PASSAIC COUNTY PULSE
COMMUNITY NEWS
Page 5
What Would Dr. King Say?
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s ran by The Star Ledger, Mayor Paul Aronsohn, Mayor of Ridgewood Park, NJ felt compelled to comment on the sad condition of New Jersey. As we celebrate Rev. Dr. Martin L. King’s life and legacy we, The Passaic County Pulse would like to hear your views. Please send in your articles to Thepassaiccountypulse@yahoo. com. The articles will print in next month’s edition. By “Mayor Paul Aronsohn: Imagine what would the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. say if he were still alive. Imagine, for a moment, that he is still here on Earth … living, preaching, advocating and leading. Imagine that he is here to celebrate his 84th birthday before heading
down to Washington tomorrow to witness the second inauguration of the first AfricanAmerican president. And imagine that he has followed the path taken by many prominent leaders – such as Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein and Richard Nixon – and decided to spend his later years living right here in New Jersey. Something tells me King would have a lot to say. From civil rights to economic justice to war, he would likely have strong views on the full range of contemporary topics.: Voter disenfranchisement, Disability rights, Fiscal cliffs, Income inequality, Health care reform. Sandy, Newtown.,Afghanistan, and Terrorism. But King would likely spend much of
Mayor Paul Aronsohn his time talking about his new home state, because the honorary St. Peter’s College doctor of law had a special affinity for New Jersey. As such, he would tell friends that he moved to the Garden State because of its rich, diverse culture … its tradition of political moderation and social progressivism … and, of course, its wonderful shoreline. (King liked his summers.) Having resettled his family in Bergen County, he would be known for boasting of his adopted suburban community and for challenging his New York friends with his passionate defense of all things New Jersey. But lately, he would focus his thoughts on the changes that have taken place the past few years – changes that have threatened that culture, undermined that moderation and progress, and devastated that shoreline. He would welcome the demographic shifts that have occurred over the years, leading to an even more ethnically and ra-
NFL Fred Baxter and Caelum Focus Academy Speed & Agility Training Clinic
C
lifton – All sports require the total athletic qualities of endurance, speed, agility, balance and determination. You will gain in all these areas with NFL Fred Baxter and Caelum Focus Academy Speed and Agility Training Clinic, which will take place on Saturday, March 16th, 2013 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Enjoy the gratification from hard work and diligent training as Fred Baxter delivers his State of the Art training programs. Athletes will learn and earn: techniques to minimize or prevent sports injury, skills that improve balance, agility, and quickness, techniques to improve both running form and speed, jumping techniques to generate explosive movement in the game. Participants receive signed autographs from NFL Fred Baxter. Clinic costs $28 per person and is
open to boys and girls grades 1 – 12. Register at the Recreation Office. The clinic will be conducted at the Athenia Steel Recreation Complex – 718 Clifton Ave. December, 2012 - January, 2013
cially diverse population. But he would criticize decisions that have left our state Supreme Court without an African-American jurist, our congressional delegation without a woman and thousands of people with developmental disabilities without a place to call home. And he would express deep frustration and disappointment that his beloved New Jersey has failed to do the right thing regarding one of the most significant civil rights issues of the day: marriage equality. He would speak of the state’s rampant unemployment – one of the worst in the country, even before the recent hurricane put many out of business. He would talk about the increasing tax burden that is crushing middle-class families throughout the state … a tax burden caused by a 20 percent increase in property taxes, reductions in the earned income tax credit for the working poor and cuts in the Homestead Tax Rebate for seniors and people with disabilities.