Politics/Community Involvement

Work

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Birgit Straehle

Art Conservator, Worcester Art Museum; Owner, Sprinkler Factory

Worcester is a welcoming city, it’s the city of inventors. Just went to the Harvey Ball last night, to the Worcester Historical Museum. And I think that’s a good place where all the inventions are well-kept, and you can see what Worcester was and is still! Worcester, I think, follows that tradition because now it’s more, less the industry. But I love, I love, a lot of new entrepreneurs are starting in Worcester.

Birgit Straehle was born in Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber, Germany, in 1973, and works as an Art Conservator for the Worcester Art Museum, located in Massachusetts. Birgit graduated high school, and eventually went on to major in art history at university in Germany. In 2003, during her second semester at university, she took a break from her studies to start her internship in Worcester for half a year to gain hands- on experience in her field in- between her studies.

Interviewer:

Anna Conley

Virginia Burton

Interview Date:

Fri, 10/06/2017

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Straehle

Sarai Rivera

Worcester City Councilor; Minister; Social Activist

So definitely I feel like I do this because I live by what's called the two greats, the great commission and the great commandment. The greatest commandment is that in order to love God I must love neighbor. I can't profess to love the God I serve without really loving neighbor. That doesn't mean I love you with conditions, I’m not there to ask you what you practice for religion, I’m not there to ask you who you live with, I can’t. I’m not asked to love you with any condition I’m just asked to love you. And so understanding the importance of being on that Jericho Road even though that Jericho Road was obviously very difficult, right? Because the guy on the Jericho Road is the story of the good Samaritan who was on the Jericho Road and gets beaten and obviously that's a really tasking road. And so definitely my service in council is like a calling for me.

Sarai Rivera was born and raised in the Worcester area and currently serves on the Worcester City Council. In addition to her work in local government, Sarai is a minister at local churches and works for global partnerships at churches abroad in Burundi, Rwanda, Haiti. She earned her master’s degree in clinical social work and her doctorate in urban ministries and is a visiting professor at Assumption College. Her three roles often overlap in her pursuit of equity in society, be it racial, social, sexual, educational, or economic.

Interviewer:

Sara Newstein

Interview Date:

Mon, 07/23/2018

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Rivera

Hilda Ramirez

Assistant Director of the Latino Education Institute, Worcester State University

But success for me right now is more about enjoying my time at work. Doing the best that I can to accomplish successes for others, not for myself anymore. And so to me, success means helping other younger professionals achieve their goals and I do that a lot here with college students who I see. And I make sure to connect them to a professional job and sort of that cycle of having them give back to their community and be part of that. So that's what success means for me today.

Hilda Ramirez was born in the Dominican Republic in 1964 and ten years later her family moved to New York City. She faced challenges as a non-English speaking child, but through strength, perseverance, and the guidance of a bilingual elementary school teacher, Hilda found academic success. After professional achievements in the male-dominated corporate sector, Hilda returned to school and earned a Master’s in Administration and Social Policy at Harvard University.

Interviewer:

Sara Newstein

Interview Date:

Mon, 08/06/2018

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Education

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Parlee Jones

Shelter Advocate, Abby's House

I lived with my mom and you know how that goes once you're grown and you have two kids. So they let me move in with my sister when my mom was like, “You gotta go.” And I got back on my feet in that space. My kids went to school. Single mom, I'm still a single mom. And Abby's gave me the courage and the strength to be able to walk on my own. Through my time here at 77 I actually got a Section 8 certificate and found an apartment moved on, blah blah blah and all that good stuff. And Abby's asked me to come back and be on the board of directors. So I did that for a while, they always have a representative from the women who serve on the board and that was my job. And I’m honored and humbled and then I did that and Tess Sneesby said, “We have an opening for shelter advocates, you should come and do that.” And I was like, “Tess, I'm a secretary. I don't know anything about that.” And she said, “Well, you'll be fine. Just come on and do it.” And they offered me a couple more dollars than I was getting at Head Start so I took that role on and here I still am. So guess I'm supposed to be here.

Parlee Jones was born in Leominster, MA in 1966 and moved to Worcester, MA as an infant. Except for spending eleven years in Brooklyn, NY, Parlee has spent nearly her whole life in Worcester. Parlee currently serves as a shelter advocate at Abby’s House women’s shelter in Worcester and has served in this position for over ten years. She describes how activism changed the course of her life. In Brooklyn, she encountered community organizations and a sense of pride in Black culture, which she worked to bring with her back to Worcester.

Interviewer:

Sara Newstein

Interview Date:

Mon, 07/16/2018

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Jones

Brenda Jenkins

Health & Wellness Coordinator,YMCA; Co-founder, Mosaic Cultural Complex

MWOC [Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition] and Mosaic would be two organizations that I would love to do full time, if it is in God's will to do that, because of finally being in an environment of like-minded women who are in these institutions and looking at the different generations of women coming together and being able to create a paradigm shift that will make change for women of color. And that's power to me.

