving chair of the NJEA Human and Civil Rights Committee—leading the committee from 1996 to 2018. Following the invocation, the Lawrenceville High School Gospel Choir, behind Greadington, led the attendees in singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” NEA Executive Director Kim Anderson delivers the keynote address. Anderson is the first woman and first person of color to be NEA’s executive director.Longtime NJEA Human and Civil Rights Committee Chair Jacqui Greadington, now retired, greets the current NJEA HRC Committee Chair Fayette Weatherington.Author and Willingboro kindergarten teacher Ronnette Smith-Powell accepts the Dr. Judith Owens Spirit Award. From left: NJEA President Sean M. Spiller, NJEA Secretary-Treasurer Petal Robertson, Minority Leadership and Recruitment Committee Chair Dr. Tiffanie ThrBak, Destiny Powell (daughter and author), Smith-Powell, NJEA Vice President Steve Beatty and NEA Executive Director Kim Anderson.Millburn High School social studies teacher Deborah Zitomer accepts the Elizabeth A. Allen Women in Education Award. From left: NJEA Secretary-Treasurer Petal Robertson, NJEA President Sean M. Spiller, Women in Education Committee Chair Lisa Veit, Zitomer, NJEA Vice President Steve Beatty and NEA Executive Director Kim Anderson. Irvington elementary math and science teacher Sundjata Sekou accepts the Urban Educator Activist Award. From left: NJEA President Sean M. Spiller, Urban Education Committee Chair Todd Pipkin, Sekou, NJEA Secretary-Treasurer Petal Robertson, NJEA Vice President Steve Beatty and NEA Executive Director Kim Anderson. Orange High School audiovisual and filmmaking teacher Danielle Earle accepts the Equality Champion Award. From left: NJEA Secretary-Treasurer Petal Robertson, NJEA President Sean M. Spiller, NJEA Vice President Steve Beatty, Earle, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Committee Chair Chris Cannella and NEA Executive Director Kim Anderson. The Phillip Pannell Foundation was the recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Human and Civil Rights (HCR) Award. Phillip was shot and killed by police in Teaneck in 1990. His mother and sister, who created the foundation, accepted the award. From left: NJEA Secretary-Treasurer Petal Robertson, HCR Committee Chair Fayette Weatherington, NJEA President Sean M. Spiller, Thelma Pannell-Dantzler, Natacha Pannell, NJEA Vice President Steve Beatty and NEA Executive Director Kim Anderson. Filmmaker Cameron Carr discusses his feature, “Harlem Fragments.”Joyce Farr, the Gloucester County representative to the Women in Education and Human and Civil Rights committees, leads a discussion on the film “The Fifth Wave.”
