17.11.17

PLEASE VISIT OUR BRAND SPANKIN'-NEW HOME ON THE INTERWEBS:
RUSTINCENTER.ORG


Robt Seda-Schreiber, Chief Activist


Welcome to the 
Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice
We need to teach in the classroom, inspire in the streets & be a force in our communities. 
We will be a true community Center in every sense of the word: 
A place wherein all our people can come & move forward together- galvanizing each other to be & to do our best, to be our most loving & most understanding selves, both individually & collectively. 
We think it is imperative in our current state of affairs to create an environment wherein kids (& adults) will learn & indeed be inspired to be our future leaders- albeit imbued with a strong sense of community, spirituality & compassion. To that end, the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice will provide a safe haven & an educational enclave for all our students as well as our entire community. 
A concrete manifestation of a 
voice for the voiceless, a friend to the friendless
protecting, respecting & loving all our folks: 
LGBTQIA; immigrant families; our brothers & sisters from all economic, cultural, & spiritual backgrounds: community members of every color, gender (or lack thereof), religion (or lack thereof), national origin, & physical or mental abilities... 
those who are marginalized, forgotten, bullied or otherwise underserved by the present systems in place.
This will be accomplished thru focused  after-school, evening, weekend & full-day summer programs concentrating on civics, community activism & cultural instruction. Our vision is to educate, enlighten & inspire by presenting a variety of classes & workshops, guest speakers, film screenings, activist meetings, support groups for kids & adults alike, advocate trainings, art happenings, social events et al. 
Finally bringing all our folks & all our diversity under one roof, both literally & figuratively. 
The Center is now offering programs in conjunction with other community organizations, 
plan to be fully open to the public in our own space in mid-summer, & 
indeed begin our full agenda shortly thereafter.
& we are & will always be non-profit ourselves (unless one counts the karmic rewards!).
We are a 501(c)(3) as designated by the IRS
 Tax ID # 82-4434634

Social Just-Us
Robt Seda-Schreiber
Chief Activist
Chief Activist Robt Seda-Schreiber - Boots on the Ground!

After 25 years in the classroom & upon winning the NEA Social Justice Activist of the Year, I have decided to move forward with my experience, my knowledge, & my passion, to bring my service to a greater platform—
to serve & defend our community.
I want every individual- whether it be in a school, in a workplace, or in everyday life- to feel safe, to feel protected, & indeed to feel loved.


A brief bio in the form of some of my achievements & accolades throughout my storied thirty year career:
  • Keynote speaker at NEA Conference on Racial & Social Justice
  • Speaker on LGBTQIA rights at NJEA Minority Leadership & Recruitment Conference
  • Formation & guidance of school Gay Straight Alliance’s, including the first in a middle school in NJ
  • Senate Proclamations, 2003; 2017
  • Kenneth Cole Courageous Class, 2016
  • New Jersey State Champion of Equality, 2014
  • Teacher Who Makes Magic, 2014
  • Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholar to Japan, 2005
  • Princeton University Teacher as Scholar, 2005
  • East Windsor Regional School District Teacher of the Year, 2004
  • Created mural program, Kreps Middle School, 2003-2017
  • Founded & ran The Creatures of Awareness Theatre Co., a non-profit community theatre group which raised over $10,000 for AIDS foundations & support groups, 1989-1994
  • In addition to the above, as an artist & activist, I have continued whilst teaching to create many works of art, the vast majority of which were in the form of donations for various causes & organizations in which I believe & want to support.
Some examples of such can be seen aquĆ­:  Very Secret Monster Things     



 BOARD of DIRECTORS
(our Social Justice League!)


