Roxbury is celebrated for many things, but not necessarily for its diversity. Locals explore how Roxbury has shaped them, and some good notes for our future.
If you are registering after 6:30pm on 12/2, please call the library at 973 584-2400. Thank you!
On Race and Racism: A Roxbury Conversation is presented as part of the Common Grounds series, co-hosted by Unity in the Community, Roxbury Coalition for Social Change and the Roxbury Public Library.
Panelists will offer a respectful dialogue about personal histories, challenges, and identities in our very white community.
Meet the Panelists
Ollie Starnes, Moderator, was born in 1988 at Morristown Memorial Hospital. His family moved repeatedly across the county from Morristown, to Randolph, and Budd Lake before settling on Woods Edge Drive in Succasunna. Ollie attended Jefferson Elementary, Lincoln-Roosevelt, then Eisenhower Middle School before his family moved to Ledgewood, where Ollie’s primary education culminated as a member of the 2006 Roxbury High School graduating class. Ollie chose to pursue higher education at Trinity College in Hartford, CT and returned home with degrees in Political Science (B.A.) and Public Policy (MPP). Since 2014, Ollie has been actively involved with grass-roots community organizing throughout Morris County. In 2015, he served as Campaign Manager for Dan Kline (RHS ’06) who became Roxbury’s youngest-ever Councilman and the first Democrat on Township Council since 2003. In 2020, Ollie was appointed to the Morris County Human Relations Commission, the Morris County NAACP Executive Committee, and currently serves as Executive Director at the Sankofa Heritage Collective of Morris County. As of writing, Ollie is 1 of 4 candidates vying for 2 seats representing Morristown on the Morris School District Board of Education.
Radwa Ali, Library Director of Roxbury Public Library, started her library career as a middle school volunteer at the Plainsboro Public Library. Through high school and college, she continued to work there, gaining experience at the customer service desk, reference and children's departments, volunteer management, collection development, and the technological needs of a public library. After she attained her BA in Information Technology and Political Science, as well as a MLS degree from Rutgers University, Radwa worked at the Johnson Public Library in Hackensack as their Technology Librarian, then as Director of the Bogota Public Library. She has been the Director of the Roxbury Public Library since 2017. Radwa is currently a board member of the Morris Automated Information Network (MAIN) consortium of libraries in and around Morris County, co-chair of MAIN's DigiTech committee, former board member of NJLA, former co-chair of the Bergen County Cooperative Library System Technology Committee, and a member of the Roxbury Rotary Club.
Jakki Cobb is a wife and mother of three daughters and “Mimi” to one granddaughter. Born and raised in Morristown, Jakki and her family moved to Landing 15 years ago. After a 30-year career with CIT, most recently as Vice President of External Reporting, Jakki was downsized in January 2019. She describes herself as semi-retired, splitting her time as a basketball mom and serial volunteer. She serves as Executive Secretary of the Morris County NAACP, Treasurer for Carette’s Inc., and is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Morristown Area League of Women Voters. Previously, as a licensed minister, Jakki’s advocacy and volunteer service was through her faith community, and she led bible studies at the Morristown Correctional Facility and Market Street Mission. For years she encouraged people to “look up and live” and wait for change; now she actively looks for ways to bring about changes she had prayed about for so many years. She reminds us that we have to be the change we want to see.
Juan Morales resides in Succasunna with his wife Elizabeth and two children Giovanni and Sabrina and his two dogs Frosty and Princess. As a technical training manager for Samsung Electronics, Juan has traveled across the US and around the world giving presentations on the latest consumer electronics technology. Juan was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico. In his childhood years, Juan knew he wanted to excel in school and someday be able to give his family a better life. Juan immigrated to the US in 1994, where he continued his educations and graduated from college with Honors. It is also the place he met his wife. His first few years in the US were challenging, as Juan did not speak any English. To make ends meet, he worked a variety of jobs including landscaping, gas attendant and stock boy among others. It was the latter position where he began to actively speak to customers as he loaded products into their vehicles. Management quickly noticed his rapport-building skills and encouraged him to work on the sales floor. This change would offer Juan a world of opportunities, and catapulted him to become the extroverted person he is today. Juan adores all animals, and in his spare time loves to sing and play the guitar.
Gehad Moustafa is a resident of Roxbury, and a junior at Roxbury High School. When she is not involved in academics, she is a part of the Roxbury Library’s Teen Advisory Board and participates in extracurricular activities at school including being an officer and leader of Equal Rights Advocacy, which is a club dedicated to promoting education and encouraging action on contemporary world issues. She has done work in the club participating in raising funds for Equality Now, an NGO dedicated to protecting the human rights of women and girls around the globe. Her goal is to push her peers to advocate for those who do not have a voice to do so.
Kristen Simon is a graduate of Hofstra University and longtime activist. In her undergrad years, Kristen was a board member of the Hofstra Chapter of the NAACP and student leader in Hofstra First’s, an organization dedicated to First-Generation students. In her post grad life, Kristen has remains active in social justice initiatives. She is a board member of the Morristown chapter of Black Lives Matter and has participated in conversations where the topic of race and gender collide.
Jade Turner is a Roxbury alumna, who attended Roxbury between 2009 and 2012. Jade went on to attend The University of Tampa and received a BFA in Musical theatre. After college, she has worked in numerous regional theatres around the country, and before COVID was Performing in Jimmy Buffets “Escape to Margaritaville” first Broadway national tour. Jade was a part of Broadway Directors Jeff Calhoun's first African American lead musician man, she also appeared in Ragtime at Asolo Rep, in Sarasota Florida. Jade also can be seen in Ben Platts Music video “Temporary love” with Atlantic records. Jade is a person of color, a woman, and a member of the LGBT community. During her free time, Jade was a GOTV organizer for New Jersey Congressman Tom Malinowski in 2020, while also taking part in Roxbury Coalition for Social Change. Jade currently lives in New York City and intends to be back on tour by the end of 2021.
Register online or by calling the library at 973 584-2400. The link will be sent the day before the program.
Common Grounds: This series explores and facilitates civil conversations on race, political beliefs, gender, creed, and more, celebrating diversity in Roxbury. Virtual events are open to all. Past and Upcoming events include Skills for Bridging the Political Divide Workshop led by Braver Angels on September 29; How She Leads Panel on October 21, On Race and Racism: A Roxbury Conversation, and others upcoming on generations in the workplace, climate change and sustainability, and sexual preference. Co-produced by the Roxbury Public Library, Unity in Community, Roxbury Coalition for Social Change.
The Roxbury Township Public Library is a municipal library serving the communities of Succasunna, Ledgewood, Landing, Berkshire Valley, Port Morris, and Kenvil. Residents of the township are eligible to a free library card which enables access to 2.8 million items across the Morris Library Alliance including digital books, museum passes and more.
