Nora Grace-Flood
Panelists at Thursday’s forum.
ANSONIA — “Growing up in Ansonia I felt comfortable,” Maliqa Mosley, President of the Valley Youth Chapter of the NAACP, said hesitantly before recalling an instance in her secondary school career when one of her teachers argued that blackface should be protected under freedom of speech.
Mosley, a recent Ansonia High School graduate, will begin classes at the University of Hartford in the fall. While she may be moving onwards and upwards, she demonstrated her continued dedication to opening productive communication in her hometown earlier this month during a “CommUnity” Zoom panel hosted by the Valley Martin Luther King Committee.
The video Q&A was the first of potentially many conversations between Ansonia youth and community leaders, designed to promote “a dialogue of equity, justice and compassion for all.”
The five panelists included Ansonia Schools Superintendent Dr. Joseph DiBacco, Ansonia Police Chief Andy Cota, Pastor Niki Harvell of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Oxford, Vice President of the NAACP Valley Chapter and Ansonia Boys & Girls Club Unit Director Breon Sanders, and Maliqa Mosley herself.
The conversation was moderated by David Morgan, the President and CEO of TEAM, a non-profit human services agency.
According to Morgan, Mosley “led and crafted the program,” reaching out to her peers and other community members to compile around 15 questions which were posed to the event’s speakers as well as a live audience of about 40 people.
While Cota and DiBacco answered questions that were often quantitative— such as what percentage of the police force and school staff are made up of people of color (the answer is around 10%)— Mosley was faced with more personal questions, like whether or not Ansonia created a “comfortable environment” for her growing up?
Mosley wrote about just that in a June op-ed for the New Haven Register. She remembered that when her teacher defended blackface, she did not know how to respond and articulate her point of view. While she felt that blackface was deeply wrong, she did not have the historical context to explain “why.”
According to Mosley, that moment granted her a new sense of clarity. She became more aware of the inaccurate and biased histories put forward by her predominantly white teachers. And she began to recognize the importance of speaking up and engaging in informed dialogues.
While questioning authority, acknowledging one’s own ignorance, and hearing others’ opinions can naturally feel “uncomfortable,” Mosley suggested that doing so may ultimately relieve underlying aggression, empower individuals and communities, and produce change.
Earlier this month, Mosley’s leadership allowed for an hour and a half of candid and heartfelt discourse in which panelists discussed the roles of policing, education, and religion in creating a more respectful and equitable community.
Breon Sanders spoke about how “Black history month” is limited to February— the shortest month of the year. “Our history is American history,” he asserted. “We should be teaching our kids about more than just Martin Luther King Jr….. what about those who fought next to Martin Luther King, whose names aren’t in the history books?”
Superintendent DiBacco shared that he has “carved out” $40,000 for a curriculum audit in order to “see how we can incorporate more culturally responsive materials and make it more representative of the cultures we have within our walls.”
Though he only took on the role of superintendent in July of last year, DiBacco mentioned his long-term vision to replace traditional disciplinary procedures, like detention and expulsion, with restorative programming, like Juvenile Review Boards and community service hours.
DiBacco also put out a call for more youth and people of color to run for the Board of Education. “Make your voice heard at those committees,” he said. “That’s where you could best assist and make the greatest impact.”
Sanders also noted that the NAACP educational subcommittee is currently working on an outreach program to incentivize a wider range of folks to get involved with the public-school system.
Chief Cota talked about plans to diversify the police department, heighten transparency, and increase de-esclation trainings. “It’s a moving target because you need to be able to have good communication and find out where your community stands in support of the police and where police stand in support of the community,” he stated.
Sanders added that it is up to the community to “hold our police department accountable,” as well as to “hold our neighbors accountable.”
“If we can de-escalate a situation before the police get there, that’s something we should do,” he said.
Cota added that it all “begins with talking to our community.” He said he hopes that the new police department, a complicated renovation project will serve as an open space for the public to voice their concerns and learn more about policing itself.
Pastor Harvell asserted that “advocacy, education, empowerment, and activism” has to become mainstream across all sectors of society, though distinct cities and congregations will have to develop unique solutions to fight their histories of racism and oppression.
DiBacco concluded that “students like Maliqa are the best advocates for creating change in our community,” and that listening to feedback from past and current students is the best path forward in continuing to “grow and highlight our own talent.”
When Mosley was asked about her experiences in Ansonia early on in the Q&A, she said that she probably felt so comfortable in Ansonia because she was “a part of a lot of different things.”
At the very least, the open Zoom discussions suggest that anyone who lives in Ansonia or the Valley is a “part of something,” and deserves compassion, respect, and the opportunity to feel comfortable while expressing the ways in which the city and broader communities need to do better.
Morgan promised that Thursday’s Zoom event was just a “beginning” and that all unanswered questions will be addressed in future forums, which will also delve deeper into more technical details and promote more collaborative solutions.
