The Search for Freedom in New Jersey

Ridgeley Hutchinson is organizing this fundraiser to benefit Truehart Productions.

Tax deductible

Thank you for visiting our GoFundMe site. We're raising money to fund the production of our next documentary addition to "The Price of Silence" series and any donation will help make an impact.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/911207134?share=copy

https://www.truehartproductions.org/

We are a 501c3 nonprofit corporation established in May 2019, for the exclusive purpose of producing documentary films to educate the community about the scarcely told history of New Jersey's Black community. Our ultimate goal following the airing of the documentary on NJ's network of public television stations is to incorporate the film into the classroom which we have already been successful in doing with the first two episodes. In fact, thanks to the wonderful support from private donors, "The Forgotten Story of New Jersey's Enslaved People" and The Lasting Impact of Slavery in New Jersey", (watch here https://www.truehartproductions.org/) were such a success that New Jersey's "Teacher of the Year" Theresa Maughn presented them to the NJEA at the 2022 Teacher's Convention in Atlantic City. They are also in such demand that so far, they have been shown at multiple locations around the state including, Hopewell Valley School District, Scotch Plains - Fanwood Public Schools, a sold-out screening at the Garden Theater in Princeton, New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, Rutgers University and 2 events at the Somerset Community Health Org. Additionally, both episodes were nominated for a New York Emmy Award in June of 2023 and both episodes were recently added to the television programming schedule of Temple University

Nationally, "The Price of Silence", parts 1 and 2 were distributed by the National Educational Telecommunications Association, aired in 22 markets in 11 states. Audiences in the following top-30 markets had access to the programs: New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Orlando, and Indianapolis. In addition, statewide coverage was available in West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Idaho. Cumulatively, there have been over 50,000 views nationwide.

In the next installment to “The Price of Silence” series we explore the Black American flight to New Jersey during the Great Migration. They were in search of a better life that they hoped would be devoid of the racism and discrimination that they were experiencing in the southern states. Not only did Blacks hope to find better homes to raise their families in, but there was also the promise of employment opportunities in the industries that were prospering in New Jersey after the first and second world wars.

Throughout the migration, wherever Black Southerners went, the hostility and hierarchies that fed the Southern caste system seemed to carry over into the receiving cities in the North. Newark was no exception as they it too erected barriers to Black mobility that continued until the early 1960s and beyond. Even in the places where they were permitted, Blacks were relegated to the lowest-paying, most dangerous jobs, barred from many unions where some companies, hired them as strikebreakers, which served to further divide Black workers from white.

In 1916, life in Newark changed dramatically. With the United States' entry into the first world war in Europe, New Jersey's wealth of industries was called upon to produce a vast variety of war materials. Due in part to the promise of employment, between 1910 and 1930 the Black population in New Jersey grew from 89,760 to 208,828, an increase of 132 percent.

Additionally, Black people who migrated during the second phase of the Great Migration following World War II were met with housing discrimination, restrictive covenants and redlining which created segregated neighborhoods. They were confined to the most dilapidated housing in the least desirable sections of the cities to which they fled, and this helped fuel the current racial disparities in wealth in New Jersey.

Through the fascinating story of Dr. John A. Kenney, we will illustrate the hardships that were endured by families during that period. The film will then move to the present day revealing the unacceptable fact that there were disparities in health care back then between the Black and white community that still exist in today's health care system.

We need to raise $5,000 to cover the operating expenses for the next episode of "The Price of Silence", series which continues to be publicly available for distribution to schools, universities and the nation's Public Broadcasting stations. Won’t you help jumpstart this important project with a donation? No donation is too small, and you can also help spread the word by sharing this page and by inviting your friends on Facebook to like the Truehart Productions page. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100030921742561