Institute President and CEO Ryan P. Haygood writes in the Star Ledger:

Fifty years ago this month, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., looked to Newark and other urban communities and explained that the country consisted of "two Americas," divided by race.

King explained that, in one America, "millions of young people grow up in the sunlight of opportunity," with the ability to realize their full potential.

But in the "other America," people "find themselves perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity."

Fifty years later, perhaps no other city embodies both the reality of the two Americas and the possibility of bridging these entrenched divides more than the mighty city of Newark, New Jersey's largest city... 

To highlight these and other critical issues, the Institute, in partnership with the New Jersey NAACP and New Jersey Performing Arts Center, is hosting a social justice conversation with New Jersey's candidates for governor on today (May 1) at 6:30 at NJPAC. NJTV News will livestream this sold-out event.

The conversation will be moderated by Elise Boddie, Institute Board member and Rutgers University Professor of Law, and Michael Hill, award-winning NJTV anchor and correspondent.

Just one month ahead of the primary election, this forum will provide an important opportunity for the candidates to share how they will address these critical issues. New Jersey is one of two states to have a gubernatorial election this year.

To read the full piece, please click here.