& she Dragon Boats too!Carol Watchler (Co-Chair of GLSEN CNJ) was a schoolteacher for thirty-seven years, during which she received the NEA Virginia Uribe Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights as well as the NJEA Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Award, & continues after more than twenty-five years to work on sexual orientation & gender identity concerns in the school environment & the greater community. Carol was an early leader in the movement- her dedication to safe spaces for LGBT people in education going back to the start of the National Education Association Gay & Lesbian (now GLBT) Caucus in the 80’s where she was the first female co-chair. She continues to be involved in workshop presentations for educators & community groups to ensure safe & welcoming schools for all persons whose lives are affected by LGBTQIA issues. She helped to found & was president of Youth Service New Jersey, a statewide organization working to support community service learning in school & works to educate herself on cross cultural awareness as well by looking at ways to eliminate racism by her participation in the White Aspiring Allies to People of Color. Carol is a proud & strong paddler on the Machestic Dragons, Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boat Team, which encourage & empower people to face their dragons with an indomitable spirit.



Jeffrey E. Joyner (Senior Counsel within the Office of General Counsel, US Department of Commerce) graduated from Princeton University (AB, Political Economics) & the University of Notre Dame Law School – International Program (South Bend, IN, & London, England) & received his Masters of International Public Health from the George Washington University School of Public Health, with a concentration on LGBT Health Issues. Jeff served several years on the Board of Directors & Executive Committee of the Whitman-Walker Clinic (as Board Secretary), a non-profit community health center in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with a special expertise in HIV/AIDS & LGBT healthcare. He has also worked at the United Nations in Vienna, Austria (UNCITRAL) & in the DC office of a Chicago-based, multi-national law firm. Jeff currently serves as a Senior Counsel within the Office of General Counsel, US Department of Commerce, & has been a three-time recipient of the Department’s Gold Medal, the Agency’s highest recognition of distinguished performance characterized by extraordinary, noble, or prestigious contributions that impact the mission of the Department of Commerce &/or one or more of its operating units. Jeff was also a Silver medalist at the 2014 Gay Games, Cleveland – Men’s Physique.


The Rev. Robert Moore (Executive Director, Coalition for Peace Action) is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. Since his full-time peacemaking ministry began in 1978, Rev. Moore has played a leadership role in major activities in the U.S. peace movement. He organized a press conference at Three Mile Island the day after the nuclear accident; he & CFPA played a major role in defeating the NRA’s attempt to rescind New Jersey’s Assault Weapons Ban; & he pioneered the first Peace Voter Campaign in the US. Rev. Moore co-organized the founding conference of the National Religious Campaign against Torture under CFPA’s umbrella, spinning off to become an ongoing major national interfaith group & he played a similar role in founding the Interfaith Network on Drone Warfare. These activities are only a miniscule sample of all the inspirational work that has allowed CFPA to become a model for peace groups across the country. Starting as a single group with one office under Rev. Moore’s leadership, CFPA has grown has grown to over 7,800 members & it is recognized as one of the fastest growing & most effective grassroots peace groups in the nation. Rev. Moore has received many honors in his personal & organizational capacities & has traveled far & wide in his various peacemaking ministry roles, including trips to Hiroshima & Nagaski, the former Soviet Union, Germany, Scandinavia, Greece, Holland, Canada, & Mexico.


David Sailer (Founder & Owner of the Clarion River Group) has worked with social justice organizations & leaders for more than 25 years.  He learned his organizing skills as a union organizer, leading campaigns with low-income workers across the country as well as in Central America. David has also served in senior leadership positions in labor, housing rights, & education rights organizations- such as acting as the Director of Finance & Administration at SEIU Local 32BJ & as the Executive Director of The National Housing Institute among other pivotal roles.  He has served as a teaching fellow with the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute & as an Adjunct Professor at the Cornell University ILR school.  He has a BA from Wesleyan University & a Masters in Organizational Development & Leadership from Fielding Graduate University.  Currently, through the dynamic Clarion River Group which he founded, David trains new organizers, coaches experienced leaders & guides organizational transformation work at mission-driven organizations across the country.