Brenda Jenkins was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and currently works as the Health and Wellness Coordinator at the YMCA. This interview follows the professional and personal story of Brenda Jenkins Co-founder of Mosaic Cultural Complex and Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition (MWOC). Ms. Jenkins details her upbringing growing up in Worcester’s diverse neighborhoods. Ms. Jenkins describes what it meant to grow up in vibrant African American community, brimming with black-owned businesses and social activism. Ms.

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Mon, 07/30/2018

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Jenkins

Judith Hanlon

Pastor, Hadwen Park Congregational Church

I started hearing about peacemaking instead of peacekeeping. And Jesus was a peacemaker not a peacekeeper. He didn't not talk about it, you didn't, "Shhh, shhh, shhh," which is what "good Christians" do, but you grab this one and you grab that one and you come together and we make peace. And it’s the hardest work you will ever do, but that’s what Jesus did.

This interview follows the story of Judith K. Hanlon better known in the Worcester community as Pastor Judy of Hadwen Park Congregational Church. Pastor Judy discusses her upbringing, particularly the importance the church had over her childhood and its impact on her professional path. Pastor Judy also details her personal journeys and explains that nothing can truly be planned, and one must learn from the highs and lows of life.

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Tue, 05/29/2018

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Hanlon

Tina Gaffney

Actress, Activist, Educator

If I am not helping people I am figuring out a way to help people. If people tell me they need help I am helping them find resources. That has been in my social justice work, my theater work, kind of a running theme in my life. I mean my grandma has a saying, “If you are not sleeping you are working, if you are not working you are sleeping,” that’s pretty much me, first one in, last one to leave. I am always working on something to enrich people’s lives and make the quality of their lives better which kind of leads me to my social justice/mission statement which is, “To be enriched by other people I interact with and hopefully to interact with them as well and continually make people’s lives better.”

Tina E. Gaffney, originally from San Antonio, Texas, is an established actress, activist, and educator. In this interview, Ms. Gaffney details her vibrant history in the world of social change. Similarly, Ms. Gaffney explores her admiration for the world of theater and its ability to change audiences’ perspectives. This interview also discusses Ms. Gaffney’s views on issues such as racism, sexism, and socio-economic disparities and the forms they impact the educational system. Ms. Gaffney believes “meat on the bones” theater and social activism have the capacity to establish real change.

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Tue, 05/22/2018

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Gaffney

Darrigrand, Denise

Former Dean of Students, Clark University; Community Activist

The first thing I did was join a group called Jericho Road, which is now called ONE Worcester, and ONE stands for organization for non-profit excellence and so what we do is, we match up non-profits with skill based volunteers. So we have somebody who is really good at fundraising and this group is having a really hard time fundraising, we match them up together. I've been on that board for three years. Another one of the first things I did was go back to the LGBT Asylum Task Force because I had been involved with them while I was at Clark because one of my students was connected with them. I walked back in that door and thought, "I'm home, this is where I need to be, this is the work, I need to be doing.” So I rejoined that group and now I chair the Steering Committee which is the group that oversees it and it is maybe the best thing I've ever done in my life. I've gotten really, really close to the asylum seekers, they are the bravest, most resilient people I've ever met in my life, their stories are so compelling, and they’re just so strong.

This interview details Denise Darrigrand’s journey as a curious social sciences undergraduate to an on the ground social activist. Ms. Darrigrand, former Dean of Students at Clark University located in Worcester, Massachusetts, has worked most of her life towards the betterment of her students. A triple major in sociology, anthropology, and psychology while an undergraduate, Ms. Darrigrand has used her diverse educational perspectives to help various marginalized communities throughout Worcester county.

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Thu, 05/31/2018

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Darrigrand, Denise

Maritza Cruz

Director of Racial & Gender Equality, YWCA; Co-founder, Latino History Project

What I do here dovetails perfectly with my life work. I am going to be one of those people, ninety years old volunteering somewhere, fighting for what is just, for what is equity. I will continue to do that. And I look at it this way, whatever knowledge I have acquired in this life—and I have been very blessed—I have a torch and I refuse to pass that torch on, I really do. Because I want you to light from it and then someone lights from you and they keep lighting and lighting. Eventually what is going to happen, you are going to see all this light, all this light that is going to be fighting against oppression and inequities and injustice. So, I love what I do here, I love what I do in my life.

Maritza Cruz, Director of Racial and Gender Equality of YWCA of Central Massachusetts and co-founder of the Latino History Project of Worcester, is a trail blazing organizer working within her hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts. She was also the first female and the first Latina person to be a Director with the Worcester Housing Authority. Ms. Cruz discusses her decades long fight for racial and gender equity in the City of Worcester.

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Fri, 07/13/2018

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