total time: 18.58 minutes
total words: 2633
[Anna Callahan]: Hello everyone. Thanks so much for tuning in to Solidarity Live. This is where we take questions and stories from our community here in Somerville and Medford. I try to bring in some experts to talk about what's happening and how we're being affected by COVID. And then together we figure out how we can solve our issues. You can always make a comment in YouTube and I can pull that comment in. We can answer it live, so don't hesitate. And I am going to bring in my first guest for the day, which is Nicole. Nicole Mosalem. Tell me if I said that right, because I think I used to pronounce your name wrong. You did. You got it. Wonderful. Nicole, so happy to see you. So happy to see you. Yeah, so there's different things we can chat about. I think if we can start, I would love to have you just say who you are. And we will begin with a conversation about the Muslim community here and Ramadan. And then after that, I'd love to talk a little bit about your run for state. Sure.
[Mossalam]: So basically, I'm the director for the Islamic Cultural Center of Medford. In that role, I help with programming. I oversee administration. I'm a woman of many hats, doing my best to serve the community in that capacity. And then as you mentioned, we're in a separate vein, I'm also running for state representative of 35th Middle Six, which covers both Malden and a great big chunk of Medford. Fantastic.
[Anna Callahan]: So can you talk about the Islamic Cultural Center and its mission and, you know, sort of what you do there?
[Mossalam]: Yeah, so the Islamic Cultural Center of Medford, or ICCM for short, They seek to provide spiritual programming for our community, help to strengthen our youth and their identity, as well as in their service. And we also seek to be of service to the community at large. So we did
[Anna Callahan]: Oh, hey, JT. You know, I apologize. I think I answered the call from you, and I accidentally lost Nicole and Paola. Let me see if I can grab them. I was right in the middle of talking to Nicole. Good to see you.
[SPEAKER_01]: I have no idea how to use Skype for this. You just ping me when you're ready.
[Anna Callahan]: Fantastic. Thank you so, so much. I am going to grab the two of them. So hang on everybody. JT is coming right up. Okay. I'm dialing them in. We're going to have them on the line in just a second. Hello? Nicole, I am so sorry. We had a Skype kerfuffle. So let me go ahead. I don't yet have your video. I've got JT on here with Nicole's name under it. Oh, there we go. Okay, I'm going to switch. I'm going to switch out JT. I'm going to switch in Nicole. All right, we're doing this thing here. Ah, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I think we've got everybody on the call now, so that's great. So, Nicole, so sorry about the interruption. If you can talk a little bit about, yeah, you were talking about the mission of the Islamic Cultural Center, providing, you know, sort of spiritual space for them, and if you don't mind picking up from there.
[Mossalam]: Okay, so the last piece you heard then was the service to our community? Okay. I don't know when exactly it got cut off, but basically, you know, so we provide that strong foundation for our own community, for our youth to be able to have a strong identity, especially in service to the community at large. And then we also strive to be of service To all of Medford and the greater Boston area, by providing programs such as the Open Mosque Day, we hosted Medford Conversations, which are circles where people can gather to discuss relevant topics of the community and get to know one another. So we do quite a broad range of programming. We've only been open for a little over a year now. in February was when we celebrated our one-year anniversary and Right before everything that's recently happened. We had quite a bit of programming that we had planned to kick off and That's okay you know, um What oh my mind went blank, but I was gonna say it's just gonna make it that much stronger when we do roll it out and
[Anna Callahan]: Yeah, I mean, we're sort of all in the same boat on that front. Everybody's programming, doing everything had to be cancelled. And it's so great that there is this physical space for the Muslim community in the area. And I imagine that you, given your role, that you hear from a lot of the Muslim families and the Muslim people in the area. And I'd love to kind of ask you, how is that community faring during COVID-19?
[Mossalam]: I would say about the same as everybody else. They have their struggles dealing with being at home, having children at home, bouncing off the walls.
[Anna Callahan]: Which both you and I know about. Yep.
[Mossalam]: But I think what's very unique for our community at the moment is that it's Ramadan. And in fact, today began the most spiritually intensive time of Ramadan, the last 10 days, where we seek a very strong divine connection with God. And we usually do that communally. And part of that is to spend the last 10 nights inside the mosque. There are some people who will make a vigil there and they never step even a foot outside the mosque the last 10 days of Ramadan and this is a very special observance and you know, a lot of people are struggling with that this year spiritually and it's so we're doing our best to provide that programming to help fill that space. been doing Zoom prayers. We have a special prayer every single night during Ramadan. And so people have been doing that congregationally as best as possible via Zoom. We've been having lectures via Zoom. And it's really led to a lot of creativity for our community. And I'm proud to say many of us have risen to the challenge.
[Anna Callahan]: Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, I'm sure that is tough to have that going on at the same time.
[Mossalam]: Yeah, and especially Ramadan, even I, for myself, one of the things that I look forward to the most all year long is Ramadan and the communal aspect of it. You never have Iftar alone, really. Every single night the mosque hosts an Iftar and not just the ICCM, but every mosque in the area has Iftar for the community. And so that's been somewhat, it feels a little empty inside without that.
