Mayor Baraka Attends Fireside Chat Gauging Newark’s Commitment to Building Black Wealth

On a Wednesday (February 12) as Newark was clearing out from another sheet of messy snow, a fireside chat took place to honor and gauge the city’s commitment to building Black wealth.

Black residents make up the majority of the city’s poorest residents, according to the latest statistics, based on 2023 data on City-Data.com.

Contributing to the lack of Black wealth growth was the 1970s-era “white flight” that saw disinvestment hobbling the quality of life in New Jersey’s inner cities for decades. The city’s commitment to Black wealth acknowledges this inequity. 

Residents of these often historically redlined neighborhoods do not experience – or are able to financially access – the quality of life boons that come from gentrification in surrounding areas as Manhattan’s real estate values soar.

“Newark must not become another Brooklyn,” Mayor Ras J. Baraka said at a Dec. 6, 2018, press conference where he announced the creation of the city’s Equitable Growth Advisory Commission.

“We are committed to achieving equitable growth so that the benefits of new development and investment is shared by all Newarkers and residents of limited economic means are not displaced by gentrification.”

The fireside chat comes from the law firm McCarter & English and the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus.

McCarter & English Partner Omar Bareentto, who moderated the discussion, told NJ Urban News that the fireside chat – which included guests Mayor Ras J. Baraka; Tai Cooper, Newark’s chief community development officer; and Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter, chair of the N.J. Legislative Black Caucus – was also about celebrating Black History Month.

This comes as Google Calendar erased default references to Black History Month, Women’s History Month and Pride Month, earlier this week, almost two weeks after President Donald Trump on Jan. 31 made a proclamation about recognizing February as Black History Month while his administration’s Defense Department issued a press release noting “Identity Months Dead at DOD.”

“Black History Month is supposed to be a commemorative time to honor Black Americans’contributions to this country and reflect on their successes, so it’s supposed to be a joyous time and that is obviously a component of the fireside chat,” Bareentto said. 

“But it’s also important that we as a society look at where there are inequities and discuss how to make progress and how to address those inequities and the panelists that we have … they’ve been working in their roles to kind of curb inequities for decades, and we’re going to being hearing from them directly on the work they’ve done in the past and the work they plan to do in the future.”

With Baraka having been mayor of Newark for about a decade, the mayor is a key figure in what Bareentto called its “renaissance.”

“There’s clearly a renaissance that’s occurring in Newark with a lot of the development and economic changes that the city has been experiencing the last 10 years,” he said. “Mayor Baraka has been at the helm of that, and so it’s important that we hear from him about his experiences as mayor.

“I’ve worked in Newark the past eight or so years,” Bareentto added. “I’ve lived in Newark the past at least 11 years or so. So I’ve seen the changes that’s occurred in downtown Newark especially. We’re seeing a lot of people moving in, a lot more density in terms of housing, a lot more restaurants pop up.

“We’re seeing a lot of entrepreneurs entering the city, whether it be Black or brown entrepreneurs or any type of entrepreneurs entering the city, a lot of industry moving into the city. That’s one of the reasons we’re having this panel … to hear how that development is going, how it can be improved and to hear directly from them.”

The fireside chat took place at the Four Gateway Center.