Rebellion park - Monica McCloud-Johnson

Newark rippled with poverty and discrimination,and it erupted that hot summer night in 1967, with five days of rioting that left the city ravaged with $10 million worth of property damage, and the loss of 26 lives. In memory of that horrendous period, the liberation march route was one big loop, starting from Fairmont and Springfield avenue, about five blocks from 15th Avenue and 7th Street. That's where John Smith, a black Newark cab driver, was arrested by two white Newark police officers, John DeSimone and Vito Pontrelli, who “claimed” he had apparently been tailgating them before passing by their patrol car improperly. This caused an uproar in Newark Nj which changed Newark forever.

• Marchers walked down Springfield Ave turning right onto Irvine Turner Boulevard as they weaved their way through 3 behemoth public housing high-rise complexes that had since been demolished.The march ended with a rowdy rally at the 4th precinct on 17th Ave which is where they took smith after arresting him.That is where the uproar began; at that very moment. Rumors were now spreading that smith was not just beaten but was also killed by the police. But only one part of that was found to be true. Witnesses saw Smith dragged into the precinct. He was then transferred to the hospital for his injuries after he was seen by community leaders Bob Curvin, Esta Williams and James Walker bleeding and in pain when they visited him at the precinct.

• Hamm heard what happened and relays them to whomever has attended the commemoration over the years. Lee was at the monument, looking at the backside of the stone marker which is bland. And he said something that seemed to fit perfectly on the headstone. Lee says “ This (riot) shouldn’t have ever happened. They’re not going to be forgotten”. He has an idea that something from the past should be affixed to monuments. Maybe pictures of the Stella Wright and Hayes homes. Lee had hoped that the monument would eventually get some attention. Sandwiched between two heavily traveled streets, the monument looked slightly out of place. It had low income housing on the 15th ave side.Then there is the social security office, a liquor store, and a bodega line a one-block section of Springfield Ave . Despite the optics, the monument is right where it belongs.It’s close to where smith was arrested and jailed.

•  Smith wasn’t the only one killed in the Newark riots. Although his Situation is the reason the riot started many innocent people lost their lives during this time. Many of the deaths -including Newark police Detective Fred Toto and Newark Fire Capt. Michael Moran was at first blamed on snipers. But historians doubt that assertion made by former national guardsmen and police officers. The shots were never determined where it came from that killed Toto and Moran. Eloise Spellman, 41 was cooking dinner, when she was mistaken for a sniper by a National guardsmen as she leaned out of her 10th floor apartment window at Hayes Homes. He fatally shot her in the neck. Another man was also killed by a national Guardsman. His name was Eddie Moss, 10, was a passenger in a car when he was shot behind the ear from a stray bullet at a National Guard checkpoint.

• The point is this. A lot of shots were fired by police and guardsmen, who used reports of sniper fire to justify indiscriminate shooting of the civilians who died. Former Mayor Ken Gibson, the city's first black mayor, had said, "There were just a lot of cops and guardsmen with guns, firing at shadows."The first two deaths of the riots, however, were the result of looting and burglary. And to this day the monument is still remembered because these events had changed Newark forever.It may look forgotten, but it's not. Adams said strangers get out of their cars to take pictures. "People know it's there,''. It will never be forgotten.

https://www.nj.com/essex/2017/07/monument_remembers_those_who_died_in_the_newark_ri.html