The live taping at GBH Studio at the Boston Public Library.

In conversation with Banner editor and publisher Ron Mitchell on March 20, congresswoman Ayanna Pressley talked about her inspirations and hopes for the future. As part of a live taping of the “GBH Amplifies” series in partnership with The Bay State Banner and in honor of Women’s History Month, the conversation delved into Pressley’s upbringing and experiences that drive the historic work she undertakes today.

Pressley grew up in Chicago, crediting Harold Washington and Jesse Jackson as some of her heaviest influences as to how she works today. She also cherishes her parents, Sandra Pressley and Martin Terrell, as her first teachers.

“My mother raised me alone while my father was battling substance use disorder and was incarcerated during my formative years, and that was an education,” she said.

Watching her father be incarcerated rather than treated opened her eyes to the injustices of the carceral system and how it separates families. Despite the wrongful criminalization of his addiction, with access to Pell grants, he earned two degrees while incarcerated, and his Ph. D. upon being released.

Forced to raise her alone, Pressley’s mother juggled work without being able to afford childcare. Pressley recalled her mother returning home telling her about how her male counterparts that she trained were often promoted over her, and the struggles that came with being a Black woman.

“She said to me, “to be Black is a beautiful thing and something to be proud of, but you’ve been born into a struggle and I have an expectation that you will do your part in that struggle.’”

Growing up, Pressley quickly found her strength in public speaking. With major influence from Black media such as the Chicago Defender, she described how even her coloring books were embedded with pride picturing children with afros, their fists raised. She credited Chicago as the city that raised her but said Boston is the city that changed her.

Pressley came here to attend Boston University, where she studied political science. She quickly became an influence on her campus, serving as president in the student government. Working under congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II in Roxbury gave her firsthand experience of the inner workings of the congressional office.

She worked three jobs to sustain herself through the unpaid internship, where she gained experience to later serve as political director for Senator John F.

Kerry. At the time, she was content to be “the person behind the person.”

It wasn’t until she was approached by a group of local leaders advocating to see a Black woman elected to the City Council that things began to change. Pressley explained that, initially, she was hesitant to run; at the time she was her mother’s primary caregiver, and she had just gone into remission from leukemia.

After long contemplation, Pressley ran. In 2009 she was elected at-large to the Boston City Council, the first Black woman elected citywide. While on the council she created the Committee on Health, Women, Families and Communities. In 2018 she ran for Congress, stating, “The district had changed and I felt the needs of the district had changed. My candidacy was just saying the district deserves a choice.”

Today, from pushing the Appraisal Modernization Act to boost Black homeownership and generational wealth, to her SPARK Act to better support minority-owned small businesses, Pressley continues to make monumental strides throughout the community.

Recently, Pressley led a historic discharge petition to force a vote that would extend temporary protected status for people from Haiti. Her team led a bipartisan coalition to “affirm the humanity, the dignity and to fight for the safety of 350,000 Haitian nationals.”

Over the past four decades there have only been about 15 successful discharge petitions. The bar is high, requiring 218 representatives to sign while on the House floor. As co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, Pressley explained the importance of representing the Haitian community with her district, Massachusetts’ 7th, which houses the third largest Haitian diaspora in the country.

“I fight for the people of Haiti because they taught me everything about the work of resistance and rebellion and deliberation,” said Pressley.

When asked for a call to action for those who want to help build a better country, Pressley focused on the importance of looking past the short term, saying that it’s more than about surviving the Trump administration, but more so the next 100 years.

“You all can’t leave that work just to 212 members of a Democratic caucus, or you can’t just leave that work to elected officials. This is not the time for just call-ins and call-outs,” she said. “This is the time for you to bring your gift to the resistance, whatever that is.”