Willie Brown Archives - New Jersey Globe

Trailblazers: 11 Black politicians from New Jersey you should know about

January 17, 2022 12:23 amJanuary 16, 2022 10:18 pm

Dr. George E. Cannon (1869-1925) was a physician and New Jersey Black Republican leader from Jersey City who seconded the nomination of President Calvin Coolidge at the 1924 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. He was the first Republican to win...

In protest of apartheid, N.J. led nation as first state to divest of investments in companies deal with South Africa

December 26, 2021 2:48 pmDecember 26, 2021 2:50 pm

New Jersey became the first state to divest their state pension fund of any investments with firms doing business in South Africa in a bid to force the end of apartheid. That forced New Jersey to sell off about $2...

Patricia McGarry Drake, former Essex County Clerk, dies at 82

November 29, 2021 3:31 pmNovember 30, 2021 9:10 am

Patricia McGarry Drake, who rose from a secretarial position to serve as Essex County Clerk from 1991 to 1996, died on November 25. She was 82. Drake worked in the county clerk’s office for 22 years — six years as...

Freedom Rider Byron Baer spent 34 years in the NJ legislature — and 45 days in a Mississippi prison

July 29, 2021 12:01 amJuly 28, 2021 6:39 pm

Today is the 60th anniversary of the arrest of Freedom Rider Byron Baer, a longtime New Jersey legislator who was charged with attempting to desegregate a blacks-only waiting room at the Greyhound bus terminal in Jackson, Mississippi. He spent 45...

Does Monmouth GOP risk DiMaso joining lawsuit to end organization lines?

February 8, 2021 12:41 amJune 7, 2021 7:17 pm

As county chairs from both parties grow increasingly concerned over a federal lawsuit that seeks to end the practice of preferential ballot position for organization lines, a move to dump an incumbent lawmaker in Monmouth County could provide progressive plaintiffs...

N.J. lawmaker wanted Hank Aaron to be baseball commissioner, but Assembly never acted

January 22, 2021 6:00 pmJanuary 22, 2021 6:03 pm

The New Jersey Legislature never moved on a 1983 resolution supporting Hank Aaron to become the new Commissioner of Baseball. Assemblyman Willie Brown (D-Newark) proposed Aaron as a successor to Bowie Kuhn, a Ridgewood resident, but Assembly Speaker Alan Karcher...

Freedom Rider Byron Baer spent 34 years in the NJ legislature — and 45 days in a Mississippi prison

July 29, 2020 12:10 amJuly 29, 2020 12:59 pm

Today is the 59th anniversary of the arrest of Freedom Rider Byron Baer, a longtime New Jersey legislator who was charged with attempting to desegregate a blacks-only waiting room at the Greyhound bus terminal in Jackson, Mississippi. He spent 45...