In More Than Neighbors (The Progressive, Feb. 19, 2026), journalist Tina Kelley explores how South Orange and Maplewood’s decades-long effort to encourage interracial friendship and meaningful integration plays out in everyday life, from cross-racial family bonds and school experiences to community programs like Conversations on Race and Integration through the Arts. The article highlights how the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race’s intentional work has helped foster diverse connections, alongside ongoing challenges in sustaining integration amid broader social trends.

We are so grateful to Maplewood resident Tina Kelley for writing this thoughtful and inspiring article about the work of the Community Coalition on Race. Ms. Kelley is the co-author of Breaking Barriers: How P-TECH Schools Create a Pathway from High School to College to Career and Almost Home: Helping Kids Move from Homelessness to Hope, as well as four books of poetry. Plus, she shared in a staff Pulitzer covering 9/11 at The New York Times, where she was a metro reporter for ten years.

Read the full article here!