Eye Exam – S.E.E. seeks equity in school realm
• Nonprofit Champions Underrepresented Students
This story has received an SPJ award and was originally published in our monthly Today Magazine — this Today Online version has been updated
By Bruce Deckert
Today Magazine Editor-in-Chief
Seeing clearly is a key component of living well and making the best life decisions — and seeing clearly can be a challenge, given a world that is sometimes foggy, and in view of our limited individual perspectives that are impacted by the constraints of our common humanity.
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In order to arrive at the best decisions and solutions, we can agree that listening to, learning from and valuing one another’s viewpoints and life experiences are essential parts of the process.
Education is closely connected to this essential skill of seeing clearly — and in light of this, a local nonprofit is seeking to make a constructive difference in the school realm.
S.E.E. CT — aka Solidarity-Equity-Education Connecticut — aims to include the perspectives of all students and to see the value of all citizens of every race across American history.
Based in Canton, S.E.E. “aims to address institutionalized racism, bias and other issues of social justice in Connecticut schools and beyond,” per the S.E.E. website.
The nonprofit defines its purpose as follows: “Our mission is to bring together students, parents, educators and community members in solidarity to strive for equity in K-12 curriculum” — while advocating for students who “have been historically underserved and underrepresented.”
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Co-founders Felicia Jordan and Cailyn Carr established S.E.E. CT in June 2020. Felicia is a Canton resident, while Cailyn was raised in New Hartford.
Felicia grew up in Waterbury, Conn., and graduated in 1994 from Crosby High, one of Waterbury’s public high schools. She is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University, with a B.A. degree in sociology and social work. Since college, she has lived in California, Colorado and New Jersey.
She is married to Michael T. Jordan, a vice president at Brighthouse Financial, and they have three school-age daughters. Michael has written a book — “Mojo Momentum: Creating Motivation for Work, Life and Your Future in a World of Obstacles.” The Jordan family has lived in Connecticut for more than a dozen years, and in Canton since 2015.
Felicia is the founder of Live Like A Lotus, a Canton-based yoga studio that also offers life coaching and mindfulness training. In addition, she has a real estate license and has worked for Canton-based Carol Cole Real Estate since 2018.
Felicia’s growing-up experience — as the biracial daughter of a white mom and a black dad — has defined her desire for equity and shaped her hopes for greater inclusion of marginalized voices in local schools. She has written about some of her experiences for the Elephant Journal website in a June 2020 article entitled “Being Biracial in a Mostly White Town.”
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She writes of her need to be careful about going into certain neighborhoods because of the color of her skin.
She writes of homes being pulled off the market when her parents were house-hunting — because the sellers didn’t want to deal with a black man — and of her mom going alone to make an offer on a house so the bid would be accepted.
And she writes of being “in my childhood home at night while cowards burned crosses on our lawn” — adding that these distressing vignettes are “just a glimpse because there is so much more.”
It’s no wonder that Felicia is fond of this Brené Brown quote: “Brave leaders are never silent around hard things.”
The cross-burnings that occurred in the early-20th-century Jim Crow South were horrific — yet a cross-burning in Connecticut in the latter 20th century somehow seems even more shell-shocking, if that were possible.
Returning to the themes of seeing clearly and listening and learning, in her article Felicia extends an invitation: “If you would like to start a dialogue, to ask questions, to gain an understanding, reach out. … We must begin to embrace change and have empathy because I truly think we have the ability to make this world a much better place — together.”
• S.E.E. co-founder Felicia Jordan addresses a variety of topics in the following exclusive interview with Today Magazine:
What is your mission?
Our mission is to bring together students, parents, educators and community members in solidarity to strive for equity in K-12 curriculum. S.E.E. (Solidarity-Equity-Education) believes that every student has the right to a culturally competent education that reflects and respects their identities, particularly those that have been historically underserved and underrepresented. In order to ensure that this right is upheld, S.E.E. aims to address institutionalized racism, bias and other issues of social justice in Connecticut schools and beyond.
