Robt. Martin Seda-Schreiber of Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice honored with Russ Berrie award
Robt. Martin Seda-Schreiber, the Chief Activist and founder of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice in Princeton, has been awarded the “Making A Difference” award by the Russ Berrie Foundation.
The award is given to New Jersey residents for outstanding community service and whose actions have made a substantial impact on the lives of others, according to the Russ Berrie Foundation.
The Russ Berrie Making a Difference Award has been recognizing those changemakers for 27 years – unsung heroes from around New Jersey who demonstrate their passion and unstoppable commitment to serve the most vulnerable.
Sed-Schreiber was honored for establishing the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice at 12 Stockton St. in Princeton. The center offers support programs and a dedicated safe space for members of the LGBTQIA (lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer intersex asexual) community. The center is staffed by trained volunteers.
Seda-Schreiber, who grew up in East Windsor Township, said he was honored to be recognized by the Russ Berrie Foundation with its “Making A Difference” award.
“It means so much more when a queer person like myself is acknowledged in such a public and powerful way,” he said. “It allows us all to feel celebrated in a community that is often not seen nor heard, recognized or respected.”
The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice grew out of Seda-Schreiber’s efforts to support the gay and lesbian community, starting with the creation of the Gay-Straight Alliance at the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School in the East Windsor Regional School District.
There were gay-straight alliances in other schools, but the Gay-Straight Alliance at the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School was the first one in a middle school, Seda-Schreiber said.
“When I forged the first Gay-Straight Alliance in a middle school in New Jersey, it did not happen because of me nor did it originate with me,” said Seda-Schreiber, who taught art in the school district for more than 25 years.
“It was a student who came to my desk, sharing confidentially that they did not feel safe in our hallways,” he recalled. “They did not feel comfortable in our classrooms or welcome in the greater community.”
Seda-Schreiber approached school district officials, who supported his efforts to create the Gay-Straight Alliance at the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School. Those efforts were supported by the administration, teachers and the New Jersey Education Association, he said.
The importance of the Gay-Straight Alliance cannot be emphasized enough, Seda-Schreiber said. It has helped many students who have grappled with their identities and made them feel supported.
“There was a sixth grader in a neighboring school district who was bullied physically, emotionally and psychologically to the point where they had to be home-schooled,” he said. “Our Gay-Straight Alliance invited them to a dance we were throwing so they knew there were folks out there with whom they could join in the community.”
“They came out and danced with our kids,” Seda-Schreiber said. “It was the first time that their parents had seen them smile in many months. I became their friend and advocate. They transferred to the school where I taught.”
Fast forward 25 years, and Seda-Schreiber created the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice. Its namesake was a civil rights activist and adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., according to www.history.com. Rustin was openly gay, and supportive of gay and lesbian rights.
Seda-Schreiber described the center as a community activist hub, educational bridge and dedicated safe space for LGBTQIA youth, intersectional families and all marginalized individuals and groups.
Programming at the center includes the Queer Youth Brigade, the Transgender Justice Collective, the Birth Justice Reproductive Rights Initiative, HIV testing, monkeypox/COVID vaccinations, the annual PRIDE parade and after-party, and queer community gatherings, he said.
“Most importantly, it is a dedicated safe space that is open every day,” Seda-Schreiber said. “It is hosted by volunteers who are trained to welcome anyone and everyone who wants or needs our love and support.”
The center attracts people from Princeton, Lawrence Township, East Windsor Township, Hightstown Borough, Montgomery Township and the Hopewell Valley communities. It also attracts people from across the state, he said.
“The irony in my work as chief activist of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice is to put myself ‘out of a job’ by creating a community, a society and a world where safe spaces no longer need to exist,” he said.
Seda-Schreiber said he is looking forward to a time when people – no matter how they identify or who they love – can walk down the street without fear or walk down a school hallway without anxiety and enter any room without hesitation or concern.
