Cover Story: Booker Looks to Lay a Strong Foundation for Brick City Polls point to Cory Booker as the next mayor of Newark
By Jean Nash Wells

I first interviewed Cory Booker in 2002 during his first run for Mayor of Newark. Booker lost that race to incumbent Mayor Sharpe James by just a few thousand votes. It’s four years later and Booker is on the stump again and from all appearances, this time he’ll be victorious.

A Shepherd's Corner:
By Rev. Reginald T. Jackson

In the Old Testament there are several passages that deal with situations in which a king asked a group of prophets for guidance and they gave him the advice and direction that he sought. Then he would ask another prophet the same question and get a different answer. The king would resent this prophet. How could this situation exist if all of them were prophets and claim to be speaking for God? The situation exists because there were two kinds of prophets – the professional and the classical. The professional prophets were those who were called by the king and were responsible for telling him what he wanted to hear. God called the classical prophets. They were to be faithful to God, who called them and speak in His name, “thus saith the Lord.”

Humans have an innate God-given capacity to anticipate the good things in life. Infants learn to anticipate the tender caresses that occur in respond to their cries. They know that a warm bottle or dry diaper will b e brought to them in loving arms to fulfull their needs when they wail loudly.

My View: Young, Gifted and Black
By Rev. Theresa Nance Pastor of
The Church By The Side Of The Road
108 Hoover Ave., Passaic, NJ.

On the first day of Holy Week, I attended the noonday service at the St. Luke Baptist Church in Paterson, where the Rev. Dr. Suzan Johnson-Cook was the guest preacher. The Rev. Kenneth Clayton, a young man who has and will continue to bring a fresh approach to the Kingdom of God and its people, pastors this progressive Baptist church.

THE WAY AHEAD: Time for Reflection
By Mwandikaji K. Mwanafunzi

While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed down their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

CARLOS WORMLEY:
By Robin Nash

This is a summarized version of the article about Carlos Wormley featured in the May 2006 issue of The Positive Community.

Carlos Wormley, a proud and dedicated member of Montclair Police Department, thrives on helping others in need of assistance and loves to see people smile. During his tenure with the police department, he recognized a lack of guidance for our local youth and created workshops, certified through the state, to provide educational and safe environments for them. Unfortunately, he has been unable to continue helping those who depend upon his assistance. Carlos has been a victim of diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and vasculitis, a general term for a group of diseases that involve inflammation in blood vessels making him susceptible to contracting a virus in his legs. As a result, he has experienced the pain of having over 30 surgeries on his right leg, and approximately seven on his left. He is bedridden and most recently, a slipped disk and pinched nerve have rendered him in excruciating pain. Carlos is now in need of our help.

THE LAST WORD:
By Adrian Council

We extend our heartfelt thanks to the hundreds that joined us on March 27 th at the Newark Museum to celebrate The Positive Community’s 6 th anniversary. Many traveled from Brooklyn, Harlem, Westchester and South Jersey to be with us in our salute to “Women of Inspiration” and the selfless service of the African-Americans for Diabetes Awareness committee. “One Love” was the spirit that prevailed throughout this awesome event (see page).