晤見吳弭
我是一名母親，一個移民的女兒，我強烈相信我們能夠經由建立社區，解決我們的最大挑戰。
成長時，我從沒想過有一天我會參選公職。作為移民的女兒，我從小就明白，我們家和那麼多的其他人家在這社會中是如何地感覺到不被看見，不被聽見。在我即將大學畢業時，我母親開始掙扎於精神疾病，我成了她的照顧者，扶養了我妹妹。在那些我們深陷家庭危機，試圖摸索出如何繼續生活的日子裏，感覺就像我們是孤獨的，隱而不見，還弱而無力。
經由我家的掙扎，我看到了政府有多重要，卻經常在你最需要幫助時，是那麼脫節。無論是爭取讓我的妹妹們得到在學校需要有的東西，爭取在鄰里巷弄開辦一家小企業，或者是為我自己的小孩在波士頓公校系統中摸索，原本應該提供支援的市府機構，卻讓我們遭遇障礙。當我遇見有同樣情況的其他人 – 要照顧家人，扶養小孩，想開辦生意的人和設計得並不能為每個人服務的系統對抗時，我聽到了同樣的沮喪聲音。
我上了法學院，學習如何摸索並改變這些系統，好讓其他家庭不需要面對同樣的挑戰。從為Tom Menino市長在市政府工作，為曾經是我法學教授的聯邦參議員Elizabeth Warren第一次競選工作，我看見政府及政治可以協助解決問題，掃除障礙，賦能人們。那就是為什麼2013年我參選市議員，也是為什麼我每天工作，以建造社區，爭取我們的孩子應有的未來。
在市議會，我曾和人聯盟合作以獲得當我們大膽設想時，會改變甚麼是可能的結果。我也努力擴大婦女，有色人們的職級，推動年輕人當領導。我也曾和積極份子，擁護者，社區成員站在一起，帶動全國提供有薪育兒假，對抗氣候危機，改變交通議題對話，起而反對例如Airbnb等企業利益，剷除官僚機構中的貪腐。我知道波士頓是個我們大家都能茁壯成長，歡迎人的城市，還有那麼多我們需要一起做的事。
這工作和我個人深切的休戚相關。作為Blaise和Cass的母親，我每天都有家庭要爭取現行制度聽得見我們聲音的急迫感，要建造健康、安全有韌性的社區。現在是我們來領導的時候了。
Growing up, I never thought I would run for office one day. As the daughter of immigrants, I understood from my youngest days how my family and so many others feel unseen and unheard in our society. When my mom began struggling with mental illness as I was finishing college, I became her caregiver and raised my sisters. In those days as we were trying to figure out how to go on in the depths of family crisis, it felt like we were alone, invisible, and powerless.
Through my family’s struggles, I’ve seen just how much government matters, and how big of a disconnect there often is when you most need help. Whether it was fighting to get my sisters what they needed in schools, fighting to open a neighborhood small business, or navigating BPS with my own children, we met barriers from city agencies that were supposed to provide support. And when I met others in the same situation—caring for a family member, raising kids, trying to open a business—I heard the same frustrations of fighting a system that wasn’t designed to work for everyone.
I went to law school to learn how to navigate and change these systems so other families wouldn’t face the same challenges. And from working in City Hall for Mayor Tom Menino, and on my former law professor Senator Elizabeth Warren’s first campaign, I saw how government and politics can help solve problems, remove barriers, and empower people. That’s why I ran for City Council in 2013, and why I work everyday to build community and push for the future that our kids deserve.
On the City Council, I’ve worked in coalition to deliver results to transform what’s possible when we think big. I've worked to expand the ranks of women, people of color, and young people in positions of leadership. I’ve stood alongside activists, advocates, and community members to lead the nation in providing paid parental leave, fighting the climate crisis, changing the conversation on transportation, standing up against corporate interests like Airbnb, and rooting out corruption in our bureaucracies. I know Boston can be a welcoming city where we can all thrive—and there’s so much more we need to do together.
This work is deeply personal for me. As a mom to Blaise and Cass, everyday I feel the urgency of families fighting the system to hear us, and to build communities that are healthy, safe, and resilient. Now’s the time for us to lead.