SOMA Against Hate Mission Statement
Written by Lisa DavisSOMA Against Hate is a collective of houses of worship and community groups in South Orange and Maplewood. The collective formed in the wake of efforts by an anti-Semitic, white supremacist hate group to recruit in our communities by posting flyers in prominent places in our two towns.
We have come together because, while we have all issued statements condemning this group in emphatic terms, we recognize that combating white supremacy requires a more sustained effort. While we would like to believe that “it can’t happen here” in our intentionally inclusive and welcoming community, we know that these groups prey on the disaffected among us. We also know that in the absence of a sustained response, these groups may
escalate their activities and jeopardize the fragile and hard-fought safety that Jewish and Muslim people, LGBTQ people, African-Americans and other people of color feel in our communities.
SOMA Against Hate plans a multi-pronged campaign to combat white supremacy in our community. The elements are as follows:
We will post banners in a prominent place in both South Orange and Maplewood, bearing a strong message that our communities are for ALL people and that everyone belongs here.
We are printing lawn signs for community members to put outside of their homes, to put any merchants of intolerance on notice that their message has no audience here AND to signal our support to our neighbors from marginalized communities.
We will be hosting a number of forums to educate the community of the number and nature of hate groups operating locally in our home state. We will also educate parents and
other community members on the various recruiting methods used and the warning
signs to watch for to determine whether someone is coming under the sway of
white supremacists.
The Community Coalition on Race will act as fiscal agent for collective so donations to help defray costs can be made by check to The Community Coalition on Race, 516 Prospect Street, Maplewood NJ 07040 with the memo saying SOMA AHC Sign. Or on the website at https://www.communitycoalitiononrace.org/donate and indicate SOMA AHC sign in the
comment field.
The members of SOMA Against Hate Collective are:
Council on American Islamic Relations of NJ
Congregation Beth El
Durand Hedden House and Garden
First Baptist Church of South Orange
First Presbyterian & Trinity Church
Kol Rina
North Jersey Pride
Morrow Memorial Methodist Church
Prospect Presbyterian Church
Oheb Shalom Congregation
Saint Joseph Catholic Church
Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom Essex County Chapter
SOMA Action
SOMA Community Coalition on Race
SOMA Justice
South Mountain YMCA
Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel
For more information contact: Marcia Bloomberg at marcia.bloomberg@gmail.com Or Barbara Velazquez at bvsomaaction@gmail.com