Rise together

“Growing up, I never dreamed I – a Black Cape Verdean woman from Dudley Street – would be able to make such a long lasting impact on my community. In just one and a half terms, I have been able to deliver substantial structural change to Massachusetts. I have delivered over $7.5 million dollars in state funding toward affordable housing, mental health services, protecting environmental justice communities, strengthening re-entry services for our neighbors exiting incarceration, and supporting small businesses most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. And I am just getting started.”

Affordable Housing

“Housing displacement is devastating our communities. We need urgent action from Beacon Hill for rent stabilization and pathways to affordable homeownership.”

As State Senator I will:

1. Fight to establish rent stabilization to preserve and expand affordable housing for Boston’s families, renters, and seniors, and ensure our communities experience investment and development without displacement. Fund homeownership programs to build intergenerational wealth and equity, particularly in Black and Brown communities.

2. End discriminatory zoning that aims to prevent the construction of affordable and multi-family housing across the Commonwealth.

3. Fight to ensure Massachusetts renters have access to common sense tenant protections such as the right of first refusal and the right to counsel.

4. Pass legislation to provide our elders with the tools to age in the communities they have invested so much in.

Safe Streets and Police Accountability

“Growing up in the most over-policed part of the State, I authored & passed an Act to Save Black Lives to restrict the use of no-knock warrants, chokeholds, tear gas & more. I’ve fought to prevent violence by securing over $500,000 for youth jobs & reentry services.”

As State Senator I will:

1. Continue my fight to end the use of solitary confinement and life without parole in Massachusetts. I will champion alternative solutions to the tools currently used that fuel mass incarceration in our Commonwealth.

2. Demand the end of dehumanizing police tactics that harm and kill black and brown people. We need to demilitarize our local police, ensure accountability, and reinvent what we call public safety.

3. Fund creative solutions to prevent violence by giving people pathways out of poverty, combating racism, and addressing trauma.

4. Continue to invest in year-round youth jobs, after-school programs, and nonprofits that provide safe spaces for our young people to mitigate violence and prepare them for a successful future.

5. Strengthen re-entry services and break the systemic cycle of incarceration by providing career preparation, job training, and support systems to those recently released from prison.

6. Commit to visiting incarcerated residents of the Commonwealth as I’ve done as State Representative to center their voices in policy responses.

Public Transit

“I’m leading efforts to bring rapid transit to the Fairmount line and will work for a fare-free MBTA.”

As State Senator I will:

1. Continue to lead on electrifying our transit system to mitigate the disparate impacts of diesel use in Black and Brown communities such as disproportionate asthma rates.

2. Expanding access to quality bus service and rapid transit into every neighborhood. I’m committed to connecting all of the communities across the Second Suffolk with reliable transit infrastructure. Lead on making the MBTA fare-free to reduce traffic, improve equity and accessibility for all, and grow the economy.

COVID-19 and Small Business

“During COVID-19, I worked to ensure that communities and small businesses most impacted by the pandemic had access to state aid. We need to invest in minority- and women-owned businesses to create good-paying jobs in our communities.”

As State Senator I will:

1. Advocate for establishing universal state medicare for all system to strengthen our overall public health which now more than ever is interconnected with individual health.

2. Support the expansion of an education curriculum around culturally competent healthcare to save lives in our community and diversify the healthcare field.

3. Continue to ensure any federal aid money being spent in the Commonwealth prioritizes communities and small businesses that were most impacted by the pandemic.

4. Fund grants, workforce development programs, and entrepreneurship classes to break barriers to business ownership and to allow for small businesses to recover post-COVID-19.

Climate Resilience

“Beginning as a youth organizer in the Dudley Triangle and through Nubian Roots, I worked as a teen to protect our land and rebuild our community. We are in a climate emergency, which is why I passed environmental justice legislation to create local green jobs and protect our air & water.”

As State Senator I will:

1. Continue to ensure that our community gets a fair share of contracts and jobs during clean energy development projects like off-shore wind and solar.

2. Fight for neighborhood voice in where new energy facilities are created and ensure there aren’t adverse impacts that would affect residents.

3. Pass legislation that would eliminate housing-related emissions by refitting homes and strive to transition buildings to clean heating and electricity.

Mental Health and Wellness

“We must invest in green spaces, community-led initiatives, and community health centers to provide access to wellness, trauma & substance abuse resources and services.”

As State Senator I will:

1. Work towards creating a state center of mental health first aid so our communities can quickly receive care after a traumatic event.

2. Create a funding mechanism to hire social workers, community members, and clinicians to create an alternative response to mental health crises other than police.

3. Fund community health centers to ensure greater access to mental health care in communities of color.

4. Pass legislation to support greater diversity in the mental health workforce by addressing barriers to licensure.

Reproductive Justice and Racial Justice

“As a Black woman, I will bring our voices to the State Senate. Reproductive justice is racial justice, especially when you consider the deeper impact these issues have on people of lower incomes, LGBTQIA+ and TGCN communities, the undocumented, and the disability community. I authored a law to expand equitable access to postpartum care under MassHealth and fought to pass the ROE Act to safeguard access to reproductive care. But there is so much more we need to do to account for those often left off the policy table.”

As State Senator I will:

1. Protect the right to access equitable reproductive care, especially with the increasing national attacks on the right to choose.

2. Strive to advance an accessible continuum of reproductive, birthing, and postpartum care for all regardless of financial ability, gender identity, or immigration status.

3. Prioritize closing the racial wealth gap by setting state investment requirements in Black and Brown business.

4. Redirect marijuana revenue to close monetary barriers to cannabis licenses and host agreements for those most impacted by the war on drugs.

Education and Young People

“Young people are recovering from social isolation and the disruption of their education. I’ll lead the fight for safe & healthy school buildings & social-emotional support for our kids. As a youth worker, I’ve always centered young voices in my work.”

As State Senator I will:

1. Increase social-emotional services for young people inside and outside of school.

2. Fund ventilation upgrades at colleges like Roxbury Community College and K-12 buildings to protect our kids from current or future airborne viruses.

3. Champion the legislative approval of a charter change to allow for a voting and fully stipended youth seat on the Boston School Committee.

4. Fund safe spaces such as community centers, drop-in centers, and other initiatives, for young people in every community in the Commonwealth, starting with those most often overlooked and underinvested in.

5. Fight to pass comprehensive sex and health education to arm our youth with knowledge to lead healthy lives.

6. Work hand in hand with young people by bringing them into the legislative process, and act on their priorities.