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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Discussion groups ponder ways to end hate and intolerance
By KATELYN CORDERO
[email protected]
Members of the Newburgh Community
gathered Sunday looking to have open-
ended discussions about hate and
discrimination. The room was filled with
65 people from different parts of the City
and Town of Newburgh and New Windsor
discussing ways they experienced hate
and strategies to move forward.
One thing was clear, hate knows no
boundaries, each person sitting around
the room has experienced hate in some
shape or form, regardless of their race,
color and ethnicity. The question Caryn
Sobel, event organizer, looks to tackle
with these discussions is how to put an
end to hate.
“My goal is to get people from different
backgrounds to come together as a
community and talk about standing up to
hate and I think we did that,” said Sobel.
“After the mass shooting in Pittsburgh,
Angela Paul’Gaito a mediator for her table discussed bullying.
I thought that was the last straw in my
head for standing on the sidelines. It
hit home that nobody is safe. If people
are speaking hatefully there is something
we can do, we can find a way to speak
compassionately, we can find a way for
them to relate to us as a human again.”
Animated discussions filled the social
hall of Newburgh’s Kol Yisrael, with
people sharing stories and brainstorming
solutions to share with the room. Some
solutions included diffusing hate with
humor or with information. A big
suggestion was understanding why a
person is being discriminatory or hateful
in order to understand how to diffuse the
situation.
“It’s important that people get involved
and discuss,” said Councilwoman Ramona
Monteverde. “Change is important and
we need to get out and do what we can and
take a stand and say we are not going to
tolerate this. Everybody is our neighbor,
we are here to help each other and not
turn our back on one another.”
Sobel is looking to continue the
discussion and momentum from Sunday
evening with monthly meetings. She hopes
this can become a national discussion
to diffuse hate and promote inclusion
on a broader level outside of Newburgh.
You can get more information about the
organization by visiting the Facebook
page or instagram: @nohateherenbg.
Bright lights shine on Broadway
The official lighting of the Broadway Christmas Tree last Thursday helps to wind down another busy year in Newburgh
Councilman Anthony Grice, Regina Angelo and, of course,
Santa were on hand for the lighting.
Photos by Brian Wolfe
L - r: Orange County Legislator Kevindaryan Lujan, Bryan Luna,
Rebekah Grohl, Eric Hernandez and Steven Majano.
This year’s tree is dedicated to the late former Mayor Judy Kennedy and former Assemblyman Frank Skartados. The
Christmas tree, lit on Dec. 13, with hot chocolate supplied by the Salvation Army, 10 boxes of cookies supplied by Regina,
and presents given out.