Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King; An Evening with Diversity, Equal Justice & Environmental Justice

EDINA BROWN

Edina Brown has lived in Old Bridge, New Jersey for seven years with her husband and two children. For over 14 years, she has been a hard-working advocate for young people and those with lived experiences (mental health consumers).

As an active advisory board member for AACT-NOW, an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Edina has helped expand access to resources providing care and support programs for people who struggle to achieve mental health, along with their families.

Her passion for helping people of all backgrounds achieve a better quality of life, inspired her to start IHP Global – a leadership and diversity training company – in 2018.

RONALD PIERCE

I was raised in the Housing Projects of Bayonne New Jersey during a period when corporal punishment was the societal norm. Events early in my life caused me have issues with authority figures and to led me to make decisions based on toughness. Resulting decisions guided my path to joining the United States Marines. I loved the Marines, however my issues with authority brought constant trouble. In 1977, the military offered and I accepted an early discharge, a General Under Honorable Conditions. Shortly after this I joined a motorcycle club, rising in the ranks to Enforcer, finally to the Vice President. A fight in a bar led me into prison and I served the next thirty plus years incarcerated. During Prison I came to the realization of how choices direct pathways and started changing the way that I made choices. This led me to many rehabilitative programs to further my understanding and ultimately led me to the NJ Step Program. Through NJ Step, I earned my Associates Degree in Liberal Arts and began my Bachelor’s Degree in Justice Studies. Upon my parole, the Mountainview Community provided many avenues of support in assisting me in my being accepted into Rutgers University and ensure I have the structure and support necessary to transition back into society and the academic community. I graduated Summa Cum Laude—3.9—majoring in Justice Studies. I have written a seven article series titles Going Home published on Truthdig.com. Worked as a team of writers to create a play, “Caged,” I have written two chapters concerning prisonization and leaving prison for V.B. Worley and R.M. Worley (Eds), American Prisons and Jails: An Encyclopedia of Controversies and Trends. The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice employs me as the Democracy and Justice Fellow.

KEVIN MOORE

Kevin Moore is the Founder of the Urban Environmental Group and has over 20 years of experience in urban environmental issues, advocacy and project management, all through a lens of environmental justice. Formerly the Climate Coordinator for the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and in addition to consulting, was the project director for the Weequahic Park Association’s, Weequahic Lake Restoration Project, which to date is Newark’s largest community-driven park and ecological restoration program. Previously as the director of public affairs, for Bluefield Holdings, Inc., he worked on developing industrial scale rainharvesting projects designed to monetize and offset environmental liability. He has consulted for the Hudson County’s Department of Planning, nonprofit organizations and educational institutions, for the advocacy, education and funding of urban open space, food security and minority participation in “green” and “geo-science” careers. He is committed to giving voice to underserved communities, who suffer the disproportionate burden of environmental degradation, enhancing their capacity and educating the next generation of “urban environmental voices.”

Kevin has served as a member and Parliamentarian for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Justice Advisory Council and recently, Chair of the Livability and Environment Committee for the Together North Jersey Regional Sustainability Plan. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees for; Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC), National Association for Olmsted Parks (NAOP) and one of the founding trustees for the City Parks Alliance (CPA),