Wey-Wey Kwok (Senior Attorney, Center for Medicare Advocacy) has spent her career as a public interest attorney. Her practice has included the areas of low-income & disability benefits, prisoners’ rights, juvenile dependency & delinquency, family law, domestic violence, elder law, health care, & immigration.   She has worked as an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, as a project attorney for the AARP Foundation's National Training Project, & for the Public Defender’s office as well as in numerous other public interest settings. Since 2002, she has been with the Center for Medicare Advocacy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan law organization that provides education, advocacy, & legal assistance to help older people & people with disabilities obtain fair access to Medicare & quality health care. She engages in policy work & analysis, impact litigation, & direct client representation.  Wey-Wey holds a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, & a bachelor’s degree from Yale, where she majored in American Studies.

Tom Haydon (Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist) worked as a news reporter for more four decades, including 32 years at The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. He covered politics, state & federal courts, police, crime, immigration & the environment. He also reported on local, county & state government in New Jersey. The winner of several journalism awards, Tom was on a team of reporters that received the Pulitzer Prize for their incisive & exemplary work. His work was honored by the Union County Human Relations Commission for achievement by the media. Throughout his career, Tom worked at numerous newspapers covering southern, central & northern New Jersey as well as a stint as an online reporter at NJ.com.



Alicia S. Rich (Executive Director, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management | Field Strategic Services) is a Financial Services Executive with 20+ years of industry experience. She began her career as an Investment Associate, helping families with wealth, retirement & education planning. Alicia migrated to a corporate role where she led teams designing digital tools that would ultimately support how Advisors, their staff & their clients engage & manage their everyday finances. Her current position at Morgan Stanley in Field Engagement & Adoption focuses on building digital communities, training aides & other resources to support technical skill development & self-education for support staff nationwide. Throughout her career, Alicia has participated in numerous diversity & inclusion events, including being a panelist representing Latina perspective for Conversations on Race & Gender, hosted by the Multicultural Network, & most recently as a subcommittee lead for the Women’s Executive Director Initiative, working to develop diverse talent & prepare them for Executive Leadership. Alicia attended Rutgers University, concentrating in Sociology & Women’s Studies.


Pamela Hall (Chief Operating Officer (COO), eCaring) is an entrepreneur with extensive start-up experience, launching over 30 companies both for clients & as an operations co-founder, realizing 10 significant exits averaging $143MM exit value, & two IPOs; seeing several of these companies from pre-institutional financing through exit.  She brings close to 20 years of management & operational experience driving success for industry leading organizations & building innovative brands, & currently serves as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of NYC-based eCaring. Prior to joining eCaring, Pamela was Co-Founder & COO of United Preference, a leading health & wellness incentive administration & data analytics platform provider, directly partnered with Discover® Financial Services with clients that included some of the largest health plans in America.   Pamela has been a long time advocate of issues that impact the LGBTQ community. She currently lives with her family in Princeton, NJ.
*Organizations for identification only

Community Liaisons

Any movement that is not all-inclusive is not a movement at all.
In fact, it is a step backward (& we have surely taken too many of those recently).
In that regard, we intend to have representatives from every & any communities that deserve our recognition & our respect, our love & our support.
We will fight to have all voices heard & to do so, we invite folks to serve as envoys of their people to share with us their hopes, dreams, concerns & best ways to represent them at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice.
Steph Salvador (Education Collaboration Coordinator) is an ESL & urban education teacher, graduating with a Masters in Education from TCNJ. Although accepted into a PHD program for Sustainability Education, Steph realized she wanted to focus her work on education & community programs to encourage revitalization in her own community. As a teacher & community soldier, she is dedicated to social & environmental justice, whether in growing a school community garden to provide inner city youth fresh food along with food education or in her dedication to sports development to promote wellness. Steph is also committed to education & awareness of gender/sexuality as the founder & manager of the WYG Project, a media outlet promoting visibility & inclusivity of all LGBTQ+ individuals.  With the help of the BRCSJ, she created the first middle school GSA in Perth Amboy, NJ, & is now part of the NJ LGBTQ Curriculum Integration Team. Steph is an ardent believer in promoting love & acceptance as tools to foster wellness & change thereby creating a sustainable future for us all.

