Boston news media covering the results of the Boston Preliminary Election held on September 25th focused primarily on the predictably low turnout, without any self-awareness that stories written in the months and weeks leading up to the election made them complicit in this outcome.
One striking omission from every mainstream newspaper covering the election results was that Councilor Tito Jackson won Jamaica Plain easily in the September 25th Mayoral Preliminary. Jamaica Plain is comprised of Wards 11, 19 and 10; Jackson was victorious in both Wards 11 and 19, as well as neighboring Ward 12 in Roxbury. [See all data here]
In the days since the election, I’ve been reflecting on the many reasons why Jamaica Plain voters supported Tito Jackson and one explanation is abundantly clear: We are a neighborhood that’s been both protected and nourished by the tireless efforts of grassroots activism for so long that we recognize our fellow activists when they walk among us.
We are a neighborhood raised by the community organizers that formed the Jamaica Plain Expressway Committee, successfully stopping Interstate 95 from bisecting our city. We are the activists that formed the Southwest Corridor Coalition, resulting in miles of walking and biking paths and the stabilization of the neighborhood. We established the Franklin Park Coalition to cherish this emerald jewel suffering from decades of neglect.
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| Jamaica Plain Historical Society: http://www.jphs.org/transportation/people-before-highways.html |
We are the home to three of the seven plaintiffs in the 2003 Supreme Judicial Court Lawsuit Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, resulting in the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. It comes as no surprise that we voted to support a leader who has never marched in the South Boston Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the years when they excluded our LGBTQ neighbors.
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| Boston Pride Parade, June 10, 2017. Photograph by Kristin Johnson |
Jackson marched with us in the Women’s March, to Fight Supremacy, and to support our Muslim neighbors when President Trump issued his travel ban. He stood with affordable housing activists when they protested the mayor’s controversial JP/Rox development plan. He advocates alongside homeless activists for the re-opening of the Long Island Homeless Shelter, closed abruptly by Mayor Walsh in 2014.
Councilor Jackson’s 2015 subpoena of the Boston Olympics bid supported the work of activists from No Boston 2024 and No Boston Olympics, saving Boston taxpayers from millions of dollars in costly overruns. Enhancing the work of the Make GE Pay activists, Jackson has been outspoken about the enormous tax breaks given to GE and the outrageousness of offering GE a municipal helipad while we have budget cuts in our schools. He supported adult cannabis activists in the passage of Question 4 long before it was politically “safe” to do so.
As Chair of the Committee on Education, Jackson has steadfastly supported the youth of Boston Public Schools when they protested Walsh’s school budget cuts. Last year, he was the undisputed champion of the grassroots No On 2 campaign, which spared public schools statewide from the financial devastation that Question 2 would have wrought. He received the Massachusetts Teacher’s Association “Friend of Education” award as a result of these efforts.
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| No On 2 Rally, November 1, 2016. Photograph by Kristin Johnson |
If you put your ears to the ground of this fertile southwest corridor of Boston, you can hear the seeds of change taking root here once again. The Democratic establishment would be wise to tune their ears to hear the calls of our grassroots leaders or risk future political irrelevancy.
Jamaica Plain recognizes a leader who is more likely to wield a megaphone with fellow activists than a shovel at a developer’s groundbreaking.
Jamaica Plain recognizes a leader who is more likely to wield a megaphone with fellow activists than a shovel at a developer’s groundbreaking.
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| Beacon Hill after the Muslim Ban Protest, January 29, 2017. Photograph by Kristin Johnson |