[Anna Callahan]: And I imagine that for people who live alone, it's maybe even more difficult. Yeah.
[Unidentified]: Yeah.
[Anna Callahan]: So, you know, mostly this is about sort of reaching out and hearing from the Muslim community and how you're doing, but I can't resist asking you about your own race. And I would just love, you know, without spending too much time on it, I would love to kind of hear, you know, why you're running and, you know, just to say, feel free to talk a little bit about your race.
[Mossalam]: Well, uh, I would say, you know, I began this, this path, so to speak back in 2016, uh, when my son came home from school and he was crying that day. And the reason he was, was one of his friends at school had told him that they didn't like Muslims and that, you know, if Trump were ever elected, he would get rid of all the Muslims. And I mean, as a mom, that's just, it broke my heart. And it was a real wake up call to find out, you know, I had always been part of a very welcoming community. I've always done a lot of interfaith work. So sometimes you can clue out a little bit of those who are a little less tolerant, who don't know about us as much. you know, that really struck home. And I realized, okay, I can't, I can't stay within these same circles. I need to broaden out and I need to find another path of service to make this a better world for our children to grow up in together. And so I started becoming more involved in activism and in politics. And I ran in 2017, And it was a very rewarding experience because people said, you know, we've never met a Muslim before, we've never, you know, had that interaction and you've really changed our opinions. And many of the people who, you know, weren't with me the first time have come forward and said, we've learned so much about you, we're looking forward to you running. So it's, for me, it's about service to the community first and foremost, it's about the, you know, we always hear that phrase representation matters. And, you know, now that I see it, and now that I have members of our own community saying, you know, I never thought that we could run for office. And we have children saying, one day I want to run for office like you. It's opening doors, it's opening minds. So there's that aspect of it. And then there's also, you know, the issues aspect of it, which I believe the current crisis has shown us so much how precarious our situation is as a society when healthcare is tied to employment. That's right. People can't even go to the doctor to get tested because it would bankrupt them, but yet it's a public health issue that everybody gets tested, that everybody has access to healthcare. I mean, we're finding out we're only as strong as our weakest link and people now, You know, we hear in the news all the time that families are living paycheck to paycheck and they're only one missed paycheck away from complete financial ruin.
[Anna Callahan]: And that just happened. For all those families, that just happened.
[Mossalam]: Yeah, and it becomes a litany, you know, and you almost become numb to it. But now that this has happened, people are seeing what those effects are. And when you have such a wide swath of our society, of our workers who are living this way, then our economy is so fragile. Our society is so fragile. So, I believe it's time that we start looking at these policies that lift workers up, that lift people up and families up out of poverty so that we all have a solid foundation, a baseline of a quality of life. And that should be something very simple to do in the United States of America, in Massachusetts, as wealthy of a country as we are.
[Anna Callahan]: Absolutely. Hair, hair. I am totally with you on that one. And by the way, if anybody wants to comment, ask questions, we'll take those questions live. So feel free to just comment in the YouTube comment section. Um, wonderful. So I know candidates are very busy. Um, if you can stick around, um, and be on at the same time as, uh, like a little bit later as Paola and JT, um, that would be great. But I also completely understand if there are other things that you have to do. Um, so, uh, so yeah. Uh, if, is there any final words that you want to say, talk about in terms of, um, the Muslim community or the work that you're doing, uh, right now under COVID?
[Mossalam]: I would say we, you know, if there's anybody who's experiencing food insecurity within the community, we do have a food bank right now at the mosque. So please feel free to send us a message and we'll work really hard to help bring those supplies to you. I've been out into the community myself, taking supplies to families and dropping them off. We do a no contact delivery. So know that we're here also for everybody else, we're members of this community, and we're looking forward just like everybody to when we can reopen and host all of you again.
[Anna Callahan]: Wonderful. Thank you so much. Great. I am going to bring in Paola. Hello. One second, let me switch this here. Paola, you are live. Hi. So this is Paola Masoli with Mothers Out Front. Paola, if you can introduce yourself and a little bit about Mothers Out Front, that would be great.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure.
[Anna Callahan]: We have a little bit of connectivity problems. So I don't know what your data reception is like right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, can you hear me?
[Anna Callahan]: Unfortunately, we're getting a lot of sort of connectivity issues, so it's very difficult to understand you. Maybe we can, let's try again in a second or two, or if there's a place near you that you get better data. Ah, you know... I like the idea of doing it without video that maybe we'll get better audio. Try speaking again. Unfortunately, we just did not. Yeah, we are not able to. It's not understandable. So we had had this idea earlier today that maybe we would just call you on the phone and we won't be able to see your face. Or maybe leave your... No, yeah, it's unfortunately just not working. We might be able to, the video was actually not too bad. So if you mute your audio, I'm gonna call you on the phone and we will have that play if that sounds good to you. So you're welcome to put your video up if you'd like. Otherwise, we'll just go.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hi, I think I'm in.