We are so incredibly proud to have received the honor of using Bayard Rustin's name directly from his partner, Mr. Walter Naegle. 
We plan to inspire our community & communicate our message of acceptance, respect & compassion by following the examples of both these fine men.


Good Works:
The BRCSJ has been on the road doing our good works, representing both locally & nationally as we work toward establishing our concrete HQ. In the past few weeks alone we have:

  • Fought to have a Gay Straight Alliance established in a Perth Amboy middle school & after many months of struggle & strife, these beautiful kids had their first meeting in early April! We are still engaged & will keep fighting for another GSA in central NJ wherein the school district is being very resistant but we will persevere.
  • Helped a transgender student transition from elementary to middle school by advising & directing school administrators, guidance counselors & teachers on best practices.
  • Shared our organizing skills & outreach in drive to name an elementary school in Rockville, MD. after Mr. Bayard Rustin in an ugly battle that saw much thinly-veiled homophobia & hatred but culminated in our success of the honorific being bestowed by the school board. Further it has inspired us in a greater capacity to work with the parent who spearheaded the campaign to create a nationwide campaign to name other schools across the country for deserving & under-recognized folks in the LGBTQIA community.


Events:

Art in the Park: 
Art = Change Workshop 
(for children) 
The Ellarslie Trenton City Museum 
Saturday 10 February 10-11:30 AM

Chief Activist speechifyin'!










This was a wonderful gathering of K-5 students who very much took to the idea of Social Change thru Art, creating inspiring works & communicating their hopes & ideals for the future. Thanks to Meagan Impellizzeri & the Ellarslie for their belief in our message & their support of our vision!













No DREAM Deferred 

NJ Statewide Day of Action


On March 5th, Dreamers & Allies took back the day! The BRCSJ stood with them, rallying outside the ever-absent Rep. Chris Smith's office. Congress has failed to act. Dreamers will continue to rise up across New Jersey to demand a DREAM Act that does not criminalize our communities & separate our families. No business as usual. We're fired up as ever. Stand up, fight back.




Social Justice & Interfaith Leadership Conference
Sunday 11 March        
Princeton University





Stand Up Together, The Power of We
Connect,  Engage,  &  Celebrate  
In the Spirit of La Convivencia
Chief Activist Robt Seda-Schreiber spoke out on  "Inclusivity" to a strong & passionate group of over a hundred folks.










Trans Youth Forum
Saturday 21 April        
New Brunswick High School
United We Fight, Together We Rise
Empowerment Through Community
This was a truly & wonderfully inspirational event as Chief Activist Robt Seda-Schreiber moderated for both the Educators' Track & the Parent-Child panels. The BRCSJ was proud to represent & bring our message of much love & respect to these dynamic young folks & their incredible families!


27 April 
Invited to celebrate the Breaking of the Silence at middle school wherein we helped to found a GSA... 
So beautiful to see the seeds of equality we sow bear such glorious fruit!
(& I know that no hats are allowed in school, but that's a GLSEN beanie!)










A final call to action:

We need to teach in the classroom, inspire in the streets & 
be a force in our communities.
It may not seem like it, but these are our times. We will persevere, we will rise up, 
we will come out the other side – 
stronger, faster, better, with more folks on our side & at our backs.
Hold hands, lock arms, heads up, eyes clear, hearts full & minds wide open…
Boots on the ground.
Now and always.

Scan me!
If you have been invited to view our website, please do bear in mind that the 
Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice
is indeed a living, breathing, oh-so-amorphous & ever-evolving animal & in that very spirit, please do feel free to share thoughts, feelings, suggestions, inspirations & epiphanies that present themselves upon viewing.
We want to make this process as transparent as possible to the community so all can feel empowered & emboldened to create the non-profit facility that our children & our community so desperately needs.
You can reach us at socialjusticeindeed@gmail.com