‘The Equality Education’: Inspiring Greatness in Kids in New York City
By: Kasia O'Brien
Tags: NYC, Small Business, Social Emotional Learning, Empowerment, Curriculum

‘The Equality Education’: Inspiring Greatness in Kids in New York City

A New York City small business’s mission to help kids “discover their greatness” through social-emotional learning.

Arianna Silver (left) and Soleil Laurent (right) stand within their Union Square Holiday Market vendor booth displaying their business’s empowering products on Monday, November 29, 2021. Equality Education, a business that began only last year, sits among over 160 others in the market in New York City, NY. (Photo courtesy of Equality Education).

As Soleil Laurent and Arianna Silver walked the mile from their neighborhood in Bushwick, Brooklyn to Blink Fitness — a routine that began after they met by chance in spring 2019 and became friends— they discussed the usual: personal development, growth, and vulnerability.

After enduring physical and emotional bullying from grade five through high school, Laurent and Silver connected on their journeys growing from those and other negative experiences. Laurent, a musician and student of psychology and neuroscience, and Silver, a life coach who studied sociology, strode down Bushwick’s Knickerbocker Avenue, discussing their knowledge from their educations, a myriad of self-improvement books, and their commitment to understanding emotions.

“As we got deeper into these conversations, we realized that a lot of the stuff that we were talking about at this age in our lives were things that would have been totally transformational if we had learned them as kids,” said Silver. “Basically, if you had taught me in school how to deal with my emotions the same way you taught me math, I would be a totally different person.”

The “stuff” Silver mentioned is defined as social-emotional learning, or the process through which individuals “acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to: recognize and manage their emotions, set and achieve positive goals, demonstrate caring and concern for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and handle interpersonal situations effectively,” according to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, a nonprofit leader in social-emotional research. This sort of education is proven to be successful for children, with several studies of both short-term and long-term effects demonstrating improvements in interpersonal skills and feelings of personal growth while lowering emotional distress and conduct issues.

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept over the globe and a national reckoning with systemic racism came to the forefront of public consciousness in 2020, dealing with emotions and processing emotional distress could not have been more necessary for youth in the minds of Laurent and Silver. They began having conversations on Instagram Live in July 2020, reflecting on issues of the pandemic and racial injustices like the murder of George Floyd. The positive response to their conversations paired with their personal passion for social-emotional learning led to the beginning of Equality Education, a small-business with the goal of providing a 60-module social-emotional and diversity-centered curriculum as well as empowering merchandise to children and schools.

“The world shook,” said Laurent, “and people, especially kids, need a better foundation within themselves. And that foundation can be built with the tools we create for them to access.”

Equality Education’s curriculum, which launches in mid-2022, is coming to fruition at a time when schools across New York City are implementing social-emotional learning practices. The city’s Bridge to School initiative, which received an almost two million dollar investment by the Department of Education and Fund for Public Schools, provides trauma-informed training to educators and social-emotional and mental health support for the city’s nearly 1.1 million students.

Chirlane McCray, First Lady of New York City, said in the 2021-2022 Bridge to School plan that “preparing our young people for success means helping them deal with the social, emotional, and academic challenges of their lives. It means teaching them ways to process their many emotions and showing them how to build healthy relationships and resolve conflicts in a constructive way. That is how we help them flourish into happy, healthy adults.”

Equality Education’s goal is to be a resource for schools, particularly ones in underfunded communities where research finds that funding differences are inequitable between schools with highest and lowest needs based on students living in poverty. According to the New York City Council, the schools in need of equitable funding and adequate resources — including social-emotional pratices — are in communities of color.

“We are looking to take funds from schools that can afford our almost $2,300 institutional membership to the curriculum and use that money to give the program to people and schools who might not have the funds to be able to access it themselves,” said Silver.

“We're big-hearted people that just want the best for others,” said Laurent, explaining their motivations. “Life is going to have a lot of challenges, but we want to provide resources and tools for kids to move forward and grow, especially kids who may be in tougher situations than others.”

At its core, Equality Education’s curriculum focuses on the “development of human consciousness through mental health awareness, emotional intelligence, and perception of others,” according to its official website. The program covers topics from positive self-talk, gratitude, and decision-making to valuing individuality and diversity, communication techniques, and growth from failure. It contains animated teaching episodes, writing prompts, a neuro-linguistic programming series, child-parent exercises, and more, catering to any type of learner (whether visual, auditory, or kinesthetic). While the curriculum will be available for individuals to subscribe to for about $20 a month, its primary goal is to be bought and distributed within schools, which is why it is geared towards children ages 2 to 18.

The co-founders explained that as they develop the curriculum, the concepts will be the same across the spectrum, but the material will vary depending on the age group. “With a kid who's being introduced to it as a two year old, it's a little different than something that we might teach 18 year old,” said Silver, explaining that younger age groups will have simpler activities that engage their attention like animated videos and coloring activities, while older kids will have more complex journaling activities or discussion prompts.

“Being human is human. That's really the basis of what we're teaching,” said Laurent, summarizing the curriculum.

Laurent and Silver invested a large amount of their own money to start the business, a number they cannot even begin to estimate. “When it comes to investing in Equality Education, it's almost automatic,” said Laurent. “We essentially send $500, send $1000, send this, send that. And we've been doing that for a year, all because we have faith in this for children.”

As the curriculum awaits its launch, the business sells empowering merchandise like posters, art, clothing and accessories in order to fund the production of the 60-module program. The best-selling product is the “I AM” affirmations coloring book with hand-drawn images and affirmations ranging from “I am worthy, abundant and grateful,” to “I am in control of my emotions.” The hands-on resource represents the power of their coming curriculum. By coloring the pages and repeating the affirmations, kids and people of all ages begin to practice a sense of self confidence and believe in the words they say, explained Silver.

Equality Education’s “I AM” affirmations coloring book sits front and center at the vendor booth on Monday, November 29, 2021. It can be bought for oneself or donated to a local charity the small business partnered with this season called “Sheltering Arms,” which helps foster social equity in New York City’s challenged communities. (Photo by Kasia O’Brien).

Equality Education’s curriculum takes this concept of practicing self-empowerment and social-emotional awareness and expands it into multiple modalities.

“I’m so excited,” said Laurent loudly, reflecting on their passing $20,000 in sales and their curriculum’s quickly approaching launch. “My whole body is in flames because it’s like, I wish I had this when I was a kid,” she continued, smiling from ear to ear.

Equality Education is currently undergoing a licensing process to become a Department of Education vendor with the ability to offer its curriculum to New York City schools. In the meantime, the business takes every opportunity to spread its message and products, from operating an Etsy shop and vending booths to conducting workshops.

This winter season, in a sea of over 160 vendors making up the tightly packed winding aisles of New York City’s Union Square Holiday Market, Laurent and Silver sit inside booth C34. Illuminated by suspended twinkling lights, the colorful bubble-lettered words on their products declaring that “love creates love,” and “powerful people empower other people,” jump out from the booth’s neutral walls. Holiday Market goers stop and flip through the coloring book. “No age is too young for kids to get introduced to this,” says Silver to a few customers gathered around their booth, “it’s never too young to learn unconditional love within ourselves and how to give it to others.”