On Aug. 6, AFT New Jersey held its Know Your Rights! mass mobilization training at the Rutgers Labor Education Center in New Brunswick.
“To say that as a country we are at a historic inflection point would be an understatement,” AFTNJ President Jennifer S. Higgins said in her opening remarks. “Every time America has faced an intersection with only a right or left turn, the labor movement has been there to bend the moral arc towards justice. That’s why it’s so important for us as leaders to meet the moment by preparing our members and ourselves for what’s ahead through nonviolent resistance against the rising tide of authoritarianism.”
AFT’s Darrell Capwell teamed up with Lisa Fithian from the Alliance of Community Trainers for two sessions that featured de-escalation techniques and role playing. During lunch, Dillon Reisman, a staff attorney with the ACLU of New Jersey, presented a slide show that covered rights while protesting.
At the end of the training, Higgins said to the attendees, “When it’s time to take it up a notch, you’ll know what you’re willing to do and not do.”
ABOVE: AFTNJ President Jennifer S. Higgins (left) with Alliance of Community Trainers’ Lisa Fithian and AFT’s Darrell Capwell prior to the start of the Know Your Rights! mass mobilization training Aug. 6 in New Brunswick.
BELOW: North Bergen Federation of Teachers President Carol Toomey (standing, far left), AFTNJ President Jennifer S. Higgins (standing, third from left) and others participate in a role-playing exercise on Aug. 6. (Photos by Chris M. Junior)
