Dear Friends,
 

I recently had the chance to view photos of Bayonne High School's graduating classes going back several decades. As I went through the years the difference in fashion, from clothes to hair styles, accessories to shoes, changed drastically. What didn't change from year to year, decade to decade, was the enthusiasm evident in the eyes of many of the graduates as they set out to make their own mark on the world outside the walls of the schools that had protected and prepared them for so long.

The diversity of the student body became even more evident as the years rolled on, reminding me of a saying Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used to remind us that to be stronger we must work together. It is true indeed as Dr. King said that  "we may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now," and it is only by accepting and celebrating the great diversity of Bayonne that we can continue to move our city in the right direction.

Ours is a great nation of immigrants, something we are reminded of every day here in Bayonne where we stand in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, a beacon of equality and justice for all that have come to our shores in search of a new life.

And so, on the eve of the commemoration of Dr. King's birth, I ask that Bayonne residents remember that we all came from somewhere else, and whether it's skin color, religious beliefs, political ideology or anything else that makes us different, much more important is our shared desire for stronger communities that unites us. It is in this unity that we will find strength to make sure our best days are ahead. For the future is brightest when we all stand together.

Truly,

Mayor Jimmy Davis