Paris Alston: This is GBH's Morning Edition. In 2018, Ayanna Pressley became the first Black congresswoman in Massachusetts. Prior to that, she was the first woman of color on the Boston City Council. And looking at the line of progressive women who've come into office after her, one can see what her representation has meant for local politics and the electorate. In light of her five-year anniversary of being elected, I recently sat down with the congresswoman at a staple of her district, Dudley Café in Nubian Square. She remarked just how good it was to be home.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley: I work in Washington, but I work for the people of the Massachusetts Seventh. And so when I get to come home and just to be in community, in proximity, it's always very grounding.

Alston: Right now, there's a lot of pressure because of the split that's in the Democratic Party over the conflict in Gaza and the war between Israel and Hamas. I know that you've called for a cease fire. Several of your colleagues on The Squad have done the same. But also Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan has been censured for her comments and rhetoric that she has said about the war. She is Palestinian herself, we should note. How did the Democrats, how would they be defined on this particular issue? Because it has the potential to split the party. It already is.

Pressley: Well, you know, we're a big-tent party and we're a big-tent caucus. Even though we may at times see a different path to achieve an end, I think it's fair to say we all want the same end, which is peace — lasting peace. And I also think it's important to note that I'm certainly not, you know, standing alone or even in a very, very small minority when it comes to calling for a cease fire. This is something that well over 40 members of Congress have called for, that the U.N. has called for. The president of France, the Pope, and certainly the millions that have mobilized in our streets. I support a cease fire because I want to save lives, all lives. And very often in government, these unjust and binary choices are foisted onto us. And I reject that on every issue, not just when it comes to Israel and Gaza.

Alston: We're headed into a big election year. On the slate, there's presidential election, but there are all these congressional elections too that are going to be very consequential for where we go from here. Are you excited about a Biden-Harris ticket in 2024?

Pressley: Yeah. You know, as you said, our challenges have never been greater. And in every day, it's very clear — How should I say this? I think a lot about Jan. 6 and just how close we came to losing it all, right? And what we have seen is this emboldened, coordinated, unrelenting assault on our democracy, roll backs, the undermining of gains that have been made in civil rights, and under this Republican majority in the House, every day just seeking to exact harm. And so we have to do everything possible to defeat them so that we can right the wrongs and undo the harm that they have caused.

Alston: So sounds like the best possible option to do that right now is who we have in the White House?

Pressley: Oh, absolutely. And moreover, I think that Democrats win -- well, not I think, I know — we win when we deliver. I don't want people to know what Democrats have done based on a press release. I want them to know based on what they feel in their life tangibly.

Alston: You mentioned compassion in your legislating, and you do things like really push legislating joy, which you did through, are are attempting to do, through the Crown Act, which bans racialized hair discrimination. And obviously that's a core to you because of your own journey.

Pressley: Yes. By the way, shout out to your braider.

Alston: Okay.

Pressley: I embrace my alopecia crown. But I loved having braids. And I love that relationship with my braider. But yes, there is an incredible joy when you can show up in the world fully, authentically and unapologetically as yourself. I have to be real. There are moments when I do miss my hair. I'm still not at a point where my journey includes wearing a wig. You never say never. My husband says that he does not believe that alopecia robbed me of my beauty. He believes that it revealed it.

Alston: I do want to pick up. Says we're talking about hair because, I remember a tweet a couple of years ago. Your daughter Cora?

Pressley: Yeah.

Alston: She wanted to dye her hair blue.

Pressley: Oh my God, okay.

Alston: And she made a PowerPoint presentation.

Pressley: Yes.

Alston: Yeah, but she was young. And you said no. But has she been able to?

Pressley: Oh, my gosh. When I tell you, the backlash I got with like... They came for me. I'm happy to report that actually, we have supported her in her personal and self-expression and she has dyed her hair. She's 15 now. We're very proud of her. And, you know, I think about her a lot. I think about her a lot. And her eighth grade graduation was the day that the Dobbs decision came out and Roe was overturned. And I remember just starting the day out, feeling so hopeful, optimistic about our future. And of course, I still am. But in real time when that decision came out, I felt so heavy. I felt dread. Because I felt that it was precedent. I didn't know what else might be coming. That would mean that my daughter could grow up in a world where she has fewer rights than I grew up with. I do have the honor, having been appointed, if you will, by my peers, of chairing the Abortion Rights and Access Task Force and have certainly used the power of the pen as a legislator to ensure health care access. Abortion is health care. I've also used the power of the pen as a lawmaker around the maternal morbidity crisis and its disparate impact on Black women, which is very linked to this march by Republicans towards really a nationwide ban on abortion. So what is that? It's forced birth. And when you consider the fact that Black women are 3 to 4 times more likely to die in childbirth or post-birth in complications, this is a matter of life and death. My own paternal grandmother, grandma Carrie, I never got to know her because she died in the 1950s, giving birth to my father's youngest brother. And so the fact that in 2023 Black when was still be 3 to 4 times more likely to die in childbirth or post-birth in complications is unacceptable.