[Anna Callahan]: Great, so we can hear you fine now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm very sorry. This was not the way I wanted to be, but it was nice to briefly see you and see Nicole and see JT very briefly.
[Anna Callahan]: Yeah. Great. Um, awesome. So I will just leave your name up here, but I'm going to, um, not have your video on because we don't see you. If you want to turn your video on, that's fine, and I'll put you in there over Skype. So yeah, Paola, go ahead and let us know sort of a little bit about you and about Mothers Out Front.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure. First of all, thanks a lot for asking me to be on your show. This is really a great honor. It's great to talk to you. It's great to meet Nicole. It's a very inspiring story that we just heard. And so I am a Somerville resident. I live in Somerville. I've been here for about 10 years. And I am a member of Mothers Up Front, which is a national organization that started in Massachusetts maybe six or seven years ago. But since then, it's expanded nationwide, and it's doing a lot of great work all over the US. For people who don't know the organization, As the name suggests, this was started by a few moms who were very worried about the climate change crisis and decided to get together and do something. And they decided to target one of the most pressing issues that we are actually having, which are methane emissions that are coming from the extraction of gas, which in the U.S. has been going up extremely rapidly in the last 10 years. So you're talking about natural gas, right? Yes, so we don't call it natural because there's not much natural about natural gas.
[Anna Callahan]: I know, I'm with you. I just wanted, like, because gas, when I think of gas, it's like gasoline for the car.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so we call it, we try to call it gas because, you know, the name natural actually gives this false idea that it's, you know, all good and great, but basically the mission of Mothers Up Front is to bring the collective power of mothers to push for legislative change and move decision makers to the extreme. to take action against climate change and to also build an inclusive community and also work on climate justice. So actually much of what Nicole was saying resonated with me because some of the things that she was talking about, you know, pointing out, you know, the injustices and the inequalities And all the problems that we are experiencing right now with access to public health infrastructure are really common to the climate crisis and what people that belong to minority communities, belong to communities of color are experiencing when it comes to climate-related disasters. So at the state and local level, we are working on several issues. In particular, at the state level, there's been a lot of activity in the last few years in support of the community in Huemos that has been for now five plus years trying to stop the construction of a compressor station, which is a piece of the gas distribution infrastructure. pipeline that would bring the gas to Canada. So that's been a constant and ongoing source of engagement.
[Anna Callahan]: And the Weymouth Compressor Station, as I understand, this five-year battle to prevent this new infrastructure for fossil fuels coming to a not wealthy community in Massachusetts. Because when you build new infrastructure, then the only way to get the money back from that investment is to do more fossil fuel extraction for the next 20 or 30 years.
[SPEAKER_00]: And actually, yeah, so you pointed out two very important things. First of all, the Waymo is actually an environmental justice community, because they have a history of pollution, and they also have a history of higher than average rates of cancer and leukemia, heart disease. So it's actually an environmental justice community already, so they don't need extra pollution on top of that. And also, you pointed out The fact that these big pieces of infrastructure lock you in using more fossil fuels for the next 20 or 50 years, which is absolutely the thing that we cannot do for the climate crisis. And in addition to that, this situation that we are in brought by the COVID pandemic has really exposed the fact that fossil fuel infrastructure in general is just a bunch of stranded assets. I mean, there is no economic viability of building any more of what we have, because the price of oil and the price of gas has reached basically negative. value a few days ago. So there is an entire economic argument that really points to the fact that this infrastructure is not needed, is not economically viable for the community and even for the state, and only a few people will really profit from it.
[Anna Callahan]: Yeah. And can I ask you, I know that you've been particularly involved here in Somerville with the gas, the problem with gas leaks. So natural gas, which is not natural, right? The methane that is pumped into our houses to supply heating. Yeah. that the infrastructure in Somerville leaks, and in other places as well. I know it's a problem in Medford, and it's a problem across the state, that it leaks so much that, and I'm going to let you finish this sentence, how bad is it? How bad are these leaks in Somerville and Medford?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's pretty bad statewide and it's actually really bad all over the East Coast because the infrastructure is really old and all the infrastructure is leak prone. So this is a problem that actually has been you know, has been around for a while and has been known and quantified for a while. And actually there is an organization that is based in Cambridge called HEAT, Home Energy Efficiency Team, that have been pioneering at different levels from the research and the advocacy with people from different universities over here in Massachusetts, methods to actually try to quantify the leak rates. So, yes, gas leaks are a problem from the environmental point of view. They are a problem because they are dangerous. gas is explosive, and there have been accidents that we had to go through in the last few years. It also kills trees. Gas actually has 60 root trees. The one reason why I actually got involved with Mothers Upfront is because I live in an area that is actually pretty gas leak prone because the infrastructure is a little bit older than the rest of Somerville. And we realized with my neighbors that there were many dead trees around us. That's how actually I found out that my mother's up front. And so I began to be involved about three years ago. And it's actually, it's been great. I learned a lot. And we also had several successes. We've been working with the city. The city has been extremely supportive. in terms of working with the utilities and trying to figure out what are the best times that the city and the utilities can actually work and fix these leaks. This is extremely disruptive. type of work, so roads have to be closed, you know, you have to open up the streets, so it is pretty involved. But in the last couple of years, we've been making quite a bit of progress, actually, in Zomberville, so we are really happy, but there's a lot more to do.
