National Poetry Month
Each week in April, we will include a poem in our newsletter! If you have a favorite, please email us so we can post it!
Still I Rise - Maya Angelou (1978)
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Professional Opportunities
WORK FOR THE NEWSLETTER!!!
We are looking for a first-year MAP student to become the editor for the 2025-2026 school year! If you are interested, please email russwswpn@gmail.com
Community Organizer - League of Women Voters of New Jersey (hybrid: NJ)
Community-Based Youth Coordinator - Ironbound Community Corporation (Newark, NJ)
Resource Organizer - People’s Tech Project (remote)
Environmental Justice Organizer - Ironbound Community Corporation (Newark, NJ)
PAID Fellowship Opportunities:
Advocacy Corps Fellowship - Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) (remote/hybrid: Washington, DC)
Summer Fellow - PA Stands Up (Various: PA)
Leonard Lieberman Philanthropy Fellowship, Program Associate - The Fund for New Jersey (hybrid: Princeton, NJ)
Fellowship Initiative - Twelve Plus (Camden, NJ)
Engagement & Leadership Summer Fellow - National Council of Jewish Women (Washington, DC)
National Policy News Highlights
Rubio Orders U.S. Diplomats to Scour Student Visa Applicants’ Social Media
The New York Times
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered diplomats overseas to scrutinize the social media content of some applicants for student and other types of visas, in an effort to ban those suspected of criticizing the United States and Israel from entering the country, U.S. officials say.”
Immigration advocates challenge rule requiring migrant registry
The Hill
“A coalition of immigration advocates has sued the Trump administration over a policy that requires migrants to self-register with the government. The Trump administration’s interim rule points to a little-used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that requires anyone over the age of 14 who is unlawfully present in the country to register with authorities and alert the government of any change in address.”
What Cory Booker spoke about for 25 hours: the programs holding America together
The 19th
“For 25 hours, Sen. Cory Booker from New Jersey launched a one-man protest against the Trump administration on the Senate floor. This marathon effort, where the 55-year-old Democrat held his speaking time by refusing to sit, eat, or use the bathroom, served as a way to spotlight the voices of Americans who are fearful for their futures under a second Trump presidency. Those Americans want Democrats to do more, Booker said — and this was his answer.”
Transgender student’s arrest for violating Florida bathroom law is thought to be a first
The Associated Press
“A transgender college student declared “I am here to break the law” before entering a women’s restroom at the Florida State Capitol and being led out in handcuffs by police. Civil rights attorneys say the arrest of Marcy Rheintgen last month is the first they know of for violating transgender bathroom restrictions passed by numerous state legislatures across the country.”
Regional Policy News Highlights
Trump order on late-arriving mail-in ballots ‘egregious and illegal,’ N.J. attorney general says
The New Jersey Monitor
“New Jersey’s six-day grace period for vote-by-mail ballots that reach election officials after polls close on Election Day could soon come under scrutiny amid Republican-led efforts to block such ballots from being counted. President Donald Trump issued an executive order [last week] directing U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to take “all necessary action” against states that allow mail ballots received after Election Day to be tallied, regardless of whether those ballots were postmarked on or before Election Day.”
Pennsylvania and New Jersey leaders warn that DOGE cuts to health agencies could limit care and services
WHYY
“Last week, the federal government sent notices to state, county and city health departments that millions of dollars in grant money supporting programs for sexual health services, mental health and addiction treatment were being cut, effective immediately. The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is spearheading the funding cuts as part of President Donald Trump’s larger plan to reduce spending and shrink the footprint of the federal government.”
Trump administration suppresses pregnancy risk data
NJ Spotlight News
“Early in their effort to reduce racial disparities in maternal deaths, New Jersey officials dove deep into a decades-old dataset to find out why Black mothers were dying at far higher rates than white moms. Their findings led the state to direct $4.7 million a year to local organizations that could help pregnant women access prenatal care and connect new mothers with food, safe housing, mental health supports and other services.”
NYC offers developers a deal: Build affordable units, we'll help cover tenants' rent
Gothamist
“New York City officials are trying out a novel way to move longtime residents of homeless shelters into new permanent housing — by guaranteeing most of their rent. Under the Affordable Housing Service program, the city is eliminating one of the biggest hurdles developers face when it comes to building or buying buildings: money. Through the program, the city offers nonprofit developers a steady stream of tenants who can pay rent using city housing vouchers for years to come.”
