Inside the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building in Roxbury on Monday, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) asked an audience of dozens if Boston will descend into chaos or “beloved community,” quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was also the same day President Donald Trump was sworn into office.
Pressley hosted a “Day of Beloved Community,” in lieu of attending Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. Pressley represents the state’s 7th congressional district which includes most of Boston and some surrounding suburbs. She spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day honoring the leader’s legacy and hosting grassroots community organizations that work with constituents who stand to be “harmed by another Trump presidency.”
“The fact that you’re here today means you chose beloved community,” she said to the crowd.
Pressley has been an outspoken critic of Trump since she took office in 2018, midway through his first presidential term. As she has in the past, Pressley referred to Trump at the event as “the former occupant of the White House” and called Trump’s swearing in a “peaceful transfer of power,” which she contrasted to the Jan. 6 insurrection on the Capitol that found her locked down inside the Capitol “on the floor, in the dark, barricaded in [her] office four years ago.”
Pressley later became a co-leader on the articles of impeachment that charged Trump with inciting the events that happened Jan. 6.
Nearly 70 Democrats did not go to Trump’s first presidential inauguration, including then-District 7 Representative Mike Capuano and neighboring 5th District Representative Katherine Clark.
Clark, who is now the Democratic minority whip, an assistant to the minority leader, attended this year’s inauguration alongside many others who boycotted Trump’s 2017 swearing-in.
Three community partners invited by Pressley set up booths, including Planned Parenthood, the City’s Office of Immigration Advancement, and the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA).
Planned Parenthood representatives handed out information about their reproductive services, and both the Office of Immigration Advancement and MIRA provided resources for immigrants, including available non-profit grants to handing out cards and pamphlets explaining what to do if they are arrested or facing deportation.
In an interview with Fox News last Friday, new “border czar,” Tom Homan, said that Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration could begin on Jan. 21 with raids in large sanctuary cities. As of Jan. 22, no raids had started.
Pressley also encouraged her “civically active” guests to bring friends and loved ones who may be less politically engaged in these events. Michelle Muallem, 33, of Roxbury, a supporter of Pressley’s, brought a friend, Taylor Blackwell, 33, to her first political event.
“Who wants to spend MLK Day thinking about the inauguration…how ironic that of all presidents, this falls on MLK Day?” said Muallem. “We’re just sitting in thought and mourning, but also using that to think about the next step forward.”
Nieta Greene, a disability rights advocate who lives in North Cambridge, came to hear what Pressley had to say about protections for the disabled community at a local and state level during the new administration.
“Generally, our community gets left behind,” said Greene. “But when they talk about gutting protections for civil rights, when they talk about DEI, people think they are just talking about race. But they are also talking about gender, age, disability, and military status.”
These DEI rollbacks that Greene feared were already in motion the day after the Inauguration. Around two years after Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, former President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1965. Some 60 years later, the day after becoming president this term, Trump revoked the law which required employers to refrain from discrimination when hiring based on gender, race, religion, or color.
Greene, an independent, said she was worried that Trump’s threats to gut the Department of Justice and other federal departments could lead to a lack of enforcement of laws that protect the rights of disabled people like the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Pressley didn’t mention her plans to protect her constituents with disabilities, but Greene hoped that the beloved community she talked about would be apparent in upcoming local elections.
“I am going to be holding them accountable and asking how they protect their constituents,” said Greene. “Protections at a state level are still important even if gutted at a federal level.”
Nearing the end, Pressley said she would do what is necessary to earn back voter’s trust. She called Trump’s inauguration a “stark reminder of the fragility of progress, democracy, and everything Dr. King fought for,” and said the times called for “radical love” and “collective spirit” more than ever.
“We often say we find ourselves in unprecedented times, but the truth of the matter is that it’s unprecedented for our lifetime,” said Pressley. “If we are truly in unprecedented times, what that demands of us is unprecedented organizing, mobilizing, hope, and love. We must grow our movements and fight for our neighbors and our loved ones at the local level.”
