It's A Sin And A Shame: How Black Journalists Are Harassed In Monmouth County, New Jersey
- Karen Brittingham-Edmond
- Sep 13
- 16 min read
Updated: Sep 16
September 11, 2025
Complaint
Click to have a letter from the editor read to you. https://www.naturalreaders.com/online/?s=V3afad201909994f42b59a8041251ca362.txt&t=Shared%20Text%20File%202025-09-12T22%3A08%3A20.422Z
Monmouth County, NJ — My grandfather, Rev. William Brittingham the third, a relative of Major Martin Delany, who once shared this quote: “I am not in favor of caste, nor separation of the brotherhood of mankind, and would as willingly live among white men as Black, if I had equal possession and enjoyment of privileges, but I shall never be reconciled living among them subservient to their will. ” — Martin Delany. Today's article offers an intimate reflection on my journey as a Black journalist and honors my great-grandfather William Elijah Rock's original mission statement, "In Concern of the Negro," since 1904. Plus my Grandfather Reverend William Brittingham's ancestor Major Martin Delany's newspaper The Mystery, published between 1843 and 1847, which was a Pittsburgh-based publication centered on abolitionist issues and the advancement of Black people, which included promoting Black pride and calling for self-reliance and community engagement, will echo both of my ancestral grandfather's commitment plus the struggles endured by Black journalists in America.
This article will illuminate on why, according to a Pew Research Survey published in 2022, only 6% of journalists in the United States are Black Americans. One might ask, how can this be in the twenty-first century A.D.? Is this lack of representation in media yet another significant reason why so little information is shared concerning local and national policies that adversely affect the lifes of Black Americans? Is it also a subtle means of enabling heinous practices, such as the imposition of exorbitant fines for petty offenses that have targeted Black citizens since 1981 by means of non information because there was a lack of representation in the media field to report on crisis issues thoroughly and competently without intimadation practices from their more than likely racist supervisors in mainstream media producers in their districts?
Black Foster Youth Matter and So Do Their Black Families: A Resource Guide to Improving Outcome for Black Youth in Foster Care By Tashia Roberson-Wing, John R. Lewis Social Justice Fellow
The Relevance of Black Journalism
For the past five years, I have contributed to the relaunched Echo, focusing on critical issues affecting the advancement of Black citizens—topics often overlooked by mainstream media. The mission of this publication is to provide evidence-based reporting that illuminates the root causes of Black poverty, homelessness, and mass incarceration.
My advocacy intensified when I called upon Black leadership to establish orphanages for displaced Black children entering foster care. In doing so, I exposed troubling connections between political figures, such as Donald Trump and associates of Jeffrey Epstein, and organizations like the North American Man/Boy Love Association, whose actions have been enabled by certain evangelical coalitions seeking to justify historical and ongoing abuses. I have never shied away from condemning the perpetuation of harmful behaviors rooted in the legacy of slavery, particularly the mistreatment of children—a practice that remains a profound moral failing.
As a Black journalist writing for my great-grandfather's newspaper on the Echo News TV LLC platform, I have witnessed firsthand the scarcity of Black representation in journalism. This underrepresentation underscores the urgent need for support within our community. Black journalists bear the responsibility of telling the truth—fully and fearlessly—because it is only through truth that Black citizens can secure and maintain their freedom. Complicity with falsehoods and harmful agendas has not served our people well over the past fifty years; it is time for change.
I urge my readers to become agents of transformation—writers and speakers who expose and dismantle the systems that threaten Black children’s lives before they even begin. I ask for your prayers for myself and for all Black journalists, both present and future, who are committed to making the world a better place. It is our duty to protect all Black children, ensuring their safety and well-being, regardless of the wealth or status of those who would do them harm.
