Enfield votes in first racial diversity and inclusion committee. It’s part of bringing greater equity to CT.

For members of the local racial justice organization, the town’s approval of its first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee is nothing short of historic.

Showing Up for Racial Justice group leader Marcy Taliceo said “it feels surreal” that the DEI committee was adopted by the Town Council. The approval of the committee would not have been possible without the hard work of members and supporters, she said.

“The fact that we were able to make such a proposal and have it adopted into Enfield law is incredible. SERJ has been in Enfield for a year. And this was the first significant milestone for us …” she said.

She said the proposal for the DEI committee came to be, after hours and hours of meeting with each other, other outside community leaders, and Black leaders who had established voices for racial justice in the state.

“Although we’ve been working on racial justice in small group settings. The recent events did really give us a push to make this work matter. We have a leadership team within SERJ. And we all got together and said, we need to do something about this. We need to formally put something in place, and it was suggested that the town might need a DEI committee. So we went to work right away,” she said.

“It really was a combination of a lot of people coming together to make sure that this proposal was coming from a good place. We just wrote it, and we’re able to get it in front of the Town Council. I’m just so happy that it passed,” she said.

Joelle Murchison, who founded the Connecticut-based DEI consulting firm ExecMommyGroup LLC, said that identifying a core team or individual who will be responsible exclusively for DEI work is key in establishing accountability in any organization.

“It’s critically important that accountability plays a significant role in your work around DEI. Because simply, if you say you’re going to do it, and you don’t do it, there’s the possibility that you lose the trust [of those] who were encouraged by the fact that perhaps in June, you stepped out there and made a statement against racism. And yet, you still haven’t done anything,” she said.

About why she felt that a DEI committee was an appropriate response to dealing with racist incidents in the town, Taliceo said residents of color have had to endure the incidents for many years.

“We felt that this most recent incident was just the breaking point. And although we have had a community conversation, there really wasn’t much follow up with that. So, we really felt like there needed to be a committee that was charged with this work in diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the town. This is a town wide committee…we can report back twice a year to the town council on our findings within Enfield and offer recommendations,” she said.

The state has a Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: the Racial Justice, Multicultural Relations and Equal Opportunity Branch of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Office of the Commissioner. Other communities in Connecticut have also supported DEI committees, such as Bristol, where Diversity Council chair Jaymie Bianca said she understands Murchison’s focus on accountability. Bianca joined the Diversity Council in January 2022 and became the chair in May. The Bristol council officially began in 2019.

Bianca said that the Bristol council has had many successes.

“We started a community conversation three years ago, so the community gathers together and we talk about diversity, equity and inclusion in the city,” she said.

Biana noted, for example, the council’s most recent community conversation featured activist Kamora Herrington as a speaker.

“So that was wonderful. Being able to hear from her, all her work [in] bringing the community together,” Bianca said.

Other successes include starting a Diversity Council panel series, along with working on a list of resources of inclusive organizations in the city.

While the council has had many wins in the town, Bianca notes the challenge they are working through is responding correctly to certain scenarios when they arise.

“Just making sure that we’re responding in a way that is appropriate. And that’s going to benefit the community. So thankfully, everyone’s been very receptive to the Diversity Council. We have a lot of interest in membership and we have a lot of attendees at meetings. But I would say that is the biggest thing for sure, just knowing how to respond and making sure that we’re responding in a way that aligns with our mission of diversity, equity and inclusion,” she said.

Overall, Bianca said that the Diversity Council has made a true difference within the town.

“Yes, I feel like we’ve made a very significant difference. And I love the fact that so many cities and towns in Connecticut are actually starting DEI committees and councils, because much bigger cities for example, Dallas, Texas, just started their diversity council ...” she said.

Now that the Bristol DEI committee has be voted into place, Taliceo said that she hopes to make the committee a neutral space to focus on work that needs to be done within the town.

“We want to keep politics out of it. That’s first and foremost, because every other committee through the town has a political impact to it…In other words, nobody who is an elected official can sit on this committee. We want to keep it neutral. We want to be able to do our work without any political pressure. We want to really establish connections throughout the town departments and come together for plans on how to move Enfield forward and to be more welcoming to a diverse population,” she said.

Other Enfield SERJ members and supporters also said they are pleased about the new DEI committee, including core member Alyssa Suitter.

“I’m super excited, DEI and anti-racist trainings are extremely necessary. Everywhere, not just in Enfield. People need to stop being so defensive, ‘not me, not my town’. Actively try to not use the words ‘I or me’ when talking about racial issues. Just listen and then stop to think about what they’ve learned from this country’s racist past,” she said.

“It’s not hard to logically to try process how slavery and segregation [to say the least] could have a generational impact causing what Black and brown people are telling them has still been happening in this country, overall. Specifically to Enfield Town Council, when it comes down to it, any single person on the town council has no personal experience to be able to try to understand the daily issues Black and brown people have without simply being quiet and listening,” she said.

A number of supporters and SERJ members spoke to the council recently about having a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee in Enfield.

Resident Chad Woodyard said he believes the DEI committee is necessary for the future of Enfield.

“I was born and raised in D.C. I’m not from here. My wife is. I moved here in 1997. However, all of my sons were called the n-word in these schools here. My wife, all her siblings, every single one was called the n-word in these schools here …” he said.

“What I do understand is that we cannot change the thought process. And that is not our intent. But what we like to do is to make it uncomfortable for you to do such things or act upon such things. For instance, if you’re in a movie theater, you can think of fire all you want. But if you say it, you’re in trouble. The same thing. We need a committee here that has some teeth. Because we talked about racial injustice. We talked about lack of equity. We’ve talked about that. Enough talk. I think it is now time to do something …” he said.

Rosalind Swift, a resident and founder of Ujima, another town racial justice organization, said she supports the DEI committee, as she works together with the Enfield SERJ.

“It’s not about them or they, but it’s about we…I can truthfully say, I have experienced some good and a lot of bad. So I’m speaking from experience, but I don’t want the committee just to listen to people’s emotions and people’s feelings [of] ‘I was hurt, I was rejected, I was downgraded,’” she said. “I’m asking this committee to actually look at the hard, fast data that can be found that shows, without a shadow of a doubt, that there is lack of inclusiveness, lack of equity, even in this town.”

“So, it’s not just about feelings. A lot of times when you talk about a committee like this, you think about racism and hate and bringing in division. This is to bring us together, this is so we can understand one another,” she said.