[Anna Callahan]: Great, and as long as we have those, as long as we have gas flowing through those lines, We've got to fix them. But ideally, we move totally away from fossil fuels. And then we'll never need to repair those again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes. So the first thing to completely move away from using gas, which, of course, requires an entire different plan. So it requires some policy, some serious policy. structure and policy plan requires collaboration with a lot of entities. So unfortunately, it cannot be done as quickly as we want it to. And so sometimes the best thing to do is actually repair the leak and keep using gas, although the long game is to actually get rid of gas altogether. And there is actually a lot of movement on that front as well. Probably many of you know that California is really quickly moving away from using gas in new constructions. Right now I think 15 cities, including large cities like San Jose, Berkeley, have actually passed ordinances to establish that there will not be any more gas in new buildings. And so they're basically going through, yeah, so the plan is to electrify everything eventually. And so they're starting from new buildings because it is actually easier to start a full electric building from scratch rather than retrofit. for a lot of reasons. So in New England, there's also the problem of very old housing stock.
[Anna Callahan]: And we're one of the dense, like Somerville is one of the densest cities in the whole New England area. So the percentage of our housing that is new is small.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, but there is construction going on. And also, actually, in the Boston area, there's so much construction going on and so much construction has been happening in the last few years that honestly, I can actually make a list of many missed opportunities. It is true. The housing stock is mostly already built, but it's good to start from the new constructions because it's actually easier to do. And there's a lot going on, actually, already in Boston. I mean, there are plenty of examples of all-electric buildings. And they're cheaper to run. They're healthier, because you have no burning gas inside. And so you don't have pollution coming from your gas stove. So, from the public health perspective and from the economics perspective, there is a way to go, but we need a lot to happen in terms of, again, legislation and policy to make it happen in a consistent way.
[Anna Callahan]: Yeah. Absolutely. you know, the work that you are doing here and that Luggage Out Front is doing all over the country is very important. I know sort of, you know, uplifting the stories of like, you know, the health stories that have happened to people because of these gas leaks, because of the Weymouth Compressor Station. And also the trees, I remember you talking about, you know, these trees that have died and going there and actually testing the ground and finding that it's- So, so much more gas in that soil than is allowable. So, those things are really important as well. Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. I mean, it's actually, yeah, it's definitely, right now, of course, you know, we're all I'm doing not much in terms of actions and legislative activity that is a little bit slowed down, but we are still meeting online and organizing. I'm actually also part of the National Health Impact Team. In that capacity, I'm mostly working on the school bus campaign, because one other thing that Mothers of Fra is also doing across the country is to actually work with school districts and with the utilities and parents and teachers to try to get rid of these old school buses and replace them with electric school buses. different problem, but um, but yeah, it's very exciting and and Again, we are very lucky in Somerville because Everybody is very supportive And so it's easier than in other places. I would imagine yeah, so yeah, in fact as I speak that big gas line that has been leaking outside of my street is being replaced so
[Unidentified]: Excellent.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well done. So the city has accelerated, yes, the replacement to try and do it before the street would be repaved, which is convenient for everybody and saves money and time for everybody. And so we're very happy that there is this coordination happening lately between utilities and city to actually do repair before repaving, which is really the smart thing to do.
[Anna Callahan]: Great. Are there any ways that people can get involved in Mothers Out Front?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so there is a website. It's mothersoutfront.org. And from that website, you can actually go into your local team. You will see different states, and then you go into Massachusetts, and then you can join your team. And I think there is also a team in Medford, if I'm not mistaken. So yeah, right now, You know, as I said, we're still connected online and there will be, there's always things to do. So more hands on deck are very welcome because this is a lot of work to do. So there is no shorter job ways to get involved.
[Anna Callahan]: That's right. I love that you say more hands on deck because I always talk about it is an all hands on deck moment. for climate and other things. Well, thank you so much. It's been really great talking to you and hearing. Thank you. Yep. Hearing more about the work you guys are doing. So glad that things are moving forward in terms of Somerville and we will keep pushing on the way with the compressor station. So yeah, thank you so much.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, Anna, and I am very sorry that I could not connect via Skype and via video, but I am glad that this has worked somehow.
[Anna Callahan]: Me too. Yeah. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you so much. Thank you. Bye. Bye-bye. And the next guest that we're going to have on is J.T. Scott, who is a Somerville city councilor. I'm going to remove Paola's name and move that front and put yours. I've got you in, JT. JT, how are you doing? Yeah, we don't have your audio.
[SPEAKER_02]: Great. There we go. Now I'm back. Yeah, I have no idea how to answer those questions nowadays. How are you doing?
