Race Across Generations

A faculty-led initiative pairs young and old residents of New London to document their stories of struggle and triumph in the face of discrimination, prejudice and segregation.

By Tom Kertscher | Photos by Derek Dudek

articipating in “Voices Across Generations: Race and New London,” a multimedia storytelling show about race, inspired 17-year-old Saniyyah Lawson to make New London a better place before she departs for college.

“I’m always thinking about how I can help before I leave,” Lawson said two days after the July 16 performance on Conn’s campus. “I know I’m going to leave New London to attend college, so how can I leave my mark and help younger generations that are coming up after me handle discrimination or handle injustice or corruption everywhere, starting in the town they live in?”

Lawson appeared onstage several times during the show, which is part of a larger antiracism effort called Crafting Democratic Futures, a three-year collaborative project supported by a $5 million grant from by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the University of Michigan and shared with Conn.

Part of Conn’s initiative, led by William Meredith Assistant Professor of Psychology Nakia Hamlett and Faulk Foundation Professor of Psychology Jefferson A. Singer, was to develop a performance piece that “captures the role race has played from varying perspectives in the history, present and future of New London,” with the goal of advancing racial justice.

The 80-minute show featured 17 BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) New London residents and Conn students ranging in age from 15 to 89. They performed nearly a dozen storytelling vignettes created by the participants during a two-week workshop over the summer. The project was organized in partnership with community members Nicole Broadus, well-being manager for New London Schools; Jerry Fischer, retired executive director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut; and Antonio Vargas, pastor of the Church of the City, New London.

Pairing younger and older New Londoners, who shared personal stories about discrimination, was a key part of the effort. Lawson performed with 80-year-old Jessie M. Hyslop, a 59-year resident of New London and “a pillar of the community,” according to Hamlett.

L-R: NLHS student Raelyn Lopez, New London attorney and historian Lonnie Braxton II ’86 and Jessie M. Hyslop.

People need to know the history of where they live, and if they know the history, they can appreciate it more.

— Longtime NEW LONDON resident Jessie M. Hyslop

“It was very interesting to listen to the young students and how respectful they are of the elderly, how they wanted to always be there to help you do something or to share with you,” Hyslop said, adding it is essential for the students to learn about their hometown of New London.

“People need to know the history of where they live, and if they know the history, they can appreciate it more,” she said.

One of the project’s goals was to empower both young and older New London residents not only to tell their personal stories, but to become skilled documenters of these stories, which depict struggle and triumph in the face of discrimination, prejudice and segregation.

Singer, whose clinical interests include memory and cultural identity, said the intergenerational aspect of the project is a key learning tool.

“For these young people to find out that someone who is still present, that they’re talking to firsthand, lived in a world in their own town when Black persons had to struggle even to become bank tellers in the city—that’s history coming alive for the younger generation,” Singer said. “It’s also generative for the older people to be able to feel valued by the younger people and to see that they can still contribute.”

Hamlett, whose clinical and research interests include race-based traumatic stress, hopes the performance will inspire more curricular collaborations with New London community partners.

“This project has put us in contact with many amazing individuals who are invested in the future of New London. We hope that, through social justice-oriented projects of this kind and related activism, we can help New London residents create connections that sustain,” she said.

“Because New London is a small, close-knit community, there are real opportunities to engage in dialogue with community leaders, to influence policies and to create structural changes that provide greater opportunities and resources for New London residents.”

Joyce Pollard, a longtime city resident and wife of New London pastor Herman Pollard, with Monica Fish, a dance teacher and choreographer who works with local youth.

Kayla Mateo ’25, who grew up in New London, with longtime resident Gwendolyn Braxton.

We hope that, through social justice-oriented projects of this kind, we can help New London residents create connections that sustain.

— William Meredith Assistant Professor of Psychology Nakia Hamlett

L-R: New London-based videographer Kye Carper, Jadda Green ’24, Hopkins and Lonnie Braxton.