Upcoming Events
Rights and Resistance: Protecting Your Communities and Responding to Immigration Raids
Facilitated by the National Immigration Project
Thursday April 10th & Friday April 11th, 2025
2:00pm - 5:00pm
*online*
Join the National Immigration Project for their spring community defender training, “Rights and Resistance: Protecting Your Communities and Responding to Immigration Raids.” This two-day training is designed to equip organizers, advocates, and impacted community members with the knowledge to navigate and respond to immigration enforcement in their communities. To register for this event, click here.
Professional Job Search Workshop Series for Social Workers: Compensation Negotiation
Facilitated by the Rutgers School of Social Work
Thursday April 10th, 2025
3:00pm - 4:00pm
How do I pay my bills on a social work salary? Isn't negotiating going to look pushy? When do I negotiate? What can I ask for, and how do I do that? Learn key negotiation concepts and concrete techniques for securing a strong compensation package. This event is part of a four-part series designed to prepare upcoming and recent social work graduates with tools for successful professional job searches, including writing great resumes and cover letters; interviewing to put your best self forward; negotiating compensation packages to "do well while doing good," and understanding the complexities of career job benefits (like how health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off work). Having trained social work students, alums, and professionals on job search strategies for the last 25 years, Professor Anna Haley will review key strategies in these sessions as well as take participant questions. Register for the Workshop Series here.
The Race for Governor: Social Justice Candidate Forum
Facilitated by Cross/Roads NJ, and the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
Wednesday April 16th, 2025
6:30pm
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC)
1 Center Street
Newark, NJ 07102
New Jersey’s gubernatorial candidates speak candidly on immigration, voting rights and other hot topics. New Jersey is one of only two states electing a Governor this year. Our decisions about who should lead the Garden State will have profound implications across the country. Join us to hear from New Jersey’s gubernatorial candidates on issues of social and racial justice, and what, if elected, they would do to preserve the rights and safety of New Jersey’s communities of color. As a new administration in Washington ushers in new policies around immigration, federal funding for education and more, the stakes for all of New Jersey’s citizens could not be higher. How will those who would lead our state respond to this unprecedented moment?
Participating Candidates are:
- Ras Baraka (D) - Newark mayor
- Jon Bramnick (R) - State Senator
- Steven Fulop (D) - Jersey City mayor
- Mikie Sherrill (D) - House member
- Sean Spiller (D) - New Jersey Education Association president
- Stephen Sweeney (D) - Former State Senate president
To register and submit questions for this event, click here.
Highlight of the Week: The Powers of the New Jersey Governor
This week, the New Jersey Spotlight focused on the power of the NJ Governor in their “Under the Dome” series. What is interesting about our state’s governor, apart from the fact that we will have a new one come November, is that they are arguably the most powerful governor in the country. Why is that? Our governor is the only one who appoints all state judges and prosecutors, agency heads, and state board and commission members. Some appointments made by the Governor require the Advice and Consent of the State Senate, while others are made by the Direct Appointment of the Governor, requiring no action by the Senate. This means that where other states can vote for their Attorney General, Comptroller, and/or Supreme Court Judges, we must rely upon the governor to appoint them. Until a few years ago with the addition of a lieutenant governor, the position was the only statewide elected office in New Jersey’s government.
The governor’s executive order power cannot be understated; it’s essentially the ability to write laws unilaterally. The governor also has the power to utilize a “line-item veto” that allows them to approve a bill, but reduce or eliminate monies appropriated for specific items. This is extremely powerful when it comes to the annual budget, as they can slash funding with no permissions needed from the legislature or judiciary. New Jersey Policy Perspective has laid out the four actions the governor can take once the Legislature passes their own budget proposal:
- Sign the proposal, as is, into law.
- Reject the entire budget proposal outright and send it back to the Legislature.[xvii]
- “Line-item veto” certain spending priorities before signing the budget into law.
- If revenue projections from the OMB and the OLS are far enough apart, the governor may accept the budget as is and put some funding into a lockbox to be released later in the year if enough revenue is collected to cover those investments.
Seeing how important the governor is in NJ, it is even more important to vote for who you think is the best candidate in the June 10th primary election! Register here to vote or check your registration status by May 20th to vote in the NJ primary.