[SPEAKER_03]: We're getting by, right? We're getting by.
[Anna Callahan]: Yeah. Nothing is as it was.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I got to tell you, I was really excited when you asked me to come by, especially just because, you know, it's always good to hear from people who are running and what you're working on, what you're really excited about.
[SPEAKER_02]: And also because Paola is just incredible and the work she's done with Mothers Out Front in Somerville. you know, the work of the wave method compressor is absolutely essential. And that's the kind of thing that a state rep can have more influence in. But here at the city level, it makes a difference for our quality of life. It makes a difference for our air pollution. It makes a difference for our trees staying alive, our environment, our very local environment being healthy. So I always love to hear from Paola and what she's working on. And also for Nicole,
[SPEAKER_01]: So I don't know, Nicole are you still on?
[SPEAKER_06]: You know she is and I can you know what I'm gonna bring her in in a couple minutes. I want to have you by yourself just for just for a minute or two. All right. If that's all right and then we'll pull Nicole in.
[SPEAKER_03]: All right, all right. First of all, don't go anywhere Nicole.
[Anna Callahan]: So JT, I didn't even really introduce you. I would love you to talk a little bit about who you are and really we're focusing on COVID-19 and how it's affecting Summerville and Medford. And if you can talk to us about what's happening at the city council now and what you guys are doing around COVID-19.
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow. So that's a huge question because everything is kind of on COVID-19 right now. You know, honestly, the work has been pretty intense over the last eight weeks. And I think, you know, the nice thing about a really active city council, like we have here in Somerville.
[Anna Callahan]: So we've actually, we're having a little bit of trouble understanding you as well, JT. Give me just a second. How is your data? I hate to say it, but I actually cannot understand you. It's that bad. It makes me wonder if maybe it is my data, but I hope it's not. You think it might be mine? It might be mine. I think it is. I'm on a 5G network. That's usually pretty good. You know what? I'm actually going to move from my lovely background here. Background will probably, hey, we're all in COVID-19, right? So everybody knows that you're at home and things look weird. And I'm going to plug right into the internet here. I'm going to hardline it. I can get my lights to work. There we go.
[SPEAKER_01]: If I can get this in here.
[Anna Callahan]: Just one second. Oh, and of course, my computer does not have this kind of jack. Say another couple things.
[SPEAKER_03]: We're all facing challenges right now.
[Anna Callahan]: We're all facing challenges. So I am going to ask, I'm going to do something here. Can I have one of those? Because I can't hear through mine.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we all hear the same thing.
[Anna Callahan]: Okay, so apparently everybody here is the same thing that I hear, which is that folks can hear me fine, but they can't hear you. Drat. You know what? Here's what I would love. Because this worked for Paola. Your video is actually fine. Totally fine. Leave your video on. Mute the audio. We'll have the audio by phone. I think that'll work great. So I have two numbers for you. I'd hate to read them off on, do you end in 3-2 or end in 2-1? Great. Fantastic. Okay, so we can see you and now we can hear you. Wonderful.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right, lovely. So, I'm just trying to figure out how to do this.
[Anna Callahan]: The best thing is if you can mute the computer completely, not just yourself, but also mute the computer and then use the phone for audio, that would work great.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right, sweet. We've been doing City Council meetings online basically every night for the last eight weeks So having having a solid connection is definitely something you all struggle Mm-hmm So you asked a question about, you know, what's happening in the city in COVID-19. And I guess what I was trying to say is just, it's, that's a big question to answer because everyone is COVID-19 right now. Even all the struggles that were already there are being, I think, as Nicole very, very eloquently put, are being highlighted, are being emphasized. So, you know, it's, You know, what's happening with COVID-19? Well, everything that was happening before, only more so. And with one hand tied behind her back, because we can't necessarily just go out in the community and knock on doors and talk to people the way we used to. So yeah, there's a ton. I don't even know where to start with this.
[Anna Callahan]: Well, I'll ask you some questions. I mean, I know that a lot of great things have been passed in terms of making sure that we're all safe, that the whole shutdown and all of that, and Somerville was very early on in that. I would love to look a little bit at the future. What is the plan, right? How are you guys handling the, do we have enough testing kits in Somerville? Is there any sort of a tracing plan? Or is that something that the state will really take care of? How does that side of things look from the city perspective?
[SPEAKER_02]: So that's a great question, and it's a fairly complicated one. I think what I said earlier, one of the great things about having such a really active and engaged city council is that so many of us in these roles, in addition to the constituent services that we deliver to our wards, are working on advocacy around various aspects of this, working on policy and various aspects of this. So one of the things I'm engaged in right now is basically a task force to distribute a million dollars in community development block grants to retail or ground level small businesses in summer. And so we just closed applications for that. We've got an enormous number of them. We're not going to be able to help everybody, but finding with the other people on this task force, you know, what we can do to help these really essential cornerstone businesses that mean a lot to the community, that are either delivering vital or have an outsized role in terms of their efforts in the community, their legacy. So that's one piece that I could give probably an example for everybody on the city council. The question you asked about testing kits and policies, the city council was very early in encouraging the mayor to move to the kind of restrictions, the lockdown restrictions that we currently have in place. And I think that's where the advocacy helps, because it built the momentum that Somerville could do it, and Cambridge could do it, surrounding communities. Eventually, Boston came on board. And what we've seen over and over is what Somerville does, kind of three days later, Baker does.
