WEST WINDSOR: ‘A Time to Break Silence’ begins an important community conversation

WEST WINDSOR — Coretta Scott King said, “We commemorate Dr. King’s inspiring words, because his voice and his vision filled a great void in our nation, and answered our collective longing to become a country that truly lived by its noblest principles. Yet, Dr. King knew that it wasn’t enough just to talk the talk, that he had to walk the walk for his words to be credible. And so we commemorate on this holiday the man of action, who put his life on the line for freedom and justice …”, In giving meaning to Dr. King’s legacy, West Windsor Township’s Human Relations Council presented its 10th annual program, “A Time to Break Silence,” where students and leaders from diverse groups came together to talk and learn together in order to form an understanding and compassionate community., Based on the reaction of the almost 200 people who turned out at the event held at West Windsor Athletic Club, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been proud as silence was broken and issues of concern were discussed openly in order to create a “beloved community.”, Welcome remarks were provided by Tasneem Sultan, chair of the Human Relations Council who pointed out we hope to build trust among the diverse groups in our town., Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, in looking at the audience, remarked that he was proud to see so many diverse groups working together. Examples of that ongoing working amongst diverse groups was born out in the remarks of Weihong Liu, director of the Chinese School who told about her school and welcomed the community to the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration; by police Sgt. Garafolo who talked about the 20 years of community policing, where respect and communication with all groups is key; and by Martin Whitfield, general manager of the Windsor Athletic Club, who cited the diversity of programing on the club grounds., A poem about the need for understanding was read by West Windsor-Plainsboro students, Bilal Sultan, Srishti Gadodia, Ansh Gadodia, Sanjana Behare and Sameer Singh., Students, Simon Brooks, Gitika Maheshwari, Olajuwon Olapade, Andalib Mohamed and Isha Kumar educated the audience about issues of discrimination that we all may harbor, even if unknowingly, which they called “micro aggressions.” They then explained a program of dialogue and discussion they had used in the WW-P high schools where they are able to discuss “unspeakable” topics in order to address matters in an open and educational manner so as to address micro aggressions in order to live and learn compassionately., The students’ presentations set the backdrop to the panel discussion moderated by Community Middle School history teacher Mike Jackson who adeptly had the panelists talk about meaningful ways to “break the silence” and create a beloved community., Amman Singh Seehra, of Founder One Project, opened by explaining the importance of the individual taking action to make the world a better place underscoring the teachings of Dr. King., The Rev. Dr. Cornell A. Edmonds, interim pastor of the Church of the Covenant, explained the heart of Dr. King’s philosophy was love and that one needs not look at individual actions but needs to look at systems that may need to be changed., The Rev. Jan Willem van der Werff, pastor of the Dutch Neck Church, brought Dr. King’s teachings to a community level and reminded the audience that no matter what we look like or where we come from, we all have issues of concerns but we need to act with compassion toward each other and challenged all in the audience to support the local Muslim community and their new cultural center in our town., And, Franz Khan, community activist and artist, stated that education is central to protecting our liberties, remarking that social engagement moves society in the right direction, thus calling all to heed Dr. King’s teachings in seeking justice., The lively community conversation that took place after the panel discussion underscored the audience’s taking to heart the teachings of the day — education, working to help the less fortunate in the community, acceptance and embracing the diversity of the community of West Windsor.