The Somerville Democratic Committee held an ice cream social in Nathan Tufts Park Saturday, where Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) took the stage to call out racism, bigotry and injustice. 

Before beginning her speech, Pressley highlighted the upcoming municipal elections while community members had the opportunity to sit down with her and enjoy ice cream and pie. The event provided an intimate setting of about 70 to 100 people who were able to meet many of the candidates running in the elections and talk about their concerns.  

One of the candidates at the event was the newly elected official for Somerville School Committee Ward 2, Ilana Krepchin. The newcomer to the political sphere said she is doing whatever she can to get more involved. 

“I’ve never been super involved in politics previous to now, but a variety of things led me here, so I’m just trying to dive in and learn everything I need to learn and meet some new people,” Krepchin said. 

Krepchin never planned to be involved in politics, but saw a need in her community and responded.

“I started years ago. I ended up on the PTA at my daughters school, and so I started being a leader in that way,” Krepchin said. “And there was a need for someone to run for school committee and so I jumped in to do it.”

With a busy schedule of meetings and family matters, Pressley just managed to squeeze this event into her day. She started her speech by gathering some laughs from the crowd, sharing that she hoped to change clothes before the event to be “Somerville comfortable.” 

Pressley focused on how the activists in the community encourage her every day to continue to fight despite the current hostile political environment. 

“We find ourselves in such unprecedented times, and I do what I do every day because of the motivation of the activist leadership of people like all of you that emboldens me to continue to do that work in the face of xenophobia, bigotry and racism and misogyny and an administration that is chaotic, callous and corrupt,” Pressley said. “And everyday that is showing up in the policies that are sometimes being rolled out by the hour.”

Pressley thanked the community for their “public outcry” on many issues such as the citizenship question on the census.  

“We were able to keep that question off the census, but when it comes to the census our work is not done,” Pressley said.

Pressley even took a few steps back in her life story to reflect on why she ran for Congress in 2018. 

“I ran for this seat because the Massachusetts 7th [District] is one of the most diverse. 50 percent people of color, 40 percent foreign born, 40 percent female headed households, incredibly diverse, largest concentration of college students in the country and is the most unequal,” Pressley said.

Pressley also spoke on why she believes the 7th District receives unequal funding, discussing the differences in quality of life from Roxbury to Cambridge, which is in the 5th District.  

“Now why is it the most unequal? Why is it that, in a three mile radius from Cambridge to Roxbury, the life expectancy drops by 30 years, the median household income by $50,000. That is because of policy, but it is also because we are underfunded,” Pressley said.

Pressley said the lack of funding is due to undercounting in the census and urged the crowd to ensure they are counted. 

“In the eyes of the federal government, if you are not counted, you do not count.” Pressley said. 

Pressley made the point that the money allocated to public education, affordable housing, medicare and medicaid all depends on an accurate census count. 

She also referenced the importance of community outcry and far-reaching issues such as climate change.

“On the heels of the climate strike yesterday, there is no way that you can question for a second the power of the people,” Pressley said.

She received cheers from the crowd when she mentioned “the squad,” referring to the popularized name of four progressive congresswomen — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Ohmar, Rashida Tlaib and herself — all of whom were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018.

Pressley spoke about the power of young people and their advocacy from “gun violence prevention to the climate crisis,” and announced she introduced an amendment to lower the voting age to 16. 

“[There are] young people [who have been] working jobs since they were 14, not to build a resume, not for enrichment, but because they had to,” Pressley said. 

Pressley continued to praise young people for their participation in the work force and civic life. She explained the proposed amendment received 125 votes from Congress, but didn’t receive enough support to reach H.R. 1. Pressley pointed out to the crowd that the victory was in advancing the argument through increased media coverage.

Pressley also took time to address survivors of sexual violence and assault, saying that one of the reasons she ran for Congress, as a survivor of rape herself, was to fight for survivors. 

“It was certainly very triggering and demoralizing to millions of survivors and our allies when [Brett] Kavanaugh was confirmed as a Justice to the Supreme Court,” Pressley said. 

She informed the crowd that, in light of the new sexual assault alegations against Kavanaugh, she has filed a resolution for an impeachment inquiry. 

Pressley clarified that no one is “impeachment-happy” but instead “trauma-heavy.” 

She ended her speech by thanking the crowd and reminding them that each person can have an impact in the resistance movement. 

After Pressley left, attendees spoke with their neighbors and enjoyed more ice cream. One couple, Joyce and Richard Shortt, were unable to attend the speech, but expressed that they have been involved in political groups such as Students for Democratic Society, or SDS.

“We’ve been kind of life-long Democrats and we’ve been involved in progressive politics since the 60s,” Joyce Shortt said.

Joyce Shortt said she has been involved in Somerville politics for a long time. 

 “I’ve been working to support candidates since I’ve been here, which is like 25 years,” Shortt said.  

When asked about the upcoming elections, they said they are supporting three incumbent candidates for council at-large, William A. White, Wilfred N. Mbah and Mary Jo Rossetti. The Somerville City Council general elections will take place Nov. 5.