Princeton's Coalition for Peace Action held its 36th annual peace conference Sunday on the various issues affecting national and international peace.
PRINCETON - Princeton's Coalition for Peace Action Conference brought local residents, activists and various ethnic and religious group leaders to Nassau Presbyterian Church on Sunday for its 36th annual peace conference.
This year's conference focused on all types of national and international issues directly hindering peace.
J. Jondhi Harrell speaking at the CFPA conference Sunday Nov. 8. J. Jondhi Harrell - founder and executive director of the Center for Returning Citizens - spoke from firsthand experience to the injustices of mass incarceration.
Having been incarcerated for 25 years, Harrell said he raised his four daughters and one son from a prison cell and that it tore his family apart, as it does for all men and women behind bars.
"Mass incarceration is truly destroying the fabric of African American communities," Harrell said.
He said out of the 2.2 million people incarcerated in the United States, more than 1 million are African American, comparing the epidemic to modern slavery.
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Jacqui Patterson, director of the NAACP Environmental and Justice Program, also related her topic of climate crisis to racial disparities.
She said out of all the families living near giant power plants, 76 percent are African American. She said these plants release toxins into the air, creating serious health issues.
"African American families making $50,000 a year are more likely to live in an area of high toxicity than white families making $15,000 a year," Patterson said.
Patterson said most power plant companies come into areas of low income and tell residents that they will give them jobs, a better way of life, but they do not fulfill these promises.
She added most plant workers are hired from outside states.
In these places where power plants move in, residents are left with health issues, such as asthma, and schools can be shut down because of "poor air quality days," leaving these communities with less access to a good education as well, Patterson said.
"African Americans are living in what they call 'sacrifice zones,'" she said.
Other presentations focused on such topics as drone warfare and police brutality.
The conference began with a song by Allentown High School student and NAACP Trenton Youth Chapter member Bianca Allen.
Also, there was a free to the public interfaith religious service at 11 a.m. at the Princeton University Chapel.
Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.