In my own journey to becoming a writer — with my memoir, "The Bad Dream Part 1 & 2: An American Prophecy,” soon to be published and available on the echonewstv.com website — I encountered the troubling tendency among some Black adult leaders in the county to blame their own people for the systematic hardships imposed by deliberate, racist processes. These include, for example:
• Racial profiling
• Homelessness
• Mass incarceration
• Out-of-home plus non-kinship placement for Black children
• Longer sentences
• Disparities in wages
Despite the reality of these injustices, a segment of affluent Black adults — leaders of both historic and civically inherited institutions — refuse to address how the State of New Jersey contributed to the divestment in Black communities, as well as the downsizing or closure of workplaces where Black citizens could readily find employment, such as:
• Hospitals
• United States Postal Service (noting that in 2021, 30,000 jobs were cut nationwide)
• NJ Transit (which, as a side note, could face a budget deficit approaching $1 billion by 2026, potentially resulting in layoffs and service cuts)
• AT&T
• Fort Monmouth
• Etc.
The lack of advocacy for a generation of Black youth and adults, as a result of the Crack pandemic — which was, in fact, a chemical warfare tactic designed to decrease the Black population that might otherwise have advanced following the successes of the Civil Rights Movement — has led to early deaths, illnesses, child displacement, and the overall stagnation of Black American Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y. This malevolent coalition of white racists and their allies, including actors from Mexico and other South American territories, have conspired to harm Black citizens for the past forty to fifty years, alongside other well-known criminal organizations. What, then, have Black institutions and affluent Black Boomers and Generation X adults done, having survived the crisis of treason by means of chemical warfare — the so-called "Crack pandemic"? Many have, regrettably, participated in the betrayal of their vulnerable fellow citizens, whose children have paid the ultimate price for this chemical warfare, perpetrated through Mexican and South American interference in partnership with confederate-minded American white supremacists with whom are referred to as the Southern Baptist Evangelical Movement refered to as the "Sanctuary Movement," that later evolved into The Christian Coalition of Reagan and Trump. These individuals remain embittered because the ancestors of Black Americans broke the stronghold of slavery 160 years ago, won the Civil War, and continued to press for civil rights enforcement. Navigating this manipulative and treacherous terrain, America, a place Black citizens call home, remains a formidable challenge.
"Couple sentenced to hundreds of years in prison for forcing adopted Black children to work as 'slaves' https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/couple-sentenced-hundreds-years-forcing-black-children-work-slaves-rcna197533
Black leadership and institutions have, at times, contributed to the encroachment upon historically Black territories, inadvertently enabling forces that undermine the future of Black communities. By aligning with the interests of mainstream America and acquiescing to the influence of White evangelical groups, these leaders have permitted the influx of millions of non-citizens into the country. This migration has resulted in the overcrowding of areas already densely populated by Black citizens, leading to the displacement of long-established Black communities in urban and suburban centers. Overcrowding breeds violence, which in turn fosters child abuse. Furthermore, overcrowding often precipitates homelessness, resulting in the displacement of children from their homes. The decision of affluent Black citizens and institutions to prioritize the interests of others over those of their own community represents a departure from the legacy of their activist predecessors, who championed the welfare of Black Americans above all else. In doing so, they have inadvertently contributed to the erosion of progress, health, and well-being within their own communities, even to the extent of supporting political figures such as Donald Trump and friends whose policies have been detrimental to Black Americans.
The Incident:
My teacher, Mr. Fornino of Gregory School, often reminded me, “Karen, the pen is mightier than the sword.” His words, echoing long after my time in the Long Branch, NJ, school system, have continued to inspire me. While individuals may choose various means to confront adversity—be it through force, influence, or truth-telling—each path carries its own consequences. I wish to share one such consequence from my own experience.
On 7 September 2025, I visited a local gym. As I parked, a visibly irritable short bald-headed white male pulled up beside me. Dismissing the encounter, thinking, "Maybe this guy had a bad day." I proceeded inside, only to be interrupted at the reception desk by the same individual, who interjected rudely as I attempted to check in. When I politely asked, “Excuse me,” he responded with a barrage of insults and profanity. I defended myself, which seemed to surprise him, and he walked away. I considered the matter closed and continued into the gym and started to exercise.
