Pressley shouldn’t be demeaned for dissent
I think I speak for many of the residents of the 7th Congressional District who sent Ayanna Pressley to Congress with a landslide victory, when I say we did not vote for her so she could play “patty cake” with those in power who want to keep her in her place. She’s also not there to “go along to get along” or to continue the “same old same old”: tactics that just aren’t working and get us nowhere. Pressley is first and foremost a collaborator and a negotiator at heart. But she is also a fighter. We sent her there to help fix a broken system. We know changing entrenched attitudes is hard enough, but to be chastised publicly simply for expressing dissent by the speaker of the House, no less, was demeaning and totally unnecessary.
Nancy Pelosi may not remember, but change was an overriding issue when she was waging her second campaign for speaker of this new Congress that ushered in the self-described “squad”: Alexandria OcasioCortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Pressley. People in her own party wondered if electing her to the seat would be seen as antithetical to change.
For the record, I supported Pelosi as speaker in this column from day one. Why? Because I felt she had the depth of knowledge and experience needed to move things forward under a new and different Congress and that she could meet the challenges and help spark the changes ahead. I still feel that way. But I think it a bit odd and lacking in her usual savvy that she would engage in a public fight against her dissenters. What was the point?
I appreciated Speaker Pelosi’s efforts that helped open the doors for a new Congress that looked more like America. I know she and her supporters take a lot of credit for the history-makings ing Congress. But with all due respect to Speaker Pelosi, the heaviest lift to get there was executed by Pressley and other members of the squad. I think their tweets that Pelosi criticized as “all they have besides their individual voices” played a role in getting them where they are and will play a role in keeping them there.
The reality is that black women and women of color were the real juggernauts who pushed hard against the entrenched Democratic incumbents’ protection plan this election to make it to Congress. The fact is that no door is ever opened wide enough for women of color to even squeeze through. So the women of the squad kicked down the doors and broke through concrete ceiland changed attitudes along the way. And as the late Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, whose office Pressley occupies, would defiantly say: “They brought their own chairs” to the table.
That the speaker had the votes she needed for the budget, even without theirs, yet still took the opportunity to publicly ostracize her freshman colleagues doesn’t seem to me the best way to work together. Last time I looked, we are still a democracy. And one can still express an opinion even if it is not in line with the majority. History is full of folks who went against the tide and by doing so changed America.
I think the speaker owes the squad an apology.
Hopefully one day folks can get over themselves enough to understand and respect everyone as individuals. The penchant of pairing Pressley and AOC as though they speak in lockstep is getting somewhat annoying — almost as annoying as the media tagging the squad as “rebels” because of Pelosi’s sidelining remarks. Each member of the squad has her own mind. They are not joined at the hip, except that they are newbie women of color navigating a system that has not always been welcoming or responsive to them or the constituents they represent.
Speaker Pelosi and the squad are all accomplished women in their own right. Hopefully all will find common ground — and respect each other even in dissent — especially now that our Tweeter in Chief has weighed in with his patronizing comment that AOC should apologize to Pelosi. The nerve.
Ladies, save your strength and brickbats for the real fights ahead. And there will be many problems that are much more important to solve than focusing on a disagreement or two along the way.