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Ayanna Pressley's College Media Roundtable
On Wednesday, October 17, Congressional candidate Ayanna Pressley hosted a media roundtable in the More Than Words bookstore open exclusively to student journalists, to emphasize the importance of youth voices in her campaign and policy proposals. The roundtable was followed by an event open to youth from across the city. Campaign staff and volunteers hosted five discussion groups as Pressley circled around and listened in on the conversations. The groups discussed sexual assault, school safety and discipline, student debt, affordable housing and DACA and other immigration issues.
Pressley’s recent historic victory over incumbent congressman Mike Capuano has set her up to become the first African-American woman to be elected to Congress in Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts 7th Congressional District—the district Pressley is poised to represent—is one of the most diverse, most unequal, and most millennial in the country. This was thought to be a disadvantage for Pressley, as most groups she was likely to motivate were “unreliable voters.”
Yet, “every group that’s considered to not be a likely primary voter voted in this election,” Pressley said on Wednesday. “We have to give people a reason to vote. That’s not here—” Pressley moved her hand from her head to her heart—“That’s here. That’s not cerebral. That’s here.”
Yet, “every group that’s considered to not be a likely primary voter voted in this election,” Pressley said on Wednesday. “We have to give people a reason to vote. That’s not here—” Pressley moved her hand from her head to her heart—“That’s here. That’s not cerebral. That’s here.”
The diversity of the Massachusetts 7th District drives Pressley’s campaign. One of her slogans is “Those who are closest to the pain should be closest to the power.” This is echoed in her campaign ad that went viral in August—in it, the viewer follows Pressley as she rides the Boston Route 1 bus through familiar Boston locales and points out that along the route, life expectancy can differ by as much as 30 years and median household income by as much as $50,000. Pressley understand that in a district like hers, people experience very different pain, and allowing individuals to express that pain is central to her platform. She promises to be “intentional about creating space for those other voices.”
Before the roundtable was over, Pressley assured students that this wouldn’t be a one-time event, but rather, part of a process. She shared her plans to create a student advisory board and to meet quarterly with every school in the 7th District, as well as continuing to host events for student journalists.
Throughout the event, Pressley echoed her campaign slogan, “change can’t wait,” as she emphasized the need for the country to continue to move forward; for politicians to continue fighting for the people and for the people to stay engaged. “We can’t accept things as an inevitability,” she said.
“Victory is not magic—it’s work...Hope is not magic. It’s work.”