EAST BRUNSWICK–Striving to create stronger bonds of communication and understanding, the East Brunswick Human Relations Council (EBHRC) continues to unify residents.
The purpose of the EBHRC is to promote communication, respect and understanding among the diverse members of the broader East Brunswick community toward the goal of creating and maintaining a community in which diversity is celebrated and respected, according to information provided by the East Brunswick Township Council.
Chairperson Rev. Connie Milton said the EBHRC was created in 1991.
Members address the causes, impact and prevention of bias-related incidents, according to information provided by the council.
The council’s activities include civic programs to celebrate diversity, educational and social programs to encourage communication and understanding, and programs to address the causes, impact and prevention of bias-related incidents, according to information provided by the council.
Milton, who joined the council six years ago, said that she loves meeting people of different cultures.
Milton, who originally lived in Piscataway with her husband and two sons, said, “Our family continued coming [to East Brunswick] to a lot of events, so I said, ‘Well let’s look into it’ and we were able to move in. We have been living here for six years.”
The council’s 13 members are Milton, vice Chairperson Erum Shakir, recording secretary Paula Quintin, treasurer Greg LoBiondo, Lou Figueroa, Matt Korten, Nusrat Sohail, Olga Starr, Chris Wang, Board of Education representative Susanna Chiu, student member Clara Massoud, student member Sally Ming Jung You and student member Jonathan Benowitz, according to information provided by the council.
Newly elected to the position of chairperson on the council this year, Milton said, “I have been very active for the past five years of the six years we have been here. … The diversity, the culture, the good events that took place, I then started questioning, well what can I do besides just being a mom … so I contacted the mayor at the time … and he directed me to the council.”
Throughout the years, the council has been the host and co-sponsored numerous events including lectures, movie showings, historical presentations, the Unity Walk, Diversity Rocks event, the East Brunswick Multicultural Fair and discussion events, according to information provided by the council.
Vice Chairperson Erum Shakir said that she has been on the council for more than three years. She said one of the most popular events is the Unity Walk.
“I think we had a great attendance and we basically wanted to unify everybody together regardless of where you come from and I feel like [with] our similarities and differences the more we know about each other the more unity that we have amongst each other.”
The council hosts its meetings at 7:30 p.m. every fourth Monday of each month in the municipal building, located at 1 Civic Center Dr., East Brunswick.
The council will sponsor “Conversation and Coffee: Bias and Stereotypes in Our Town,” its new event series where residents can converse about biases and stereotypes, from 7-8:30 p.m. on July 24 in the East Brunswick Arts Center’s Community Room located at 721 Cranbury Road.
Mayor Brad Cohen and a community panel will be present, along with the event’s facilitator, Rutgers University professor of American and African Studies Louis Priscock, according to information provided by the council.
For more information, email eastbrunswickhrc@gmail.com or visit its Facebook page.
Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.
