On Monday, Alex Oliver-Dávila decided to resign as the Chair of the Boston Public School Committee after  private text messages between her and Dr. Lorna Rivera were leaked to the press. These texts emerged from a  deeply emotional, turbulent Boston Public School Committee meeting in October about changes to Boston’s  exam school admissions policy, in which members of the public delivered testimony that were often directly  racist in nature.  

Alex and Lorna are facing personal attacks, threats and ongoing defamation as an attempt to diminish their  important work they have done on the School Committee – and in particular their work to ensure equitable  access and opportunities for students of color. Make no mistake, this is racism and a double standard disguised  as public and political outcry to hold two Latina leaders “accountable for their words” while adults from certain  neighborhoods have continually provided School Committee testimony with racist overtones and lobbied to  keep policies that limit an equity agenda for our schools. These were personal texts venting frustration over a  lifetime of micro and macro aggressions. We believe that because this was said by two Latinas in positions of  power, as they are attempting to make lasting policy changes to ensure equity for the education of black and  Latinx children, advocates of the status quo jumped into action to ensure that their progressive equity agenda is  blocked.  

We have all been in conversations where we talk about our collective lack of power. We have no power  because we don’t use it when it matters. To what end does it matter to build social, economic, and political  capital if we don’t use it advance progress and if we only use it to advance our own rise to power? Though Alex  and Lorna reacted in the moment and sent texts expressing their feelings, we cannot diminish the historical  (and current) racism that they experience and which BIPOC children, youth and families face in some of our  neighborhoods every day.  

For more than twenty-years, Alex worked tirelessly to ensure that Boston’s Latinx and BIPOC young people are  receiving the same educational opportunities as their peers in Boston Public Schools. She has always gone  above and beyond, for BPS and the City at large, including her strong advocacy for English language learning  students. Just a small accounting of her citywide impact include: organizing youth to advocate for citywide bans  on single use plastic bags and tobacco advertisements in neighborhood groceries; organizing relief for hundreds  of families after Hurricane Maria; and as School Committee chair, she ensured the adoption of MassCore  standards; changes in attendance, promotion, and grading policies that aid in student retention; and the  provision of the interpretation of School Committee meetings into 9 major languages including ASL – the only  City department to do so.  

As the Director of the Mauricio Gaston Institute and an Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality  Studies at Umass Boston, Lorna’s calling as an educator and advocate go beyond university classrooms and into  her community. As an award-winning writer of books, articles, research, and publications Lorna has consistently  

brought issues of literacy, poverty, and inequity to the forefront. Her commitment to supporting educational  access for Latinx young people has been the foundation of her volunteer activities ranging from serving on  boards to the School Committee. 

And we, their friends, colleagues and supporters all know this commitment comes from the bottom of their  heart. This is who they are – lifelong advocates pushing for changes in policies, systems, and structures that  elevate the voices of Latinx and BIPOC students with their needs and interests at the center of all considerations  and decision-making.  

Now, the departure of Alex and Lorna from the Boston School Committee leaves a great void of Latinx voice and  representation in that body and across City Hall. They need OUR SUPPORT and our voices to come to the  forefront. We cannot let attempts to disparage their lifelong work and most importantly, their integrity become  the public narrative. We HAVE to stand together, raise our voices and BE HEARD! We have to use our collective  power to call this out for what it is – a racist attack on two Latina leaders who are threatening the entitlement  some white families think they have to our City’s schools. We have to speak out and share about Alex and  Lorna’s commitment to equity, and we have to call out the racism that still exists in this City. Racism which is  real, and experienced every day. Let’s not let the public narrative negate our lived experience! 

WE ARE ALL VOTERS TOO and we can show our collective strength! THERE IS POWER IN NUMBERS.  We MUST stand together! We HAVE Collective Voice and POWER! 

TAKE ACTION AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT: 

• SIGN ONTO THIS LETTER 

• CONTACT THE MEDIA, and write a letter to the editor: 

1. Boston Globe: letter@globe.com link to submit letter

2. Boston Herald: https://www.bostonherald.com/submit-letter/​ link to submit letter 

• CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS and let them hear your voice: 

1. Acting Mayor Kim Janey: mayor@boston.gov 

2. BPS Supt. Brenda Cassellius: superintendent@bostonpublicschools.org 

3. City Councilors: 

a. Anissa Essaibai-George: a.e.george@boston.gov 

b. Michael Flaherty: michael.f.flaherty@boston.gov 

c. Julia Mejia: julia.mejia@boston.gov 

d. Michelle Wu: michelle.wu@boston.gov 

e. Lydia Edwards: lydia.edwards@boston.gov 

f. Ed Flynn: ed.flynn@boston.gov 

g. Matt O'Malley: matthew.omalley@boston.gov 

h. Frank Baker: frank.baker@boston.gov 

i. Andrea Campbell: andrea.campbell@boston.gov 

j. Ricardo Arroyo: ricardo.arroyo@boston.gov 

k. Kenzie Bok: kenzie.bok@boston.gov

k. Liz Breadon: liz.breadon@boston.gov 

4. Mayoral Candidates: 

a. Jon Santiago: info@jonsantiago.org 

b. John Barros: info@barrosformayor.com

5. School Committee Members 

a. Michael O' Neill: moneill2@bostonpublicschools.org 

b. Dr, Hardin Coleman: hcoleman2@bostonpublicschools.org 

c. Ernani DeAraujo: edearaujo@bostonpublicschools.org 

d. Xyra Mercer: xmercer@bostonk12.org 

e. Jeri Robinson: grobinson@bostonpublicschools.org 

f. Quoc Tran: qtran2@bostonpublicschools.org 

6. UMASS Boston Chancellor: marcelo.orozco@umb.edu 

7. MA Higher Education Commissioner Carlos Santiago: commissioner@dhe.mass.edu

8. Trustees of University of Massachusetts 

a. Robert Manning: rmanning@umassp.edu 

b. Imari Paris-Jeffries: imari@kingboston.org 

c. Steve Tolman: stolman@umassp.edu 

d. James Peyser: jpeyser@umassp.edu 

e. Robert Lewis Jr.: rlewis@umassp.edu 

f. Norm Peters: rpeters@umassp.edu 

g. Steve Karam: skaram@umassp.edu 

h. Mary Burns: mburns@umassp.edu 

i. Rick Kelleher: rkelleher@umassp.edu 

j. Michael O’Brien: mobrien@umassp.edu 

k. Dr. Noreen Okwara: nokwara@umassp.edu 

l. Dr. Kerri Osterhaus-Houle: kosterhaushoule@umassp.edu 

m. Elizabeth Scheibel: escheibel@umassp.edu 

n. Victor Woolridge: vwoolridge@umassp.edu 

o. Charles Wu: cwu@umassp.edu 

p. Julie Ramos Gagliardi: jramosgagliardi@umassp.edu 

q. Kush Patel: kush.patel001@umb.edu 

r. Ryan Callahan: ryan_callahan@student.uml.edu 

s. Derek J. Dunlea: ddunlea@umass.edu 

• USE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA and share your support, story and experience 

• TESTIFY AT BPS SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETINGS on 6/16, 6/23, and 6/30 about the impact that Alex and Lorna made on this City and for our children. Schedule and sign up process is here: https://www.bostonpublicschools.org/schoolcommittee