Later, while using the exercise equipment, I encountered further hostility. A Hispanic person, occupying a different machine, insisted I could not use an unoccupied piece of equipment. After clarifying gym etiquette, to him I began my routine, only to be confronted by the same Hispanic person, who was being egged on by a different middle-aged white man who witnessed our discourse over the empty gym equipment. The Hispanic man, who was of average size, wore shades inside the gym, which, in retrospect, was unusual, and a very bold light blue short set that had "NY" on it, after chatting to the White man egging him on to not allow me to use the equipment came back to me while I was exercising on the machine and said that "I was not allowed to sit on the exercise equipment." The man claimed the equipment was reserved because his cell phone was left on it while he was exercising on an entirely different piece of equipment. I asserted my right to use the equipment, undeterred by his remarks. The situation escalated after I completed my round of exercise equipment, which led me back to the same empty equipment for my second set of exercises. When I attempted to use it, the same Hispanic person deliberately poured water on the seat to prevent my use, prompting me to seek assistance from gym management. Management intervened and documented the incident.
Unexpectedly, the original aggressor that I encountered on my way into the gym began to loudly accuse me of misconduct in front of the gym's management staff. I identified myself to management as Karen Brittingham-Edmond, a Black journalist for New Jersey's oldest Black-owned newspaper. I reported the verbal abuse I had endured from the short, bald-headed White male, which was uncalled for, and that I needed management to speak to him concerning calling me the B word. The gym management spoke directly with both men and filed a report regarding their aggressive behavior towards me. I continued my exercise routine. After completing my workout, I left the gym.
The following day, 8 September 2025, I returned to the gym without incident. Fellow members greeted me warmly, and the atmosphere was markedly improved. However, later that day, while leaving a grocery store, a well-dressed white man approached and warned, "You know they can kill you?" I acknowledged his words and departed without further issue. Subsequently, while walking on the boardwalk with my daughter, I noticed that White bystanders were paying me heightened attention. As we crossed the street to our building, a young Black woman nearly struck us with her car but promptly apologized.
What does this have to do with you being a Black journalist?
I have been writing for the relaunched Echo for the last five years, sharing research on crisis issues that affect the advancement of Black citizens, which tends not to be shared on mainstream Media, but is all the more important when developing a Media source that provides evidence to connect the causation of Black poverty, homelessness, and mass incarceration. It was not until I wrote an article advocating that Black leadership step in and create Black Church owned orphanages for displaced Black children who entered foster care as a result of systematic racism, as well as our own country's usage of Crack as a chemical warfare tool to decrease the population of Black citizens in our very state. While explaining the connection between Donald Trump's and Epstein's associates, the North American Man Love Boy Association that is made up of the ungodly congregants of child molesters who cannot be trusted, along, with the Southern Evangelical Sanctuary Movement, that evolved into the Christian Coalition of Reagan and Donald Trump. That's by the way do everything in their power to justify the child abuse plus murders by both White male and female enslavers, who they think were justifiable because they are their ancestral grandchildren of abusers and lack the ability like Epstein, Trump, to repent.
"The Severely-Distressed African American Family in the Crack Era: Empowerment is not Enough" Eloise Dunlap 1, Andrew Golub 1, Bruce D Johnson 1
So yes, have I ever been approached by criminals upset because I said out loud and proud that Black people should not act out the silent behavior passed down from American chattel slavery of not intervening on behalf of our Black children. As well as not submit to their ancestors' slave masters legacy, who felt it was a good thing to treat little children as if they were adults, which is a sin and a shame, or refer to Black Americans as being the N word?
Yes, I did that shit, and I'll do it again, so Mafia, KKK, White supremist Crackers, may all of your assassins plus plans against me and my people fail mightily under the sword of the Holy Spirit, which will strike you suddenly without warning. You nonrepentant clan of refuse who love worshipping at the temple of White supremacy and disgrace. And may sane, decent, strong Americans of every color finally turn on you after the 50-year muck you have dredged up as a result of non-repentance and filthy lucre. You underestimate Black resilience and power, plus the spirit of the abolitionist that dwells in all good-minded citizens in America.
