By Donald Gilpin

Reflections on Paul Robeson, the Witherspoon-Jackson (W-J) neighborhood, and the future of Princeton, along with community gatherings and sports, will highlight this year’s Joint Effort Safe Streets Summer Program, starting on August 2 and continuing through August 11.

“It’s always important for the community to come together,” said Joint Effort (JE) founder and organizer John Bailey. “And it’s even more important now because we have lost our way. On the national level and on the local level we have lost our way.”

The annual program will include social, athletic, and cultural events; the presentation of numerous awards; and three discussions with community leaders on hot topics facing Princeton.

Bailey noted the connection between “the chaos and contradiction and confusion in the world and the legacy of Robeson, a Princeton world citizen.” He explained, “The theme of the 2024 Joint Effort Princeton Witherspoon-Jackson Community Safe Streets Summer Program is ‘Reflections on Paul Robeson and the Witherspoon-Jackson Community.’”

Robeson, In addition to his fame as a concert singer, actor, and professional athlete, was also widely acclaimed and criticized for his political activism and his support for civil rights and other controversial causes. He was investigated by the FBI and the House Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy era in the 1950s.

“So the theme of this Joint Effort is taking a look at Robeson’s life as it related to the Witherspoon-Jackson community, as it related to Princeton,” said Bailey, who grew up in Princeton and is now a leader for social equity, a political consultant, and community organizer based in Denver, Colo.

“Robeson’s a good focal point to celebrate, to recognize and educate, and then to start talking about what’s next and what we can do now,” Bailey added. “This continuing effort every year is an effort to bring folks together in town to reflect on the African American community, focusing particularly this year on Robeson.” One topic on the agenda for the August 10 discussion will be “Robeson, Reparations, and DEI: The National Pushback.”

This year’s celebration will be held at various different locations in Princeton, and each day of the program will highlight the history of W-J and an important Black personality, including Ruth Parker, Donald Johnson, Frank Wells, Doris Burrell, Laura Wooten, and John Young.

A kick-off reception and W-J Community Salute to Our Ancestors will get the festivities rolling at 5 p.m. on Friday, August 2 at Studio Hillier on Witherspoon Street. The following day there will be a fish fry and community meet and greet at 1 p.m. at the Elks Lodge on Birch Avenue, then on Sunday August 4 a Gospel Music Festival at 5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Princeton on Green Street.

On Tuesday, August 6 JE will feature a discussion on the future of Princeton at 6 p.m. at the Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) on Witherspoon Street, to be followed on Wednesday, also at the ACP, by a preliminary 5 p.m. reception, then a discussion on Paul Robeson, as well as the Chip Fisher Memorial Art Exhibit and the presentation of scholarship and community awards.

On the busy agenda of the final weekend of JE, there will be a candidate forum and panel discussion on social equity and community benefits in Princeton on Saturday, August 10 at 10 a.m. at the First Baptist Church; a youth basketball clinic at 10 a.m. at the Community Park Basketball court; a Community Block Festival from 1 to 7 p.m. at the Princeton YMCA Pavilion on Paul Robeson Place; and a community meet and greet at 7:30 p.m. at the Elks Lodge on Birch Avenue.

The Sunday, August 11 closing day of JE will include the Pete Young Sr. Memorial Basketball Games from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Community Park basketball courts, followed by a final meet and greet at 6 p.m. at the Birch Avenue Elks Lodge.

The honorees to be recognized during the 10 days of JE include Mercer County Executive Dan Benson, County Commissioner Sam Frisby, Princeton Councilwoman Eve Niedergang, Studio Hillier Principal Bob Hillier (a Town Topics shareholder), Police Chief Jon Bucchere, Recreation Department Administrator Stacie Ryan, Franklin Toga Bank CEO Terry McEwen, Lance Liverman, Tommy Parker, and Princeton Housing Authority Board Chair Felicia Spitz.

In addition there will be special Paul Robeson W-J Community Honors Awards presented to the Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society, the Paul Robeson House of Princeton, and the Arts Council of Princeton, as well as 15 scholarships for local students.

“Every community needs a Joint Effort Safe Streets,” said Bailey. “Every community needs the ability to reflect on where it’s been so it can have a better handle on where it currently is and the potential to look at where it’s going.”

Bailey described JE as “an opportunity to look back at some of the discrepancies, some of the challenges and choices, as well as some of the opportunities African Americans have had in Princeton, be it housing, racism, merging to become one Princeton, the relationship between Princeton University and the town, or trying to figure out growth.”

He continued, “Princeton is a microcosm of what the rest of the country could look like. It’s also a laboratory. I can say that Princeton is moving forward, yet we have a long way to go, like other municipalities in the country that are trying to be progressive. There are challenges, choices, and opportunities for us to grow. That’s what I’m building on, that we as a community will grow, and I hope that we’ll have a significant impact on our young people.”