Barbara Pilgrim For Cambridge City Council
To educate voters, I will describe below my background and my political
views on current issues in Cambridge.
I grew up poor in Mississippi, without help from the system, the product of a
black farming family. I am the sixth of 10 children. Because of my dyslexia, I
had a hard time in school, but I never gave up.
I am married and the mother of five children -- four birth children and one
adopted Caucasian.
My first real act of public protest was walking into a school building under the
threat of it being bombed if we took possession of it. The school had been
built especially for blacks, but then the whites wanted it for themselves.
I marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement in the `60s and went to jail for what I believed in. During our sit-ins in Memphis, I was arrested for sitting at a counter and refusing to leave after the restaurant owners refused to serve us.
I was the first black person to be hired at the Statler Hilton as a waitress, in
1963. I was one of the first women to work in the General Motors plant in
Framingham, back in 1972. It was rough at Framingham, and I have a lot of
stories to tell about it. I have always been out there breaking new ground.
I fought hard to save Head Start when Cambridge was in jeopardy of losing it.
Agency officials and I met with representatives from Washington D.C. to plan
an effective program while cutting expenses.
I helped develop and implement after-school programs at the Peabody
Community School and I worked as a volunteer in these programs for 14 years.
I was employed in the Cambridge School System for two years as an
elementary classroom assistant.
I have been employed as a group home counselor for young homeless and
battered women for the past four years.
I am an active member of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Cambridge, working
on planning committees, youth work, Habitat for Humanity, soup kitchens, and AIDS awareness. I initiated dialogue with the Episcopal bishop and Region II of the Massachusetts Episcopal Diocese on AIDS ministry in the church. I insisted that the regional Youth Group be included in dialogue on AIDS.
I have been a Board member of the Small Property Owners Association
(SPOA) since 1989.
I am a member of the NAACP, a lifetime member of the VFW Women's
Auxiliary and a founding member of the Alliance for Change.
- I support A Decent Place to Shop in the Cambridgeport area.
- I support Affordable Housing. That $1 million windfall to the city from rent control's defeat should go for affordable housing for those who really need it.
- I believe in Helping Children, the Elderly and the Poor without Wasting
Money. Let's cut the budget and keep taxes under control without sacrificing
quality and without hurting those who need the city's help.
- I support Welfare Reform to help poor people become proud and independent. Survival skills are the ultimate solution to welfare and affordable housing.
- I support Central Square improvement to make the neglected square in the city a place where people will be proud and safe to be.
- I am committed to working with the police on Crime Prevention in Cambridge. Cambridge needs a junior police program such as the one I observed in Camp Springs, Maryland. Youth that work with the police usually do not get into trouble later and know which side of the law they want to be on.
- Contact the Barbara Pilgrim Campaign at
- 354-5196
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