Junius Williams -- teacher, author, community activist -- explains what the movement has yet to achieve on the latest edition of 'The Backgrounder'
By Paul Brubaker | The Backgrounder
Newark attorney Junius Williams, a cornerstone of civil rights activism since the 1960s, knows the revolution will not be televised. But he might add that it won't be online either.
Today's civil rights activism, including the Black Lives Matter movement, relies on the internet - perhaps too much, Williams said on the latest edition of The Backgrounder Podcast.
"I think it's too easy," said Williams. "Organizing is a matter of developing relationships with other people. And you can't develop a relationship with somebody else, I contend, by using the Internet. "It's got to be one on one, baby."
Newark saw Williams' brand of community organizing years ago when a medical school was being planned in the city. Through efforts that began in a storefront office on South Orange Avenue and Bruce Street, Williams led the charge that secured 60 acres of land for affordable housing in Newark, and he launched a large-scale job training program for minorities that enabled them to work on the project.
Williams also managed the first mayoral campaign of Kenneth Gibson, who was elected as Newark's first African-American mayor.
Today, Williams is passing on his community organizing knowledge to his students at Rutgers University's Abbott Leadership Institute, teaching them to be effective advocates for Newark public schools.
He is also the author of "UnfinishedAgenda: Urban Politics in the Era of Black Power," his political memoir of grassroots politics and community organizing. And he is a musician who holds the blues - as in the music performed by Aretha Franklin and Muddy Waters - as a critical part of black cultural identity in America.
You can hear Williams' entire interview by clicking on the orange play button at the top of this page.
Paul Brubaker, former journalist and congressional spokesman, keeps it real with the people who make New Jersey the most fascinating place on Earth. Check back every week for a new episode of 'The Backgrounder.'