Alston: When you look back on the Boston City Council and how it changed after you became the first Black woman on the Council, what do you want the little girls who are looking at you now to take away from your leadership?

Pressley: You belong. You belong. I have to say, it is a testament to the electorate that I became the first woman of color, first Black woman, to serve on that body alongside some incredible public servants. And now those are, you know, presidents of important nonprofits, our attorney general, our mayor, a state senator. And now to see really a sea change, we have the most representative government at every level that we've ever had, including our power duo at the State House in our governor and our lieutenant governor. And it's been very humbling to be a part of that being ushered in.

Alston: That was Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley marking five years in Congress. You're listening to GBH News.

In 2018, Ayanna Pressley became the first Black congresswoman to represent Massachusetts.

Prior to that, she was the first woman of color on the Boston City Council. And looking at the line of progressive women who've come into office after her, one can see what her representation has meant for local politics and the electorate.

In light of her five-year anniversary of being elected, I recently sat down with the congresswoman at a staple of her district, Dudley Café in Nubian Square. She remarked just how good it was to be home.

“I work in Washington, but I work for the people of the Massachusetts 7th [District],” Pressley said. “When I get to come home and just to be in community, in proximity, it's always very grounding.”

Right now, there’s a lot of pressure among Washington Democrats because of a split over the war between Israel and Hamas. Pressley has called for a ceasefire, while some of her party colleagues have declined to do so.

“Even though we may at times see a different path to achieve an end, I think it's fair to say we all want the same end, which is peace — lasting peace,” Pressley said.

She noted that she is not alone in pushing for a ceasefire.

“This is something that well over 40 members of Congress have called for, that the U.N. has called for. The president of France, the Pope, and certainly the millions that have mobilized in our streets,” Pressley said. “I support a ceasefire because I want to save lives, all lives. And very often in government, these unjust and binary choices are foisted onto us. And I reject that on every issue, not just when it comes to Israel and Gaza.”

Two women sit in a coffee shop, video cameras pointed at them.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley spoke with GBH's Paris Alston at the Dudley Cafe in Roxbury.
Joanie Tobin GBH News

When asked if she was excited to support Biden's re-election, Pressley said she instead sees it as imperative that people re-elect him.

“I think a lot about Jan. 6 and just how close we came to losing it all,” she said.

Pressley added that the Republican majority in the House has routinely undermined and rolled back gains in civil rights.

But to win, she said, Democrats have to prove that they can make positive impacts in people’s lives.

“We win when we deliver,” Pressley said. “I don't want people to know what Democrats have done based on a press release. I want them to know based on what they feel in their life tangibly.”

Among Pressley’s key issues have been advocating for the CROWN — Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair — Act, which bans racialized hair discrimination. Pressley entered Congress with braids in her hair before being diagnosed with alopecia.

“I embrace my alopecia crown. But I loved having braids,” she said. “There is an incredible joy when you can show up in the world fully, authentically and unapologetically as yourself.”

Her five years in Congress have also coincided with her stepdaughter, Cora, growing into a high schooler.

Pressley shares bits about coparenting Cora, like the time when Cora was 12 and made a PowerPoint presentation trying to convince her parents to let her dye her hair blue.

At the time, Pressley and her husband, Conan Harris, said no.

“When I tell you, the backlash I got,” Pressley said, laughing. “They came for me. I'm happy to report that actually, we have supported her in her personal and self-expression and she has dyed her hair.”

Cora is 15 now. The day of her eighth grade graduation was the day the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, reversing Roe v. Wade.

“I remember just starting the day out, feeling so hopeful, optimistic about our future. And of course, I still am. But in real time when that decision came out, I felt so heavy,” Pressley said. “I didn't know what else might be coming. That would mean that my daughter could grow up in a world where she has fewer rights than I grew up with.”

As chair of the Abortion Rights and Access Task Force, she said, she’s aimed to “use the power of the pen as a legislator to ensure health care access.”

“Abortion is health care,” Pressley said.

She’s also been trying to address maternal morbidity, and the racial disparities involved. Her own grandmother, Carrie, died giving birth to her father’s youngest brother in the 1950s.

“When you consider the fact that Black women are three to four times more likely to die in childbirth or post-birth in complications, this is a matter of life and death,” she said.

Overall, she said, she wants young people who see her tenures in Congress and Boston City Council to feel that their future could also hold power.

“It is a testament to the electorate that I became the first woman of color, first Black woman, to serve on [the Boston City Council] alongside some incredible public servants,” she said. “And now those are presidents of important nonprofits, our attorney general, our mayor, a state senator. And now to see really a sea change, we have the most representative government at every level that we've ever had, including our power duo at the State House in our governor and our lieutenant governor. And it's been very humbling to be a part of that being ushered in.”