Upcoming FORJ City-Wide Meeting:
Wednesday June 16th 7:30-9pm – Fostering Equity-Focused Family Engagement with Immigrant Families  RSVP here

LINCOLN-ELIOT FORJ KIDS BOOK CLUB – Wednesday, June 9th at 4:30pm (ZOOM)
The L-E FORJ Kids Book Club selected A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan to read for the next meeting on Zoom on Wednesday, June 9th at 4:30 p.m. ET.  This book is recommended for 9-12 year olds, but all family members are welcome.  Please RSVP to L-E FORJ Coordinator Lanni Isenberg if you’d like to join the chat: Lanni_harris@yahoo.com  (The book is available to borrow from Newton libraries, electronically and for purchase on a variety of online bookstores.)

Join Lincoln-Eliot’s FIRST Juneteenth Celebration – Friday, June 18th from 4-6p, Lincoln-Eliot Playground
Come see friends, join and learn the Electric Slide and Double Dutch jump rope, enjoy Mr. Hani’s ice cream truck (treats available for purchase), and/or bring a picnic, snacks and blankets and chairs if you’d like.

Newton North High School continues the festivities through the weekend!
Juneteenth is on Saturday June 19th.  FORJ, Newton Community Pride, and the Harmony Foundation are co-sponsoring a city-wide community event at the Hyde Playground in the Newton Highlands on Sunday, June 20th, commemorating this historic holiday.  (Requires Registration – see NNHS flyer for scan code to register)

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month
June is also recognized as LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer) Pride month.  While Pride month was not established until the Clinton Administration in 1999, Author/Poet/Activist Audre Lorde (1934-1992) many years before then offered words about celebrating and recognizing voices in our communities:

“Without community, there is no liberation…but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.” – Audre Lorde

FORJ (Families Organizing for Racial Justice) is a coalition of school-aged families in Newton coming together to teach our children – and ourselves – how to stand up for racial equity.  We seek to generate understanding and curiosity about the differences in our society.

We strive to achieve safe and welcoming environments that enhance the well-being of all people.  We promote healing and connection between individuals and communities.  We speak out against injustice, support our kids to be upstanders, and take action to address bias and inequity.