New Video Features CT Students Discussing Experiences With Biases

CONNECTICUT — A video project focusing on prejudice and discrimination in Connecticut schools has recently been released by the Student Equity Advisory Board (SEAB) of the Connecticut Association of Schools - Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CAS-CIAC) .

In the 12-minute video, produced by John Holt of the CAS-CIAC, student-athletes from schools across the state speak openly about their experiences with racial, class, gender and religious bias. They also share strategies for combating social injustice and systemic inequalities in Connecticut schools.

CAS-CIAC created the SEAB in 2020, to bring awareness to inequities in Connecticut and collaborate on ways to make schools more inclusive for all students. The SEAB consists of 40 students, up to four from each athletic league and representing more than two dozen state high schools. Those members develop and implement ideas and action plans to bring back to their respective leagues, schools, and communities.

Eleven board members representing 10 high schools are featured in the video: Sydney Fulton, Capital Prep; Hever Gomez, Westbrook; Melinda Lu, Amity Regional; Matthew Jennings, Haddam-Killingworth; Emma Anderson, Tolland; Sanae Graham, Metropolitan Learning Center; Laurie Mable, Academy of Aerospace & Engineering; Raeann Reid, Windsor; Tobi Bakre, Glastonbury; Colby O'Connor, Amity Regional; and Frederick Quezala, Kaynor Tech.

Among the deeply personal insights offered:

• Gomez: "For me, it was very important to become a member of the student equity board, solely to get perspective. When I talk about perspective, I mean it in the way of looking at social issues through the eyes of others that are not like me."
• Anderson: "Being able to listen to other people's stories and be able to educate myself as to what's going on around Connecticut is a way for me to be able to listen and be able to help make a change."
• Bakre: "I feel there have been many instances as a young student of color, people see me as not being as capable as my white counterparts. It's made things a little more harder, but it's also made me a stronger person."
• Fulton: "Growing up, I experienced colorism. It was something that impacted me greatly, because society was kind of trying to break me down, making me feel like I wasn't good enough, or make me feel more self-conscious about how I look and concerned about what people thought of me. The ideology is that people who have my shade of skin or darker are not typically beauty, or have these stereotypes automatically attached to them because of their skin color."

The complete video may be viewed below.

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