North Jersey nonprofit tackles issue of racial trauma with new center

Bobbi Wilson was doing her part to control invasive lanternflies.

Wilson, an African-American who, at the time, in 2022, was 9 years old and living in Caldwell, was spraying the bugs with a homemade solution. Her next-door neighbor called the police to report a “little Black woman walking and spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees.”

The incident gained national fame as an example of racial profiling. But later, the young girl would be honored for her efforts in various ways, such as a plaque from Yale University and a hero’s welcome by the township of Montclair.

Helen Archontou, the CEO of the YWCA Northern New Jersey, recalled speaking with Monique Joseph, Bobbi’s mom, at the time.