Speaking with Eddie Long is rather like having a conversation with a cinema snack bar machine that pops ideas instead of corn.

The 40-year-old New London resident is forever engaged, and his main logistical conundrum isn't the old "need more hours in a day" trope but maybe that there needs to be a few dozen more minutes in each of a few more hours of every day. On a morning last week, Long pulls out an old school paper events planner and flips it open on his desk. "If I see an empty page," he says, "I wonder what I've done wrong."

This particular example is an illustration of his efforts on behalf of a nonprofit that he co-chairs called Public Art for Racial Justice Education (PARJE). Formed a year ago on March 1, it's an alliance that partners with civic organizations, activists and volunteer groups to bring communities together and accelerate racial justice through art and education.

The signature project for PARJE is an ongoing installation of "Sister Murals," which are expansive outdoor paintings in various southeastern Connecticut towns. Each will individually depict historical images and timelines of local and international figures in the fight for racial acceptance and justice. More than just expansive pieces of brightly colored urban aesthetic, the murals are designed to galvanize and inspire.

The first of the murals was unveiled in Norwich in mid-January. As painted on the gently curving wall of a downtown Norwich parking garage, the mural stretches 140 feet on Chelsea Harbor Drive facing Norwich Harbor.

"The Norwich mural is beautiful, amazing and something to be proud of," says Long, whose mother is Mexican and father is Black. "But what we have to change is the mindset that, now that the mural is on the wall, well, that project is finished for that community. But that should be the START. What we want to do is generate ongoing interest and conversations that gradually and organically expand."

Other Sister Murals in late stages of conception and development are in New London — with a tentative unveiling in May — Old Lyme and East Lyme, and plans are underway for similar murals in Groton and Old Saybrook.

"Right now, we're using the Sister Murals to engage every single angle of a community — stories and people that maybe don't get talked about all that much," says Long from behind his desk at Cumulous Communications, where his "day job" is continuity manager for the company's local Q105, WXLM and The Wolf radio stations. "Maybe this mural and those to come will inspire conversations about other overlooked issues, because whatever issues we have in society — and there are a lot — will never get fixed if we're not creative and don't have conversations. I firmly believe art and education open the door to answers."

Long has a resonant and genial baritone voice that can't quite shadow the impression that he's perpetually aware of things that need to be done. Like, NOW.

He pauses, laughs and tries to explain his energy. "Maybe it's that we're hopefully pulling out of COVID," he says. "But it seems to me something promising is happening everywhere I turn, and I just want to help and be part of it."

In addition to his work for Cumulous and PARJE, Long is also the father of a 9-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter and handles public relations for the New London Arts Council, a group he co-founded. He was also an unsuccessful Green Party candidate for city council in the last election.

All of this, he says, keeps him happily fulfilled.

Real world focus

Long grew up in Middletown, N.Y. Fascinated by drawing from an early age, he studied graphic design and marketing at the Art Institute of Philadelphia and says it's likely he would have happily pursued a career in art except for two historical events — 9/11 and the American invasion of Iraq two years later.

"Those incidents got me to pay attention to politics. There's nothing more potent than having to look beyond the comfort of a circle of friends and at the world," Long says.

When two of Long's pals opened a bar in New London, he was drawn to the town and immediately captivated by its diversity, flourishing arts scene and potential. He summoned his hibernating but not-forgotten artistic skills and started contributing logos, menu designs and other marketing materials. When other small businesses reached out for help, Long was happy to contribute.

The efforts led to his position at Cumulous, where his love of music mixes with the radio stations' relationships with the communities in their listening area. Soon, he was doing local artist and musician interviews and further integrating himself into the city's arts scene — and ended up helping form the New London Arts Council.

Reacting to George Floyd

PARJE came into being as a reaction to the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Long says two prominent local pastors, close friends Jack Madry of Madry Temple Church in New London and David Good, minister emeritus of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, were galvanized to action after the tragedy. The pair reached out to their respective and admittedly disparate congregations and the citizenry — the predominantly white and moderately affluent Old Lyme and ethnically mixed New London.

Good was introduced to Long by New London sculptor/professor/activist Diane Barcelo, whose Zoom meetings of the New London Arts Council during the pandemic were invaluable across the community.

"PARJE was just beginning, and I was so very grateful for Eddie's immediate and enthusiastic response," Good says. "At a time when our country was reeling from the murder of George Floyd and other Black men and women, Eddie understood the role that public art could have in helping us to remember the 'better angels of our nature' and reimagine who we want to be as a nation ...

"He understands that it's not just about creating beautiful and meaningful works of art but also about building what Martin Luther King Jr. called 'the Beloved Community,' a community that transcends the boundaries of race, ethnicity, generation, gender and municipality. Now, thanks to Eddie's leadership and other very dedicated volunteers, the communities of New London, Old Lyme, Norwich, Old Saybrook, East Lyme, and Groton are beginning to see not only the benefit but also the joy of working together."

Long says a major inspiration for his work, as through the lessons he's learned from Good and Madry, was the presence of music during times of iconic tragedy in the country's racial history. Jazz, blues and gospel music were strong mechanisms of comfort — soundtracks, of a sort — that led to folk music and soul artists Bob Dylan, Pete Seger and Sam Cooke associated with protest. Long says that music connection instilled his belief that art and creativity are doorways to cooperation and progress. 

Onward and upward

As he grew active in the scene, Long received further encouragement from friends/mentors like Curtis Goodwin, a New London businessman and city council member who was prominent in the organization of the similarly motivated New London Talent Show, and Jose B. González, a major Salvadoran-American poet and professor at the United States Coast Guard Academy.

"Eddie shares a similar struggle of growing up as a minority in poverty, in today's society," Goodwin says. "Therefore it is liberating to see him so energized to keep up the fight and to be civically engaged. This makes all of the difference. Our resilience sparks necessary change."

The machinations of PARJE are smoothly rolling and picking up momentum, Long says. The group's seven-member steering committee meets monthly, and also hosts a monthly open meeting with supporters and anyone on the PARJE mailing list. Through outreach, Long says PARJE now partners with "dozens of organizations, community groups, nonprofits, schools, businesses and churches" on new projects and ideas. Funding comes from a variety of efforts including state and civic grants, donations, and other time-honored and creative ways.

"We're always thinking of new ways to move forward," Long says, mentioning ideas like an old-fashioned "county fair" type of fundraiser and emphasizing that the mural sites will not be just art installations but locations where activities, presentations and performances will hopefully become regular events."

"Eddie is engaging and charismatic," Madry says. "His energy and insight, as well as being a person of color, was needed to round out (PARJE) with me being Black and David white. Eddie's totally connected with the arts community and has a broad influence that interested various artists and got the blood flowing in the veins of the project. His drive and ambition doesn't stop until his objectives are met."