05/17/2025
Repost: Edward B Johnson IV
STRAIGHT FACT!!!
MAYOR RAS BARAKA MUST STEP DOWN !!
Mayor Ras Baraka Must Suspend His Campaign Immediately — New Jersey Cannot Afford This Fraudulent Leadership Any Longer
It’s time to stop pretending this is about justice. Mayor Ras Baraka’s recent stunt wasn’t a moral stand—it was a political performance, staged to boost his floundering gubernatorial campaign and manipulate Black outrage to serve his own ego.
But let’s ask the real questions:
Where was this same energy when slumlords in Newark were abusing tenants and children were living with rats and mold?
Where were the marches when gun violence surged in our neighborhoods and young Black men were left bleeding in the streets?
Why hasn’t he led a single protest at Northern State Prison, where allegations of abuse, brutality, and inhumane conditions have gone unanswered for years—right in his own city?
Where is his leadership when it comes to the real issues Black people in Newark are facing every single day—housing, jobs, education, safety, homelessness and dignity?
Instead, he drives to a federal facility, grandstands for the cameras, and then plays the victim when arrested for trespassing.
This was never about the people—it was about poll numbers. A last-ditch effort to breathe life into a failing campaign, and in the process, he’s risking not only his own credibility but the integrity of the entire Democratic Party in New Jersey.
Let’s be absolutely clear: Baraka has no legal jurisdiction over federal property. His intimidation tactics may work on the streets of Newark, but they mean nothing to the Department of Justice, ICE, Homeland Security, or the New Jersey Attorney General.
His family is embedded throughout Newark City Hall, with siblings making between $120,000 to $150,000 annually, while his brother Middy rakes in $529,000 in campaign consulting fees—all while serving as taxpayer-funded Chief of Staff. This isn’t governance—it’s entitlement. This isn’t service—it’s self-enrichment.
Meanwhile, Baraka has failed to lead where it matters most: against gun violence, housing crises, abuse inside state prisons, or corruption in his own backyard. He hasn’t led for the people—he’s only moved for himself.
If Baraka becomes the Democratic nominee, he will drag down every candidate below him on the ballot. Swing voters, independents, and suburban moderates will run in the opposite direction. Down-ballot candidates will be forced to answer for his scandals, and Republicans will have a field day painting the entire party as complicit in political corruption, nepotism, and insider control.
This is not just a warning. It’s a reality in motion. Mayor Ras Baraka must suspend his campaign now—before the damage becomes irreversible.
This is about more than one man’s ambition. It’s about protecting the future of the New Jersey Democratic Party, the credibility of its candidates, and the trust of the people we serve. If Baraka refuses to step aside, Democratic leadership must make the hard call: put the party and the people first—or brace for electoral disaster.
The time for silence is over.
The time for damage control is now. And the time for real leadership—the kind that puts people before ego—is long overdue.
