I have been voting for almost 30 years. I remember voting for President Clinton on an absentee ballot from my dorm at UMass. I don’t know how many women or people of color I have had the opportunity to vote for over these three decades, but I know the numbers are low.
Upsettingly low.
Over the past two years of watching racist and misogynist speech take over this country, I have thought more and more about the lack of diverse political representation and how that contributes to bigotry. I made a pledge to myself that from now on, whenever possible, I will vote for women and people of color. If a woman of color who is qualified, hard-working and committed to progressive values runs against other qualified, hard-working and progressive candidates, I will prioritize increasing the number of women of color in government.
For this reason, it is easy for me to decide who to vote for in the 1st Franklin state representative race. I find myself encouraged that so many progressive women and men want to take on this difficult position in these regressive times.
Francia Wisnewski consistently shows up for her community, takes on difficult tasks, tirelessly promotes progressive values and actions (as do many of the other candidates), and she is a woman of color. To me, that is not incidental. In conversations with other progressives, frequently I hear them talking about other candidates’ “extra” experience, mostly working for progressive politicians, most of whom are male and white.
That history of access no longer sells me on someone. I want truly diverse political representation, and the only way that happens is if we vote for strong, committed, progressive women of color. I am excited to vote for Francia Wisnewski next Tuesday.
Erika Higgins Ross
Deerfield