The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ) hosted its annual gala under the theme “Fighting & Building,” bringing together community leaders, advocates, and legal scholars to celebrate groundbreaking racial and social justice achievements across the state.
The evening served as both a celebration of landmark civil rights victories—including the passage of New Jersey’s Voting Rights Act and the ongoing work of the New Jersey Reparations Council—and a tribute to distinguished honorees who have placed their institutions on the line to defend democracy.
Mayor Ras J. Baraka Receives Community Leader Award
Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka was presented with the Community Leader Award in recognition of his unwavering dedication to the Brick City and his lifelong commitment to grassroots activism.
The Mayor was introduced by his longtime friend and Howard University classmate, Dean Jelani Cobb of the Columbia Journalism School. Cobb reflected on their shared student activism under renowned scholars such as Dr. Ronald Walters, highlighting Baraka’s pivotal leadership during the 1989 Howard University student protest. Cobb commended Mayor Baraka for standing firm against systemic repression, pointing to his recent arrest while protesting at an ICE detention facility.
Accepting the award, Mayor Baraka drew historical parallels to civil rights pioneers and the Little Rock Nine. “I tell the story because it’s kind of hard for sense in the middle of all craziness that we’re dealing with every day. Because I think people are somehow stuck in a popular refrain of apathy and fear, and refusing to do anything to save what they believe is everything. So they make a constant and deliberate choice to not be involved… to save the little space that they have carved out for themselves and their family. God gave me the pleasure of being alive right now… and gave me the opportunity to have a sword in one hand and a shovel in the other, and make a decision to build and to fight at the same time,” Baraka told the audience.
Courage in Law Award Presented to Prominent Legal Partners
Christina Swarns, Executive Director of the Innocence Project and NJISJ Trustee, presented the Courage in Law Award to three outstanding law firms recognized for defending civil rights, public interest, and the rule of law against executive overreach and political retaliation:
WilmerHale & Jenner & Block: Honored for standing firm against punitive federal executive orders targeting law firms engaged in pro bono civil rights, voting rights, and LGBTQ+ advocacy.
Pashman Stein Walder Hayden: Celebrated for extensive pro bono advocacy across New Jersey, including representing Mayor Baraka to dismiss political charges, challenging public school segregation alongside former NJ Supreme Court Justice Gary Stein, and advancing government transparency through attorney C.J. Griffin’s public interest work.
Lifetime Social Justice Award Honors Outgoing President Ryan P. Haygood
The emotional centerpiece of the gala was the presentation of the Alan V. and Amy Lowenstein Social Justice Award to outgoing NJISJ President & CEO Ryan P. Haygood, who is transitioning to serve as President & CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
Following moving personal tributes by his dear wife, Charity Haygood, and NJISJ Board Chair Paulette Brown, Haygood was recognized for a decade of transformative leadership. Under his tenure, the Institute spearheaded historic legislative achievements, including restoring voting rights to more than 80,000 New Jerseyans on probation or parole, creating the state’s Reparations Council, and driving youth justice reform.
Referencing Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends, Haygood encouraged advocates to push past comfortable boundaries.
“Adults are also understandably, particularly now, afraid in this dangerously defining world. If ever there was a time to confront our fear, it’s now… Courage is never the absence of fear. Indeed, I think courage is best exercised in the context of fear. So we can get brave, and we are, and still be strong and courageous because the promise is bigger than the fear. If we loosen our imagination and pursue things that first seem impossible, they eventually become inevitable,” Haygood stated. “Where the sidewalk ends, the Institute keeps walking.”