[Anna Callahan]: Well done. Give him a push there.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a team effort. If we couldn't get Mayor Joe on board, then it would stop there, right? And if he can't get other regional mayors on board, it stops there. So it is absolutely a team effort, and we're all just pulling together. But that said, most of those restrictions are executive orders, and the restrictions statewide are executive orders. So the danger comes when those executive actions happen without consultation or against the advice or advocacy of the legislature. That's why I think it's really important to have not just a responsive legislature, but an activist legislature. So some people who are really public in their advocacy, and that's, I love what Brett McKinley, he's my state rep, is doing around that, and he's shown leadership around that. So when you say look to the future, what really concerns me is that right now, we've had yesterday and today, And yet the governor is still talking five days from now about opening everything up. I mean, he started with gun shops and golf courses. It's difficult because I'm grateful for the governor's responsiveness. And if you're grading on a curve of 50 states, how does that go? But when you're grading on an international curve, You know, even within the United States, Massachusetts is third in terms of cases per capita and deaths per capita. Like that is absolutely a failure. And I understand people like the way he delivers this message, but what's been lacking there is leadership. So, um, you know, it's the advocacy around that it's working with, uh, you know, working with epidemiologists, working with colleagues, trying to build that broader understanding. You know, this isn't really the time to blame anybody for what's happened. I'm just trying to focus on doing what I can to keep as many people safe as possible.
[Anna Callahan]: Yeah. Can I, can I ask you a little question about that? Like, I think some of the stuff that Somerville has done amazingly well is to provide aid to people. Can you talk a little bit about, um, what, what sort of things are available, like even to people who are listening here, like what they can, how they can, um, look to the city of Somerville for some of their needs during COVID.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, I'd say yes, absolutely look to the city of Somerville. Also look to your neighbors. I want to absolutely shout out Mutual Aid Medford in Somerville is a group of just, it is grassroots, it is sometimes block by block, and this is just neighbors helping neighbors. If you haven't seen a flyer in your neighborhood for Mutual Aid Medford in Somerville, go to MutualAidMamas.com and sign up to be your block point person. and put up the flyers, because even a couple weeks ago, a completely volunteer, completely unfunded organization distributed over $80,000 in direct aid to people. And that's in addition to giving people rides places, bringing people groceries, handling small things that otherwise would be impossible for people to take care of. they manufactured hand sanitizer in bulk for our elder care facilities. So that group has really been outstanding and that's kind of my dream of the world I want to live in.
[Anna Callahan]: I know, they were the very first, our very first show was someone, one of the founders of Mamas.
[SPEAKER_02]: Great. Yeah, you know, I've been talking to him up at the City Council since the idea was just a Google Doc. And I keep shouting about as many chances as I can get. But I will say there's been incredible leadership from the Somerville School District. Tens of thousands of meals handed out, over 500 laptops distributed, not just laptops, but also wireless access for families that didn't have a computer at home, didn't have internet access at home. And yeah, that could be important for distance learning, but frankly, that's just important for getting by right now. I've constantly said if we are going to ask people to stay home because of the public health importance of it, we have to give them resources to do that. Whether that's food, whether that's making sure they don't have to pay rent, whether that's getting them, it just demonstrates the importance of broadband access as a utility. There's so many different points of advocacy, there's so many inequities that are being highlighted by this. Like I said, it's tough to know where to start. Absolutely. Those two organizations, the school district and Mutual Aid Mamas, were at the lead there. But now, you know, the mayor announced there's enhanced mass distribution happening. We're emphasizing mass distribution in the places where we're seeing most of it, like in the 02145 section of town. Like I said, this small business block grant program that's going to hopefully help people weather the storm. Again, just trying to get people the resources to keep their businesses closed until we can get to a place where it's safe. And we're not there. It is catastrophic when I consider that Today, Massachusetts had more new cases reported than Germany as a country. And Germany, in response to about 70 percent as many cases as we had, brought back lockdown restrictions while we were talking about releasing ours. It's an absolute fad move, and we need to do better.
[Anna Callahan]: So, I could talk to you forever, and I'm wondering if you're okay with it. I would love to see if Paula and Nicole are still around. So, if Paula and Nicole, if you guys are still here, go ahead and turn on your video. Paula, hopefully we can get you in. Great. Nicole is... Oh, good. Let me add Nicole. Ah-ha-ha.
[SPEAKER_02]: I got Nicole.
[Anna Callahan]: Fantastic.
[SPEAKER_02]: It is so good to meet you, Nicole.