Slogan — Solidarity-Equity-Education
Year Established — June 2020 — on Juneteenth
Editor’s Note — Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19th, commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865 — Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021
Most fulfilling aspect of your work?
Bringing the community together, having conversations that spark change, and having the school district and other larger organizations recognize us and the work that we continue to do.
What are the main factors that motivated you to establish S.E.E. — and to what extent did the murder of George Floyd on Memorial Day 2020 impact your decision to launch S.E.E.?
Very much so — however, it was a letter that Cailyn Carr posted, and I saw and reached out to her on Facebook about, that got me very motivated to do something to focus on the equity issues within our schools and how history (or lack thereof) is taught. This partnership created the foundation for S.E.E. — as well as some of the unfortunate experiences my children had in their schools that sometimes reminded me of my own experiences when I was in upper elementary and middle school — and motivated us to create our S.E.E. petition.
Your biggest obstacle, and how you overcome it?
Our biggest obstacle is often when people want to be involved and help with this mission but then do not advocate publicly for change.
Most satisfying accomplishment?
We have had numerous accomplishments that bring the community together, as well as some pretty well-known educators and leaders from various communities. I think that having others recognize our organization and team up with us on some occasions to ask for our opinion when it comes to DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging) is a great accomplishment.
Who are some educators and leaders S.E.E. has been connected with?
We have brought leaders such as Kamora Herrington from Kamora’s Cultural Corner of Hartford to do a three-part series at the Canton Public Library. We have had speakers such as Elsie Gonzalez — director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for CREC (Capitol Region Education Council) — speak on our community Zoom calls. And we have received various insight from local students on how to improve upon their experience by uplifting and valuing the student voice. S.E.E. has also co-sponsored speaker events with our local public library and will continue to do so. Some of our meetings have also included the support of local leaders, activists, educators and our CT state representative.
Goals for the next 1-5 years?
Our goals remain very much in line with our mission statement — see above. We hope to continue to serve our community and the surrounding area as we strive for equity within our education system and beyond.
Besides donations, how is your work funded?
We of course accept donations. We have also raised money using a GoFundMe fundraiser to provide some education through Kamora’s Cultural Corner. Co-founder Felicia Jordan also contributes funds on occasion.
How closely do you work with other agencies/nonprofits?
We would like to work more closely with some other nonprofits. We have held a few events, and we have co-sponsored events with the Canton Public Library to increase our reach and increase the attendance for events. We partner together to share, drive attendance and create community partnership — and the ability to collaborate more with one another vs. each organization doing the work in a silo. We look forward to doing more of that in the future, as well as partnering with other organizations.
What are some events you have held?
Our archived meeting webpage shows a summary of the many meetings we have held and the important leaders who were a part of those meetings.
What do you appreciate most about the Farmington Valley?
The Farmington Valley is great at being a small community — this creates an easily connected community and closeness, but sometimes we get stuck in that mentality. We can sometimes get stuck in the “close community” feel, and in a sense live in that bubble, but not explore and realize the bigger world outside of the Valley. Sometimes we miss being open to the diverseness of the wider world we live in.
What constructive change would you like to see in the Valley?
We wish the Farmington Valley area would be more diverse, or more welcoming to diverse populations. That is often said to be the case, but the viewpoint and outspokenness we tend to hear at times proves otherwise. The louder voice is often the one in opposition to equity and solidarity, and this continues to highlight the work we have to do together so the voice that doesn’t speak as loudly can be heard.
• An article I wrote shares some of my life experiences and the importance of speaking up: Being Biracial in a Mostly White Town
Further comment:
We appreciate this opportunity to share a little more about our small nonprofit. We look to grow in the years to come by continuing to engage the community with our community-wide conversations, as well as our speaker events and co-sponsorship opportunities • www.ct-see.com +
Today Publishing features community news that matters nationwide and aims to record Connecticut’s underreported upside — covering the heart of the Farmington Valley and beyond
This feature won a second-place SPJ award and first appeared in the August 2023 edition of Today Magazine, our monthly publication — the story is still relevant and timeless today
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