And with that said, per my experience as a Black journalist for my Great grandfather's newspaper on the Echo News TV LLC platform this is why we have little to no Black representation in journalism and is an area that we must support as Black people because true Black journalist are charged with telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help and protect us God! Because it is the truth you know that makes and keeps Black citizens free. And going along with the lies and agendas of people who hate our people hasn't been working for our good for the last 50 years. So it's time for a change. Be a change maker by being a hellfire destroying writer and speaker, a vessel of truth that exposes plus dismantles the snares that seek to destroy our Black children's lives before they are even born.
Keep me in your prayers, along with all the other Black journalists who are currently alive and well, and are breaking away from the conditioned White narrative way of thinking and publishing news stories. Let's pray that there be a new generation of truth-tellers not carrying the agendas of others who seek to steal from their own Black people. But who will continue to make this world a better place to live and be. It's our job, and it's the truth on how we got and continue to get over. Let's not think it is robbery to speak up and protect all Black children, not just a few, within our homes. This will, in fact, help all children facing the same challenges. Get Black children out of foster care and out of the danger of child molesters, no matter how White, gangster, or rich they are. I personally pray daily that these entrapped children, whether put into racist foster homes instead of relatives, or fell vulnerable to human traffickers, allowed access by their state and federal government for the last 50 years, to destroy things, set your encaptures residents on fire. Don't give up on escaping these pedophiles and their gangster White and Mexican armies. Help is on the way. Make a complete scene to draw attention on nudist colonies where these creeps congregate. And know you are not forgotten or alone. The evil that these sinners act towards you, whether violently or sexually, is not of God or Jesus the Christ, our Savior, who walked this planet as a Black man, whom your abusers hate profusely. Run a good race and know that they are not like us, and I pray for your safety and deliverance from these servants of the devil.
Black Foster Youth Matter and So Do Their Black Families: A Resource Guide to Improving Outcome for Black Youth in Foster Care By, Tashia Roberson-Wing, John R. Lewis Social Justice Fellow
https://www.cbcfinc.org/capstones/child-welfare/black-foster-youth-matter-and-so-do-their-black-families-a-resource-guide-to-improving-outcome-for-black-youth-in-foster-care/#_ednref56
This series of events highlights the ongoing challenges faced by Black Americans in public spaces and the resilience required to navigate these environments, particularly when entering fields that confront brutal truths, such as being a Black journalist. This is especially relevant when examining the associations between Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and organizations like the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), alongside specific non-Black criminal groups that have been glamorized by some of Black Hip Hop, along with the "N" word over the past 25 years, which is wrong, wrong, wrong! Black Americans are now recognizing that this approach is connected to classical conditioning solicitation. And as a result, has assisted with leading a subpopulation of non-adult-supervised children between the ages of 14 and 17 into a life of crime, prison, or early death that they did not deserve. Thanks to Black journalists confronting the hard truths that African Americans have become victims of because of a lack of knowledge. But there are consequences when telling Satan no to his face, but God. (Ebonics: "but God" infers that God Almighty will defend you against these human trolls who seek to do evil to your people and children.)
White supremacist groups have been associated with sustaining harmful organizations, such as NAMBLA, and President Trump's 2025 Plan, which is notorious for exploiting the lives of vulnerable children. This exploitation is reminiscent of the historical abuses endured by African and Indigenous children during the era of chattel slavery. Ronald Reagan said in 1980 that he wanted things to "go back to the good ole days." When the so-called good ole days were filled with pedophiles and serial killers running loose, and when taken to court for their insidious behavior, a White judge would let them go because the truth of God does not dwell in the heart of the ungodly. Black, White, or indifferent, Jesus said that "the antichrist is with you now," back when he was walking on earth. Hence, they (White Supremists) have no right to preach the teaching of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! And Black citizens should be in no way assisting these assassins of the Bible to direct our people's steps any longer by means of non-intervention.
To Reiterate:
For the past five years, I have been writing for the relaunched Echo, sharing research on critical issues that affect the advancement of Black citizens—topics that are often overlooked by mainstream media. It is essential to develop a media source that provides evidence connecting the causes of Black poverty, homelessness, and mass incarceration.
