Senator Lydia Edwards celebrated her 43rd birthday on December 13 at the Reel House. Supporters, as well as local and state officials, honored Edwards for her leadership, reflecting on her accomplishments in housing and LGBTQ+ pride.
“I have been honored to work in partnership with her,” said Attorney General Andrea Campbell, introducing Edwards. “We have been in the trenches for a long time together, starting off as young, black, women lawyers trying to figure out our careers in a Burger King on Huntington Ave., talking about service and taking risks.”
Campbell commended Edwards for prioritizing the diverse community. Campbell and Edwards have served the Boston City Council together, focusing on issues that protect the vulnerable.
“You cannot do the work of protecting the rights of citizens, consumers, or businesses if you don’t have great partners. She is aligned in spirit and values; and understands the challenges it can be to be a woman of color serving an elected roll in this moment in time,” Campbell described about her connection with Edwards. “She gets things done.”
This year, Campbell and Edwards have been striving to build affordable housing, provide evicted residents with access to legal representation, and ensure people have wealth-building opportunities in their neighborhoods. They protect reproductive rights, and push for gender-affirming care.
“It is significant, and it is amazing,” admired Campbell. “This is a beautiful thing and needs to be celebrated.”
First Lieutenant in the Massachusetts Army National Guard Lydia Edwards declared that she will lobby for gun reform, sustainable rent control, and civil rights for medical care.
“People are coming to Massachusetts, in many cases, to make sure that they are safer,” acknowledged Edwards. “We’re going to continue to make this a beacon of hope and safety. That’s what we do at the State House.”
Edwards is pushing for limiting the prices charged for prescription drugs, and for opportunities that allow seniors to remain in their homes as they age.
“We fight for everyone to have the dignity of choice in options where they’re going to live. The baseline is that it is clean, affordable, inclusive, welcoming, and in a diverse neighborhood of income levels and racial backgrounds,” said Edwards, an East Boston resident. “This is the neighborhood I’d be honored to live in, love, work, and fight for.”
According to Edwards, 40% of housing units in East Boston are owned by outside investors who continue to increase rent. Edwards was saddened by the statistic, which she believes is shameful and wrong. “Yes, we want to grow and see people come here. East Boston is second to Ellis Island, where people come to the United States to become Americans; but we want to grow a community, not buildings,” said Edwards. “We need to fight to make sure that our Constitutional rights come to fruition. We have a lot of good things to do together.”