A Newark Library Official to be Named 'Free Speech Defender'

Wilma Grey, the director of the Newark Public Library, will be receiving recognized Tuesday by the National Coalition Against Censorship during the organization’s annual dinner in Manhattan. During the ceremony she will be officially included among the group’s “Free Speech Defenders” in recognition of her decision, after first ordering it covered, to display a controversial drawing by artist Kara Walker. In one part of the drawing -- a meditation on slavery and the black experience -- a white man is seen holding the face of an African-American woman to his crotch, imagery that sparked outrage and discussion among many city residents.

Also on Tuesday, Luis Quintana will be sworn in as the mayor of the state’s largest city, the first Hispanic ever to hold that post. Quintana immediately became “acting” mayor upon the resignation of Cory Booker Oct. 31, and was voted interim mayor -- an office he will hold until elections next year -- by the city council a few days later.