Ocean County NAACP President Hopes For Change

LAKEWOOD, NJ — Fred Rush looked out at the crowd gathered in front of the Lakewood municipal building two weeks ago during the Black Lives Matter march, and saw echoes of the past: Young faces, young voices, speaking up and demanding justice.

"It's encouraging to see the kids getting involved in the political protest," Rush said Friday on the anniversary of Juneteenth, the 155-year-old holiday that celebrates the emancipation of African Americans from slavery in the United States.

The national response sparked by the outrage over the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day while in police custody has put a spotlight on issues the black community has faced for decades, said Rush, the president of the Ocean County chapter of the NAACP.

And now, "people are finally listening," Rush said. "People are finally saying enough is enough, not just Lakewood but across the country."

The racial discrimination that has prompted protests and marches across the nation is just as much of an issue in Lakewood and Ocean County, he said.

"There have been some injustices," Rush said. "People have been disenfranchised, moved out of their neighborhoods.

"Lakewood had been a powder keg," he said. "We could have ignited a long time ago but by the grace of God, we haven't."

That's one reason the peaceful protest on June 6 was so important, Rush said. The voices of the young people, including Marquis Oliver, a 2013 graduate of Lakewood High School who organized the march, and A'Liah Moore, a Monmouth University student and soccer star from Manchester, and Jessica Moreland, a William Paterson student from Lakewood, both of whom spoke at the march, urged unity and peace at a time when images of riots and looting seemed to dominate protests.

"There was one thing that disturbed me," Rush said. "I saw all those stores boarded up (in downtown Lakewood) and heard about the Walmart, 2 miles away, closing up early" because of perceptions of what the march would become. Those stereotypes are unfair, he said.

"In the '60s there were agitators" who stirred up violence at protests, he said, adding that the same thing is happening now. "We have to recognize that for what they are."

The protests and marches and political activism of the younger generation is important, Rush said, because they can be the ones to push for the education on black history that has been so lacking despite years of efforts.

"People are finding stuff out that they just don't know" because education has for so long ignored black history.

"We have a law that was 40 years in the making, Amistad," a New Jersey law that requires all public schools to teach African American history. But the law has been poorly enforced.

"In Lakewood they want to teach the kids about the Holocaust but they don't teach about slavery," Rush said. "I know you don't have a lot of time to teach everything, but if you're going to teach one, teach the other."

That's why the current activism by the younger generation is so important, he said.

"Things don't change in America unless the youth is involved," Rush said. The older generation has worked to pave the way for the younger generation through a mentoring program called Omega 13, which was started by a group of 13 men. Omega 13 first started by mentoring young black men, Rush said, and later extended its efforts to all young men in Lakewood.

Omega 13 also expanded to assisting young women, Rush said. "Young people need guidance," he said.

Rush said the protests and the activism of the younger generation is important to making real change in how black Americans are seen and treated.

"It's an excellent time," Rush said, referring to the current activism surrounding racism. "We fought for years. People are finally listening."

Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com Follow Lakewood Patch on Facebook.