Who Are We?

We are neighbors who love our towns. The Community Coalition is a private nonprofit organization with a diverse membership of individuals who live and/or work in Maplewood/South Orange coming together to sustain our towns as communities of choice for all. We envision a community that is truly inclusive and racially integrated – free of segregation in housing patterns and community involvement.

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Former Coalition Chair Carol Barry-Austin and Governor Jon Corzine
discuss Integration in South Orange and Maplewood at a recent event.

On May 27, 2009, the Schools Committee of the Coalition sponsored a follow up to the well-attended February Minority Achievement Gap Study Series.

Participants discussing a possible Study Series for Teachers

By invitation only, this group of just under thirty educators, parents, and concerned citizens met at the South Orange Middle School Library to discuss practical ideas for steps that our Schools Committee and ad hoc committees might take to narrow the Academic Achievement Gap. Among the initiatives being considered are offering a Study Series on the Academic Achievement Gap for local teachers; finding a way to fund a Parent Advocate; expanding Peer Mentoring programs; preparing lists of Top Ten Things to Do to Make Your Child an Academic Success; improving outreach to parents; and more.

The attendees, all participants in the Study Series in February 2009 or the one in May 2005, were full of enthusiasm and excitement for ways to make our schools excellent for every child.

A Great Evening of Theatrical Improvisation and Discussion

On April 28, 2009, as part of its Integration Through the Arts Project, the Coalition presented another forum combining discussion and improvisations by professional actors about "How Race is Lived in South Orange/Maplewood."

Kathryn McAteer, Dania Ramos, Jamil A.C. Mangan, Director Carolyn Hunt, and Shamsuddin Abdul-Hamid

The improvisations were based on real life stories about our own community. The event, with table discussions, took place place at the Columbia High School Cafeteria. To read the stories the actors worked from, click here.

Click the links for what the New York Times and Patch said about our program!

Congressman Donald Payne has asked for 2010 funds to support our Aim High! Bridging the Gap project. There is no guarantee of funding, but it's a big honor to be included! See the description here. This money would allow us to study and institutionalize initiatives to ameliorate the achievement gap and to improve the quality of our schools through parent advocacy and education, staff development, student engagement, and community involvement.  It would be a great opportunity for our community and the Coalition.

Integration Through the Arts: Coalition Receives Grant!

For the fourth year in a row, the South Orange/Maplewood Coalition on Race's Integration Through the Arts Initiative has been awarded a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts that is  administered by the Essex County Division of Cultural  and Historic Affairs. The Coalition is proud to be a recipient of this award again.

Watch for events including music, theater, literature, and more to further our goal of continuing and stable racial integration and true inclusion in South Orange and Maplewood.

(For a starter, read about our upcoming Spring Forum ).

Phylis J. Peterman, a founding trustee of the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race and Associate Professor and Chairperson of the undergraduate Department of Social Work Rutgers-Newark, has won the THE RUTGERS COLLEGE CLASS OF 1962 PRESIDENTIAL PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD.  She is also the past recipient of two University teaching awards. Read the details here.

The Coalition's newest trustees are, left to right: Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca (liaison from Maplewood), Bruno Lee, Ian Grodman, Mark Mucci, Rev. Charles Dumerzier, Liz McMahon, Amy Koehler, and Alice Baldwin-Jones. Not pictured is Abigail Cotler
For a list of all trustees and officers, click here.

Robert A. Marchman, founding member and former chair of the Coalition is the New York Stock Exchange Diversity Council Chairman and Enforcement Chief. He was given the honor of ringing the opening bell at the Stock Exchange on Monday, January 26, 2007 to celebrate the Diversity Council’s 10th anniversary.See it in video here! Since its founding in 1999, the Council has successfully initiated a series of programs to foster an open, inclusive work environment. Mr. Marchman was joined on the bell balcony by the chairs of the Council’s committees.

The New Jersey Jewish News editor-in-chief Andrew Silow-Carroll wrote in his column that "South Orange and Maplewood embody that vision [of true inclusion] ike few other communities. The Community Coalition on Race is an experiment not just in diversity, as itsexecutive director Nancy Gagnier said in her introductory remarks, but integration." The Coalition's Interfaith Outreach Committee sponsored the eighth annual Martin Luther King Day program and volunteer fair, "Making It More Than A Dream," at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 767 Prospect St., Maplewood This year's speaker was the Reverend Raquel A. St. Clair, Ph.D., the first woman to serve as an Executive Minister to the 5600 members of the
click for more

2009 Study Groups. For more photos, click here.

Between forty-five and sixty community members, teachers, Board of Education members and staff, and parents attended the study series on the Academic Achievement Gap at South Orange Middle School four Thursdays in January and February, 2009. The group did readings in theory and research and listened to academic speakers including Dr. Chris Catching, Dr. Diane Hughes, Peter Heinze, and a panel of local individuals who are involved in the school district. The panel included the superintendent, teachers, a board member, and current and former students.

This series was the second one on this subject produced by the Schools Committee of the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race as an action step for raising the level of community discussion about the academic achievement gap. The final session ended with table discussios that suggested practical ways-- based on the readings, lectures, and discussions-- for our community to work toward closing the gap.

To read the articles, click here.

Photos from the October 4 Gala Honoring Don DeMarco

Left to right: Doug Newman, Meredith Sue Willis, Carol Barry-Austin, Ken Pettis, Kathy Leventhal, Vic Deluca, and John McKeon. Full sized photos of this even and more to download! Click here

The Gala honored Don DeMarco, a pro-integrative advocate and intergroup practitioner, with more than 40-yearsof urban and suburban experience in intentional integration. As a municipal employee for Shaker Heights and Toledo, OH, Park Forest and Maywood, IL and Jackson, MI and a consultant for numerous other jurisdictions, neighborhoods and non-profit organizations, he designed and led enforcement aspects of fair housing. Since 1992, he has held several staff and board jobs for Fund for an OPEN Society including click for more

The Coalition organized an exciting forum on Language, Stereotype and Communications/ on Tuesday, April 29th at the Columbia High School Cafeteria. The evening included improvisations based on stories provided by community members. These improvisations were performed by professional actors from Playwrights Theater. Following the improvisations were table discussions that explored how we use words-- and how perception always trumps intention.

If you would like to read some of the original anecdotes and stories that were used by the actors in improvising, click here.

Our Five Steps for Achieving Superior Schools was in the Maplewood-South Orange News-Record on Thursday, May 7, 2009. To see this introduction, click here.

Older news:

See the November 19, 2008 Star-Ledger article on our Dr. King re-enactment and Community Night here!

The Coalition's tour of our Two Towns was featured on the front page of the New Jersey section of the Star-Ledger on August 19, 2008. The tour, by jitney, covered all neighborhoods and schools and gave potential in-movers an opportunity to learn more about our towns. For information about the next tour, send a request to Info@TwoTowns.org.

Don't miss the Star-Ledger Online Fathers Day 2008 Article about two-father families in our community.

Coalition events always draw an interesting crowd! Below are Congressman Donald Payne, Congressman Bill Pascrell, Coalition Chair Carol Barry-Austin, and Rich Kuperman of the African-American-Jewish Coalition at our recent Martin Luther King Day celebration. See more recent Coalition Photos