On President’s Day schools, banks and many stores are usually closed, but for the residents of Bloomfield Avenue in Newark it is just another day. Despite an early rainfall that left the streets and shop windows damp, there is warmth here. You can find it in the stores, where owners greet you with smiles and a hello, and in the regulars like Marta Gonzalez, who hangs out in the Shaddai Christian Bookstore at 17 Bloomfield Avenue.
When I asked if she minded talking about her life, she obliged. She even toyed with the idea that this was the real reason why she stayed in the store for as long as she did. “Maybe God wanted me to be here for you.”
For Gonzalez spreading the word of salvation and Jesus is the most important thing in her life. She is of Puerto Rican descent and a one-time Newark resident. She is very quick and proud to speak about her beliefs. Hers is a faith that does not impose, but inspires.
Faith figures in many different parts of Gonzalez’ life. You see it in her clothing: a cross around her neck, a cross in the middle of her belt buckle, a t-shirt bearing biblical scripture.
She lets it figure into whom she is supporting in the Presidential race. “If I go by my Christian faith it would be Huckabee. I just pray that we put in the right person.”
When it came to choosing the right person for Newark, Gonzalez chose Cory Booker. She prayed for him to be mayor and her and those from her church circled city hall seven times in faith that it would happen. “We believe for the better,” she says.
She does not read newspapers. She reads the bible and Christian books. She does not listen to the news. She listens to gospel music. “I stop reading the news because it would affect me. If it was negative it made me feel that way.”
Gonzalez is all about staying positive. She did not have the easiest childhood. When she was growing up she was the target of discrimination. “There were many times that I got my butt whooped for being a different race.” She attended high school in Rahway, where there was some opposition to the presence of Hispanic students.
When talking about it, she never loses her smile. The glow in her face lasts the entire interview. “My parents instilled in me to not look at color or race,” she says. “My mother made sure that English was my first language."
Gonzalez now works for the airport dealing with homeland security. She is not married and has no children but she in no way feels discontented. “I feel blessed and thankful. I encourage people to get up in the morning and thank God for being alive.”
Genise Clark is a journalism major at Rutgers-Newark. Her report is part of an occasional series on Bloomfield Avenue. Posted April 2008.
