Photo courtesy of BLESC.
The power, beauty and history behind Black History Month rolls around every February.
In Hudson County, the month is jammed-pack with events, movie showings, educational workshops, pop-up markets and more to help embrace the culture and continue to educate others on how we got to where we are today.
But once it hits March 1, where do we go from there? How can we continue to recognize and support Black culture and community?
We spoke with Cynthia Blue, the administrative secretary for Blacks In Law Enforcement Servicing The Community (BLESC), located at 158 Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City. Here’s what Blue had to share about BLESC, how “we have so much to be proud of” and how to keep the celebration of Black culture going.
My name is Cynthia Blue, I am the Administrative Secretary for Blacks In Law Enforcement Servicing The Community (BLESC).
BLESC has been in existence for the last 18 years (2007). BLESC was started by Anthony Smith and a few others out of the Hudson County Department of Corrections. The reason why BLESC was started was because of the mistreatment and disarray of the community. Anthony and the others wanted to make a difference in the community and in the lives of the people they serve.
BLESC offers mentoring to students grades 3 through 12. We also provide workshops for community groups, church groups and organizations, working with the Jersey City Municipal Truancy Court. We offer many workshops on safety, domestic violence, drug safety, bullying, violence, cyberbullying, to name a few, and we also provide other referral resources as needed.
A lot of the officers (speaking specifically about Jersey City) come from the community in which they serve. We cannot afford to think that because we are adults with jobs/careers etc., that we have arrived and do not care, respect or give back to our community.
Some of us were hard heads, stubborn and silly. We owe our community because without them we could not be. Police have gotten a bad name (some earned and some not earned) but we are not the enemy to the community.
The only way the community will see that we are human is to see us without a uniform, gun on the side, baton in our hand. We are human and we live in the community.
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For many years Jersey City has been the tale of two cities. Jersey City has had an impact because we want better living conditions, more services, better schools both physically and academically for our children, good quality affordable housing, skill training so that the community residents can earn living wages. Skill training programs for students while in school or starting at age 16.
We must get our young students and adults off the street corners.
A good start would be to know who we are and learn about our Black History. Teach our history to our children, families and the community.
Honor our ancestors by being and doing positive deeds for ourselves and each other. We must build on the legacy that has been left for us, our ancestors were very smart and talented. Education comes in many forms, books, trades, skills, wisdom and straight God given.
We have so much to be proud of, everywhere you go in America there is Black History.
The community can get involved by reaching out to BLESC, via email, mail or telephone. Email is the best way to reach us, also our website is blesc.org.
We do have some specific requirements but there is room for everyone.
Be on the lookout for new exciting things that will be happening soon!
To check out more of BLESC’s work and impact, visit their website.