[Mossalam]: Good to meet you, too, JT.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, you know what? I've got my computer audio off, so I can't hear anybody but Anna. Oh, no. No, no, no. I'm going to figure out a way to do this. I'm just going to turn that volume down. All right.
[Anna Callahan]: And I'm going to bring in a couple of seconds for you guys, and then I'll bring Paul in.
[SPEAKER_02]: All right. So it's a pleasure to meet you. I just wanted to say I was visiting a friend and ended up seeing a flyer. This had to be late February. You've been campaigning for a long time out there, haven't you?
[Mossalam]: I have been. Got to get an early start.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, you're taking on an incumbent, yes?
[Mossalam]: Yeah. So I'm taking on Paul Donato, a very great state rep. You know, he's been in office, just state rep, for going on 20 years now. And while I admire anybody who has the guts to serve in public office, I hear what you're saying, too, about the stats that our state is facing. And everybody in leadership shares in that, especially the House, where a lot of the legislation that you're talking about that could help municipalities is getting bogged down in a very untransparent, opaque process. And nobody knows why. And you have to really learn to find out what's going on. And that's what I've been doing. And I believe we need someone in there who's going to stand up for our district, who's going to do what's best for our working class families with an eye to the future. You know, I've got three children and just like everybody else's children and who are parents, we want what's best for them. And this isn't it. What we have right now, it's not it. It's a mess.
[SPEAKER_02]: That is, that is an understatement. Um, yeah, it's, I think you put it very well. The leadership team shares an incredible amount of blame and being willing to stand up and advocate this. When I talk about having an activist, really public voices about this, that's what we need. That's what I really admire about the state reps that Well, first of all, represent my district. We have no overlap. Actually, I don't even have any overlap there. I love Mike. He's awesome.
[Anna Callahan]: We all love Mike. Who doesn't love Mike?
[SPEAKER_02]: Sorry, it's been a long day of working on this. No worries.
[Anna Callahan]: You know, I've never had four people on. I don't know how it's going to position people in the frame. Let me give it a shot. I'm going to bring Paula in here as well. Aha. Hi.
[Unidentified]: Nice. I see everybody.
[Anna Callahan]: Like that. Great. I'm just going to move the names around. So JT is over there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hi, JT.
[Anna Callahan]: Nicole is there. Paola is here. Oh, wonderful. Good to see everybody.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hi, Paola. Hi, Nicole. It was nice to meet you. Again, it's nice to see JT.
[SPEAKER_02]: So, Nicole, this being your second time, It's gotta be tough coming in thinking, all right, I've got lessons learned, I've got a plan, I'm ready to rock and roll, I'm starting early. Hey, I saw your flyer at a friend's house and went and looked you up to figure out a little bit about what you were about. And then all of a sudden, for it all to get thrown up into the air, not just because of these circumstances, but because you yourself were sick for a while, correct?
[Mossalam]: Yeah, so right before the stay-at-home orders were issued, I became sick. And it happened very suddenly within the space of a few hours. And then within just two, three days, our whole family had it, all three kids, my husband. I never want to be that sick. ever again. And so my heart goes out to everybody who's having to deal with this right now. And I can't beg you enough. Those masks, these stay at home orders, they're no jokes. You don't want to catch this. You can survive, but I'm telling you, it's not good.
[SPEAKER_02]: Not good. Well, I'm very glad your whole family came through this. And you know, it's, I guess the question that I think all candidates are working with right now, you know, you and Anna, is how to campaign in this age, how to actually get out and reach people. I know that, you know, when I ran for the first time in 2017, it was just a matter of knocking on all the doors and talking to all the people, because there is so much we have in common, regardless of, you know, you have a Trump sign in your lawn or a Hillary sign, these things, across these boundaries. It really is about class in a lot of ways. So that's, I guess my question is, you know, how, for both of you, you know, what is that key message that you're getting to, trying to get out to your district, trying to get people to hear? And then before we log off, Anna, to answer your question, I really want to make a pitch for one of the public health services. So, but I want to hear these answers.
[Mossalam]: How about you take a turn, Anna?
[Anna Callahan]: Sure. It's funny because this is such a listening session. Every week I'm listening and hearing stories from the district and bringing in experts to figure out how we can solve these together. So I don't really talk about my race on the show, but now is my opportunity. Thank you, JT. You know, I'm running because I really believe that we cannot... I think the other side has the money and we have the people, but if that's true, we cannot win if we're preaching to the choir. I think we will not win a Green New Deal if we don't have a movement behind it. I think we will not win Medicare for All if we don't have a movement behind it. I've been training people for four years in a style of... build movements through local electoral organizing. And I see the primary role of an elected official as a movement builder. And I think we must have movement builders as elected officials, because that is the only way that we will get the policies that we want, need, and deserve. So I am running to be a movement builder in the district and across the state with some very specific tactics that I learned from some amazing union organizers and other elected officials and other folks, very specific tactics that I've been training people in for years now. And I'm excited to do it as an elected official.
[SPEAKER_02]: Very cool, very cool. I mean, I agree. I know you mostly from your activism in those spheres. So how about you, Nicole?
