Students for Educational Justice (SEJ), a New Haven organization that is a core organization within the ARTLC, is a youth-led intergenerational organizing body that drives efforts for racial and educational justice in Connecticut. This summer, SEJ has been organizing a variety of spaces for students to connect, learn, and organize.

On June 18th, SEJ hosted a Juneteenth event to celebrate the holiday and also serve as a space to hear from the Students Over SROs campaign to get cops out of schools. Hosted at People Get Ready bookspace on Whalley Ave in New Haven, community members painted, played games, and answered questions on poster boards such as “What does a liberated school look like to you?” and “What does it mean to get cops out of schools?” 

“It was such a joy,” Vy Tran, the Lead Organizer of SEJ, said. “It was so special to see so many people come out to celebrate with SEJ. The majority of the board and its membership Black and brown and we were celebrating at a Black owned bookstore and that was just really special to do for Juneteenth.”

The event was made all the more powerful following a tireless year of organizing work that was done in the isolation of the pandemic. “It's easy to forget in organizing why you're doing this,” Vy explained, “but it's for moments like that when you realize there are so many people in your area who care about these things and want peace and want justice and want a community to feel safe in and that's what that day felt like.”

This summer, SEJ is also organizing a Summer Intensive for New Haven area youth interested in developing self-confidence, leadership skills and organizing power. Titled “Summer of Pride and Power,” the 4-week program is currently in its third week and has been working with approximately 18 students. In the first two weeks, students gained an understanding of identity, culture, cultural appropriation, queerness, and systems of oppression such as anti-Blackness, abilism, and adultism. The program aims to give students the language to describe what’s going on in their lives. For the second half of the program, the participants learn about social movements led by young people, such as the Black Panther Party, as well as learning about New Haven specific history and resources. 

The Intensive also partners with other community spaces and organizations such as the Epic Leader Ensemble, the New Haven Pride Center, and Artspace New Haven which is giving participants a private tour of their DuBois Exhibit. These partnerships and intentional community building of the program serve as a powerful way to strengthen and develop youth voices.  

To learn more about the amazing work of SEJ, check out their website here.