Massachusetts AG hopeful weathered traumatic family history

BOSTON (AP) — Well earlier than she launched her marketing campaign for the highest legislation enforcement submit in Massachusetts, Andrea Campbell carried along with her the burden of a life haunted by the specter of crime and the felony justice system.

When she was only a youngster, Campbell’s father was despatched to jail for eight years. Her mom died in a automotive accident on the best way to go to him, forcing Campbell and her brothers to reside with kin and in foster care.

Much later, her twin brother would die in police custody, and her older brother would face prices in a string of alleged rapes.

Despite the trauma and dislocation, the Democratic candidate for legal professional normal — who grew up within the Roxbury and South End neighborhoods of Boston, town’s conventional heart of Black life — was capable of finding a really totally different path, fueled by success in school, the assistance of family members and lecturers, and her talent at leaping rope.

“One thing I do frequently is share my story because I think there are so many who carry their story with a sense of shame and don’t want to talk about it, including the criminal aspects of my family,” she stated in an interview with The Associated Press. “But there is no shame in one sharing their story. There is power in it.”

Campbell’s Republican opponent, Jay McMahon, stated a tragedy in his personal life — the demise of his son, Joel, from an opioid overdose in 2008 — was a motivating think about his choice to run.

McMahon stated his son served within the Army through the U.S. invasion of Iraq, making all of it the best way to Baghdad earlier than being injured and prescribed oxycontin, to which he ultimately turned addicted.

Campbell, 40, attended town’s prestigious public examination faculty, Boston Latin School, which led her to Princeton University, UCLA Law School and a submit within the administration of former Gov. Deval Patrick. She turned the primary Black girl president of the Boston City Council and launched a failed bid for mayor final 12 months.

It was by way of the intervention of family members, employers and lecturers that Campbell was capable of navigate that path. She recalled one instructor and her husband who purchased her garments in order that as she traveled to take part in Double Dutch competitions she may additionally go to schools.

Campbell stated she’s discovered to show private ache into a bigger goal, even after her brother, Alvin Campbell Jr., was arrested for allegedly posing as a ride-hailing driver and kidnapping and raping a lady in search of a journey house after leaving a Boston nightclub. Other comparable prices would observe.

Campbell stated she had her younger son in her arms when she discovered of the arrest.

“I was holding him, literally getting ready to nurse him, when I got the call about my older brother and his arrest, and it was heart-wrenching,” Campbell stated.

“And then immediately like I’ve done throughout my life, I had to say, ‘OK, now what are you going to do with this?’” she added. “Yes I have to deal with my own trauma and pain, which I encourage everyone to do, but it’s an opportunity to go deeper … to make sure we are breaking cycles of violence, of criminalization and so much more.”

She stated she hasn’t spoken to her brother since his arrest.

“I view my older brother’s charges and what is happening there as just another brother lost, which is sad and tragic for me,” she stated. “So now I have two brothers who are lost.”

Campbell, married with two younger boys, stated she applauds the braveness of any girl who comes ahead to share critical allegations of sexual assault, including: “We need to probably start from a place of believing them. I’ve made that crystal clear.”

Although she didn’t run to be the state’s first Black girl AG, if she wins, the excellence issues, stated Campbell, who has vowed to view her job by way of what she calls an “equity lens.”

“On the campaign trail, when people would say what are the top three issues you would address, I would never list racial disparities because living in this gender and this skin, it should be the norm of the office to always be closing racial gaps, to always be taking on sexism or gender or sexual discrimination,” she stated.

Campbell, who stated her religion is one other supply of energy, additionally has pledged to make use of the workplace to sort out points which will have been ignored by different AGs. Those embrace jail reform, juvenile justice, well being disparities and economics within the state’s rural communities.

When she obtained into hassle in school, she stated, she was handled in another way than her twin brother, Andre. She was sometimes despatched to speak to somebody, whereas Andre usually confronted a suspension and expulsion listening to.

Many who reside in communities of shade are annoyed with what Campbell describes as a scarcity of accountability about how crimes are prosecuted, feeling over-policed and over-incarcerated. She stated it’s too straightforward to forged these areas as overrun by mobs or gangs.

“I push back on that narrative because I live in one of those communities,” she stated. “You have folks working two or three jobs, working hard every single day to make sure they are delivering for their families, for their children and for their community.”

On the marketing campaign path, McMahon has tried to painting Campbell as delicate on crime.

“We have a crime wave right now and Andrea Campbell wants to take away qualified immunity and defund the police,” he stated. “I’ll never defund the cops.”

Campbell stated what she desires is to verify nobody is above the legislation, together with public staff, elected officers and the police.

She additionally stated she hopes her story can function inspiration.

“If you look at my life, it is a model and an example of what opportunity can do to move someone out of a very tragic upbringing of trauma, pain, suffering, loss to assist them in reaching their dreams and potential,” she stated.

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Learn extra concerning the points and components at play within the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections. And observe the AP’s election protection of the 2022 elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections.