Newark, NJ, population 277,000, is a great city with massive problems.
Newark’s poverty rate is a staggering 25%. Compare this with a city like Seattle, WA, with more than double the population but less than half the poverty rate at 11%. Or compare Newark to its neighbor, Nutley, NJ (a safe suburb only 4 miles away) with a 4% poverty rate. Why do some areas have high poverty rates while others do not?
In 2010, the FBI reported that Newark had the 8th highest murder rate in the US. Newark’s schools are failing with a high school graduation rate of 22%. Why do cities with high poverty typically have high crime rates and low performing schools?
Many Newark construction projects have been touted as the key to the city's revival. In addition, over the past 40 years, Newark has been repeatedly described as being in a "renaissance." Has any of this been true considering the poverty rate has remained unchanged?
What’s the answer to really reviving a city like Newark? Does the answer lie in improving the lives of its residents? If so, why isn't this a priority and how can this be accomplished?
Newark isn’t the only impoverished city. In New Jersey alone, consider the high poverty rates in cities like New Brunswick (26%) Trenton (27%) and Camden (36%). In 2010, the US had a population of over 312 million people, and a poverty rate of 15.1%. With 46.2 million people living in poverty (one in six residents) why isn’t poverty a national emergency? (view state and county-level poverty rates)
Asking these questions and finding the answers is why Newarkers/filmmakers Marylou & Jerome Bongiorno, created the “Newark Poverty Reduction Conference.” Hosted by Rutgers-Newark on April 6, 2011, the event convened scholars, in a public forum, to begin the dialogue to tackle poverty reduction in NJ's inner cities, with a focus on Newark. It provided the opportunity to collect and refine the knowledge that these scholars received during their participation in the public screenings of the filmmakers' Revolution '67 Newark documentary film in the NJCH-sponsored "Justice: A Dialogue Through Film" 2009-10 series.
Conference Program::
1.Scholars gave a presentation that addressed poverty reduction while answering the following questions:
•How can your topic help reduce poverty in Newark?
•Why do Newark and other US urban cities with high poverty typically have high crime and poor educational performance?
•Has a US urban city significantly reduced poverty? If so, how and in what time frame?
2.The audience then engaged in dialogue with the scholars.
3.After lunch, the audience watched Revolution '67, while the scholars worked in breakout groups to answer the following questions
•What are 3 concrete solutions to reduce Newark's poverty rate by 10 percent in 10 years?
•Is funding needed? If so, source?
•Who should implement this plan?
•What are the measurable goals?
•What’s 1 benefit of poverty reduction to the middle class?
4.After Revolution '67, scholars presented the results of their breakout sessions.
5.In conclusion, the audience engaged in a closing dialogue with the scholars.
About the Conference
Newark Poverty Reduction Conference: Historical Perspectives and Strategies
April 6, 2011
Montclair, NJ
with funding from
Sponsors:
Watch Scholar Presentations
Watch Conference Recommendations
Scholars' Topics
Listen to Scholar Breakout Sessions
Watch Morning Dialogue
Watch Afternoon Dialogue
Conference Photos
Conference Solutions
This project was made possible by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations on this website do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.
Statistic Update. As of 2014:
Newark Poverty - 32%
Newark Unemployment - 15%
Newark Murder Rate - 3rd in US
April 6, 2011
Reduce Poverty in Inner Cities:
Marylou & Jerome Bongiorno at TEDxNJIT