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A Walk Too Far? Continued from page 37 But on the day of the event in March, Baptiste says, the Newark police abruptly backed out. “The campus police showed up, but when the Newark cops found out we were not a protest, that we were going door to door and giving out educational information, they were not coming to escort us. And the campus police said they could only escort us through Society Hill,” Baptiste relates. “So we were on one side of the street, but we could not cross the street.” nothing new And that was heartbreaking. The 75 NSBE members had set up a barbeque on the campus side of Central Avenue and had bags of information on scholarships, academic requirements, after-school educational programs and college support programs, such as NSBE’s, for minorities. This information was not new to the residents of Society Hill. Project2:Layout 1 1/7/08 7:04 PM “We would knock on those doors, and people would say, ‘My kid is already in college’ and close the doors on us,” says Baptiste. “The difference between them and the people across the street was so obvious! (The people living in the projects) would run up to us and say, ‘My God! My grandkids need information on how to get into school,’ and ask for two or three bags so they could take them to relatives. Cars would stop next to us and people would commend us for what we were doing. But we felt so bad that we could not get into the more challenged areas.” It’s not as if the NSBE members were naïve. They had previously had A Walk for Education in a gang-infested area in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the police escorted the members through the buildings. “In New York,” says Baptiste, “we saw all the things you expect: people selling drugs, urine in the hallways, people hanging out. But it was safe, Page 1 since no one walked alone, and the police were present.” PuRsue the mission Brooklyn native Stevenson Dunn was surprised by the Newark incident. He was NSBE’s national chair when the Walk was held. “That is just not the norm at all,” says Dunn, a civil engineering senior at Polytechnic Institute of New York University. “I’ve been on Walks all over — in the Fort Green projects in Brooklyn and down in Philly — without any trouble. NSBE has been able to get information out to people in areas like that because people from our organization are from those communities. “We come from the low-income, black neighborhoods of this country. That’s the advantage we have over other organizations,” Dunn says. “They are trying to outreach into low-income neighborhoods, while I’m trying to reach out to my home. They are going into a strange place, while I’m going to my cousin’s house and going down my aunt’s block. That’s how NSBE should treat it.” If the police decline to provide escorts, NSBE members should still pursue their mission, since few universities are active in those communities, Dunn says. In Philadelphia, “We talked to kids there just like we would talk to our friends back home,” Dunn recalls. “I told a guy, ‘This might be the best time to go back to school, because the money in the street isn’t like it used to be. Whatever you are selling isn’t going as well as it used to.’ And he ended up signing up and coming to some of the NSBE meetings at Temple.” Spokesmen for Newark Mayor Cory Booker and the Police Department declined to comment for this article. Baptiste says NSBE wrote to the mayor’s office asking for an explanation and assistance, but got no response. As a result, there are no plans for further walks in the housing projects in Newark. ■ Roger Witherspoon is a journalist and author based in New York. NAVAL RESEARCH LABOR ATORY ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE Become a member of an elite research and development community involved in basic and applied scientific research and advanced technological development for tomorrow’s Navy! APPLY TODAY The Navy’s corporate experimental laboratory seeks seasoned professionals as well as recent college graduates who are willing to accept the reward of challenging research positions. The main office of NRL is located in Washington, DC with remote sites in Bay St. Louis, MS and Monterey, CA. Interested achievers with backgrounds and/or education in Aerospace, Ceramics, Computers, Electronics, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Chemistry, Materials Science, Metallurgy, Physics, Geology, Geophysics, Meteorology, and Oceanography should visit our HR website or call our Job Information Center. Applications accepted for specific vacancies or Co-op positions. NRL is an Equal OpportunityEmployer NRL • www.nrl.navy.mil 4555 Overlook Ave SW Washington DC 20375 http://hroffice.nrl.navy.mil 202-767-3030 38 • nsbe magazine • winter 2009 www.nsbe.org

NSBE - Winter 2009/2010

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