To celebrate and honor Black History Month, working with the PHS African American Culture Club, we have planned a number of events including school-wide article discussions and daily posts to social media highlighting the accomplishments and contributions of black Americans (
@parhigh_aacc on Instagram and
@ParHighMulroony on Twitter). We have also been working on a diversity mural in the hallway by the gym (which is almost done!).
We were hoping to host a discussion panel or a guest speaker but have been unfortunately limited in hosting events within the building at this current time. However, back in September we were able to host PHS Alumnus Jabari Jackson as a guest speaker for a service night. Jabari delivered a tremendous talk about social justice, giving back and making a difference. Jabari was recently inducted into the PHS Hall of Fame. We're proud to share his powerful message with you all.
Meet Jabari Jackson:
Jabari graduated from Par High in 2010 and Rowan in 2014 before receiving his Masters at Grand Canyon University. He competed at Basketball and Track & Field at PHS and continued his running career at Rowan.
Jabari possesses a love for community service and social activism and founded Respect My Life Foundation (RML) in 2018. Based out of New Jersey, the organization was created to use educational and extracurricular activities to foster positive change in our communities. RML focuses on enriching the minds of people to encourage them to live out their purpose. The foundation hosts event throughout the year to empower people to seek positive outlets to live their best life. This movement does not discriminate from anyone of a certain race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or occupation. Instead it is a movement that encourages people to respect each other’s differences to allow us to live our lives with freedom. Jabari is a terrific speaker and an even better human being. He puts his words into action, working in the community (and often with PHS) to help others in need through PB&J Drives, Toy Drives, Food/Water Drives, Backpack Drives, Charity Walks, Mentoring, Coaching, etc… Jabari believes in positivity, equality, action, peace and love. To this end, he organized the hugely successful and impactful Parsippany March for Black Lives in June, 2020. The event, attended by approximately 3,000 people, was a peaceful protest that brought much-needed awareness to racial inequality.