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The Danvers Democrat Town Committee Caucus elected 10 delegates to represent Danvers at the Democrat Convention to be held on June 4 at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Sixteen candidates addressed the committee via Zoom. In order of appearance, the candidates addressing the DDTC were:

• Joan Lovely – candidate for re-election as State Senator from 2nd Essex District
• Sally Kerans – candidate for re-election as State Representative from 13th Essex District
• Paul Tucker – candidate for Essex County District Attorney
• Shannon Liss-Riordan – candidate for Attorney General
• Quentin Palfrey – candidate for Attorney General
• Adams Hines – candidate for Lt. Governor
• Diana DiZoglio – candidate for Auditor
• Sonia Chang-Diaz – candidate for Governor
• Eric Lesser – candidate for Lt. Governor
• Bret Bero – candidate for Lt. Governor
• Maura Healey – – candidate for Governor
• Chris Dempsey – candidate for Auditor
• Tami Gouvela – candidate for Lt. Governor
• Andrea Campbell – candidate for Attorney General
• Kevin Coppinger – candidate for re-election as Essex County Sheriff
• Kim Driscoll – candidate for Lt. Governor

The committee elected 10 delegates to represent Danvers at the State Convention. They are:

• Lou Bernazzani
• Joe Caiazzo
• Nicole Caiazzo
• Beatrice Clark
• Gerald Clark
• Kasey Desmond
• Beth Kontos
• Vince Malgeri
• Carla Meagher
• Tom Meagher

State Committee Members Marilyn Hazel, Julie Curtis and Rani Jacobsen will attend the convention plus Sally Kerans, State Rep for 13th Essex District and Joan Lovely, State Senator from 2nd Essex District

State House News Service The Senate approved two bills Thursday that would set aside on the calendar a pair of ceremonial days related to Black history in Massachusetts.

Under a measure originally filed by Sen. Cindy Friedman (S 2704), July 8 would be observed as Massachusetts Emancipation Day. Sen. Joan Lovely said that day would honor Quock Walker, whose case before the Supreme Judicial Court in 1783 established the legal precedent in this state that slavery was “in direct conflict with the commonwealth’s newly-minted Constitution.”

“And yet, most people are completely unfamiliar with the case and with Quock Walker. That’s why bringing awarenessto Quock Walker and his story is so incredibly important,” Lovely said on the Senate floor. “It shines a bright light on an important part of our history in the commonwealth, a part of our history that has been kept in the shadows or simply ignored for too long.”

Last month, the House gave its initial approval to a bill (H 3117) designating July 8 as Massachusetts Emancipation Day a.k.a. Quock Walker Day. Under S 2703, the third Saturday in July would be observed by a ceremonial proclamation as Negro Election Day in recognition of “the adoption of the first black voting system.”

Lovely said that starting in 1740, enslaved people from Salem and across the region would hold an annual electionto choose their own king or governor. That event eventually became the Black Picnic still held each summer in Salem.

“As we celebrate Black History Month, it is

critical that we acknowledge and celebrate the many ways that African Americans have fought for change and pushed our country and commonwealth forward,” Lovely said.

~ Sam Doran/SHNS

copyright (c) 2022 Salem Evening News, Edition 2/18/2022