WHY OUR WORK IS NECESSARY
New Jersey has the worst Black to white racial disparities in incarceration in the nation in both the criminal and youth justice systems.
African Americans are more than 3 times as likely as whites to be pepper sprayed, bitten by dogs, shot and have force used against us even though whites are more likely to use force against police.
African Americans are 3 times more likely to be stopped, frisked, arrested, and charged for drug possession and use even though Blacks and whites use at similar rates.
New Jersey is one of the most segregated states in the nation in housing and schools. New Jersey has one of the nation’s largest racial wealth gaps.
New Jersey has more toxically condemned sites than any other state in the nation and most of those sites are in Black and Brown communities.
African Americans in New Jersey are nearly twice as likely to not have health insurance than whites. Black mothers in New Jersey are more than 4 times more likely to die in childbirth and infants 2-4 times more likely to die in the first year of life.