My commitment to truth-telling became even more significant when I wrote an article recently urging Black leadership to create orphanages for displaced Black children in foster care. In that piece, I wrote on September 3, 2025, titled "Broken Promises: How Systemic Racism and Economic Divestment Endanger Black Children in America." I highlighted the troubling connections between certain political figures and organizations that have failed to protect Black children. I made it clear that groups and individuals who justify or ignore child abuse—regardless of their status or background—cannot be trusted. It is unacceptable to excuse such dangerous behavior based on America's ancestry or tradition of purposely seeking to harm Black children by any means necessary, and Black institutions plus adults need to step in now rather than later. Look at what the chemical warfare by means of Crack, that main ingredient can't even be grown in America, has enriched other countries and murdered millions of unsuspecting Black American youth and young adults, while we have a generation of Black children who do not have the privilege of having their grandparents in their lives as a result of their parents parents early demise. And yes, these are hard truths to confront and bring to light, but somebody has to do it.
Have I ever been confronted by those who disagreed with my stance? Absolutely. September 7th and 8th, for example. But I stand firm in my belief that Black American citizens should not repeat the harmful behaviors passed down by those who once enslaved our ancestors by ignoring abuses. Treating children as adults is an abomination. And as a result of speaking that truth, White and Hispanic racists showed up to threaten me because they're still making money one way or another off of the displacement of innocent Black children. And the only way they're getting away with it is because Black institutions, churches, and adults have been advised not to intervene on behalf of their people's children, for the last 50 years, but to intervene on behalf of ALL OTHER insourced populations and or mainstream American media causes with whom both groups hate Black Americans for being Black. So why are we listening to these bafoon makers? (Read book on Spanish & Mexican Caste Systems) Which, by the way, "HELP EVERYBODY" is another propaganda program that Black people, democrat or republican, fell for hook, line, and sinker. As a result of not being told the whole truth about who the players were who profited from chattel slavery. By the way, Black citizens' ancestors who were enslaved were mandated to take care of EVERYBODY, and leave their children last as well, so we as Black citizens have to untrain our minds to take care of what White folks and Oprah deem important and refocus on all our people. Because Christ is coming back, and we need to have our houses in order.
"The Severely-Distressed African American Family in the Crack Era: Empowerment is not Enough" Eloise Dunlap 1, Andrew Golub 1, Bruce D Johnson 1
Lastly:
As a Black journalist writing for my great-grandfather's newspaper on the Echo News TV LLC platform, I see firsthand why there is so little Black representation in journalism. This is an area we must support, because Black journalists are called to tell the truth—the whole truth—and nothing but the truth, no matter how hard that truth is, so help us God. It is the truth that empowers and liberates Black citizens. Because then we as a people can move appropriately and not bow down to people sent in to displace us and harm Black American children's future, because at that point we will know who or what we are dealing with. Following the false narratives and agendas of those who do not have our best interests at heart has not served us well for the past fifty years. It is time for a change.
Let us be changemakers—writers and speakers who boldly expose and dismantle the traps set to harm our Black children before they are even born. Please keep me, and all Black journalists, in your prayers, along with the new generation of truth-tellers who will continue to make the world a better place. This is our calling, and it is the truth. Let us not hesitate to speak up and protect all Black children, not just a few. We must work to get Black children and their families out of foster care and petty incarceration, as well as away from the dangers of abuse, regardless of the abuser's race, wealth, or political connections. This is why our Black ancestors owned so much land that the state of NJ stole from Black citizens. We would provide our people with lands to build homesteads, as our elders knew to do, so that young families would not be thrown into homelessness. That's what all Black A.M.E. and A.M.E. Zion churches did together post the abolition of slavery. It is the responsible thing to do when you realize what type of enemy Black Americans are dealing with. Hey remember what Jesus said in 1st John 4:3. NLT: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%204%3A2-4&version=NLT
Please enjoy Aretha Franklin's "How I Got Over." And support the Echo by purchasing my new book, "The Bad Dream Part 1 & 2: An American Prophecy."
Echonewstv.com Platform
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