“Pundits, if you want to talk about re-enfranchising folks let’s talk. Did you know in my state there wasn’t a law on the books that explicitly banned those incarcerated from voting until 2001? That law was a fearful response to those on the inside at MCI Norfolk ORGANIZING.”

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When inmates at MCI Norfolk, the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Norfolk, Mass., started forming a political action committee, suddenly prisoners had their rights stripped.

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“They were calling for a more just system and humane treatment of those incarcerated,” Pressley continued. “They were reaching for the ballot to fight modern-day slavery. As a nation we are facing a mass incarceration crisis that destroys families and communities.

“Don’t dare invoke one of the darkest days of terrorism in MY city,” she clapped back, “to stoke fear and derail a meaningful conversation about fundamental rights & what justice looks like for the 1000s of black & brown folks who are stripped of their liberty & civic participation for minor offenses.”

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Ayanna Pressley said what she said, she wrote what she wrote, and she means it.

Correction: Sept. 21, 2019, 12:03 p.m. ET: This story has been edited to remove unattributed text and to add fuller sourcing.