[Mossalam]: So I would say, you know, when I knock on someone's door and I get to meet them the first time, I'm always, you know, a little shy, but it's mainly about them. I want to hear, what they have to say and what issues are important to them because we're a community and we're all neighbors. And the main message that I want to get across to everybody is that we all struggle together and we need somebody who has that mindset. We need somebody who hasn't forgotten, you know, where their roots are at. I grew up My mom was single, single mom trying to raise me and we were homeless for a period of time. And I know what it's like to go dumpster diving in the back of a store for your dinner at night. And I know what it's like to, you know, not have a roof over your head, but only the comfort of your mother's arms around you at night. And I know some children don't even have that. And I believe that that perspective has made me open to other people's experiences and their situations. And so I see that everybody works hard regardless of their circumstances and deserves to be able to have a better life and be honored for that hard work. And I don't think we have that in a society anymore. We put people down. We've lost sight of that humanity. And so, because I come from a more, I guess, you know, service and faith type of background, I got started on this path, you know, working at a mosque, being an administrator and getting involved in government work. And so I want to share with everybody that passion for service that I have and that, you know, I've had to fight so much throughout my whole life, you know, lots of struggles. And so that's really molded me and crafted me to where I know when I need to take a stand and I know when it's time to take a step back and let others lead. And I hope people will see that and respond to that message.
[Anna Callahan]: Awesome. Thank you so much. I really could stay in this call for a long time, but I believe it or not, you know, candidates have busy schedules and I have a meeting starting now.
[Mossalam]: Because I was listening to everything that you said and Your work is absolutely amazing. I didn't I wasn't aware of Your organization mom's out front. So i'm very interested in learning more I'd love to get involved because those issues with the the gas pipes that you were talking about same thing in malden I just ripped up my street, you know a couple months ago to do the exact same thing Yeah, um, I actually I don't know if I should give the conclusive remarks over here because I
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm totally, I don't know, I don't feel I have the, I don't know, the closing, I don't know, the closing remark kind of skill, but- We'll let JT wrap it up. Go ahead. I'm very inspired by you guys, by you, Anna and Nicole running, and by all the work that JT, you've been doing, and all the people that you have mentioned. Mike was also my rep, and I'm very, very happy about it. So it's really inspiring at this moment where people like me in the climate movement feel completely left abandoned. And especially on top of that, me who has a scientific background that feels even more like crushed because science has been torn apart and destroyed and mystified and completely trashed. So it's in some parts, not everywhere. So it's really inspiring to see people like you engaged and also ready to change minds and hearts and ready to do the work. Because a lot of people want to give up, and we really cannot give up right now. So it's extremely inspiring. And I'll be happy to touch base with you, Nicole. If you want to talk about Gas Leaks, I can tell you everything about Gas Leaks. I'm going to have JT say a final word, and then I hate to do it, but I'm going to have to close out.
[SPEAKER_02]: Sounds good. I can use the rest. And Nicole, she's not kidding. She will tell you all about DASWIT.
[Unidentified]: Oh, yeah, totally.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. And it will be a worthwhile experience. Yeah. So yeah, absolutely. Google Mothers out front, incredible organization, doing incredible work. And like I said about the city council and about all of us, whether you're on a city, town, board, or in the state legislature, or part of our federal delegation, we all have to pull together. And we have to be part of this movement. That's one of the beautiful things about it is I know even when I'm not focused today on natural gas leaks I know that Paula is and I know that she has my ear and that I have you know I'm giving her my respect and attention and
[SPEAKER_00]: And can I also say many, many other people in Massachusetts, in Somerville, around the country, you know, I kind of came to this group late, so tons of people before me have done the work. So I just want to recognize everybody in this group. Sorry.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know, absolutely. We all stand on the shoulders of giants and we say goodbye with a little help from our friends. I will say that, just as a final plug, in terms of testing, we do have access to about 4,000 tests in Somerville and we're really trying our best to make sure that we are completely consuming that capacity. somewhere between 100 and 150 tests a day at the center of a hospital. You can walk up, you can bike up, you can drive up. It's accessible to anybody. You don't need a 19. You don't need citizenship. You don't need papers. You don't need anything. Just call the number, make a reservation. and get in there to get tested because that data, we have a lot more visibility and granularity in than the state data. And when we see the lack of leadership that we've seen at the state level, it makes it even more important that we can gather great data here at the local level and use that to make the argument about what responsible policy is and what we have to do, whether that's legislatively or through executive orders or through advocacy to make sure it carries forward at the state level. Also, it's just a great way to try to keep our neighbors safe. So if you've been waiting, thinking, oh, other people need those tests, they're completely free. They're available to all Somerville residents. Sorry, Nicole. And they are, you know, make the call. Let's get in there. Let's use up all those tests and we will find more.
[Anna Callahan]: Great. Thank you all so much. It's been wonderful talking to you all. Thanks so much for all the work that you do. And thanks for tuning in. We will be back in a couple weeks. Have a good night.
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