Greenfield City Council marked a milestone last week by choosing Penny Ricketts as its president. “I’m so honored to be the first person of color to be council president,” Ricketts said. “I just want to continue serving Greenfield as I have been over the years.”
That’s 20 years, to be exact. The first mention of Ricketts in a Recorder headline was June 13, 2000: “Ricketts a new face,” it read, when “newcomer Penny Ricketts” was elected to sit on the School Committee for three years. “Ricketts, who won her first political race in town, said she was excited and nervous but ready to tackle the job. ‘I think (the election) shows the town is ready for someone who is really inexperienced but willing to learn.’”
And learn she did. One year later, in 2001, Ricketts was voted in as School Committee vice-chairwoman, for her first time as a committee officer.
In 2014, Ricketts became the first person of color elected to serve on City Council. Four years later, she was elected vice president and now, president.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing.
In that first campaign for School Committee, as Ricketts stood outside holding a sign, a truck drove by with a Confederate flag and one of them yelled (the N-word).
In her 20-plus years’ role on the Human Rights Commission, Rickets has spoken out against discrimination, she’s spoken in support of same-sex marriage and she’s joined others on the common in a show of support for victims of the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. She also came to the support of Pierce Brothers Coffee in 2016 after its owners appeared before City Council tell members they’d experienced verbal harassment, including anti-Semitic remarks.
“That was when the racial emails started coming about me,” she said last year when interviewed for the Recorder series, “Let’s talk race.” The emails contained racist, digitally altered photos of Rickets. “I think it was the first time I was scared, for a little bit, in the beginning.
“I think it was probably meant to get me to step down … and then my voice wouldn’t be relevant anymore, as far as empowering people of all persuasions to stay strong,” Ricketts said. “To this day, I’m still here.”
There have been health setbacks, too. In June 2018, Ricketts suffered a stroke, causing her to be hospitalized for several days, followed by a lengthy period of rehabilitation. But the community came together for her, she said.
In a letter to the editor in 2019, Ricketts said, “At my lowest moments, whether it be health or racism, Greenfield showed compassion.”
“I want to get back,” she said at the time. And she did.
The year 2020 was fraught with racial tension as Greenfield reacted to the issues raised by Black Lives Matter with vigils on the town common and a parade up Federal Street, among other actions.
In a city and a county that is majority White, the Greenfield City Council sets an example for the nation with the election of Penny Ricketts as its first person-of-color president.
Along the same vein, local social justice groups are resuming vigils on the Greenfield Common to counter white supremacy and call for the ousting of President Donald Trump. Racial Justice Rising organizer Emily Greene said, in a press release, “Our Saturday morning vigils have focused on the Black Lives Matter message, but we must directly counter white supremacy, too.”
Vigils are set for the next two Saturdays, Jan. 16 and 23, from 10 to 11 a.m., followed by a second vigil for peace and democracy from 11 a.m. to noon on those dates.