Ready for Reform: An interview with Senator-elect Kendra Anderson

“I don’t have career goals in politics – I’m just doing this because I want better for people.” says State Senator-elect Kendra Anderson summing up her reasons for running for office. She has a background as an educator, a lifelong activist, and most recently the President of Climate Action RI.

Anderson was elected last month in Senate District 31, a district that includes the Cowesett, Greenwood, Norwood, Lakewood, and Pawtuxet Village neighborhoods of Warwick. She defeated Reublican Scott
Zambarano for the seat formerly occupied by (soon-to-be RI Supreme Court Judge) Erin Lynn Prata. The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Alex Kithes (Motif): You’ve been a lifelong activist for a lot of different causes. Tell me a little about that.

Kendra Anderson: I’ve been an activist on and off throughout my lifetime, having grown up in a family that really prioritized community service and civic involvement. I started off very young, protesting the Vietnam War, and progressed onto environmental issues in the late 1970s. I brought up my son and worked, and wasn’t doing as much activism during that time period. When it became obvious that the climate crisis was indeed becoming a catastrophe, I knew it was time to get back involved. I started getting more actively involved back in 2010, protesting the LNG facility near
the East Bay. We were successful in that protest, and I moved into more climate change-intensive issues — and on to this election!

AK: You and I met almost three years ago when I joined Climate Action RI, an organization that you became president of shortly thereafter. How does the climate crisis factor into your run, your support for new senate leadership, and how you’re going to legislate going forward?

KA: It figures in prominently. I did run for and become president of Climate Action Rhode Island, after working for a year on issues around climate change that were important to Rhode Island. I knew that I had to step up my involvement and really put my whole self into fighting for a
sustainable future for our children and grandchildren. I felt it was my responsibility to do everything I could to fix this problem. When it became obvious that our General Assembly in Rhode Island was not interested in diving deep into the causes of climate change and what we needed to do to change that, I just decided: OK, this is my next step. I’ve been going to the State House, I’ve been advocating for bills, I’ve been doing the hard work as a resident of Rhode Island – and nothing seems to be happening.

So I am going to try to be a legislator, and see if I can affect change that way. Actually, my entry into the campaign was motivated by my own State Senator not doing anything about climate change. I felt that, no matter what, knowing that she had an opponent would help to move the conversation along — and if nothing else, that would be an accomplishment. Indeed, that happened. Early on in the 2020 legislative session, she became a cosponsor of the Act on Climate bill.

AK: What other issues inspired you to run as a first-time candidate this cycle?

KA: The climate crisis motivated my run, but when I started looking at all the issues that are so closely entwined with climate change – climate injustice, social injustice, racial injustice – there was far more motivation to stay in the race. Education is an important one. Though I am not a
public school teacher, I am a teacher in financially underserved communities.We know that the heart of a community, of a healthy community, is a strong school system. We know that economic prosperity is based on a strong educational system. That is so important to me as well.

AK: You ran with the Rhode Island Political Cooperative. The organization achieved quite a few big wins this year, both in the primary and general elections. What was it like, running as part of such a big team of GA candidates, and now getting ready to govern together? Do you see the organization growing and continuing to flip seats in 2022 and beyond? How do you see this factoring into the leadership discussion?

KA: Running with the Rhode Island Political Cooperative felt monumental in many ways; and on the flip side, so comfortable. There was something about modeling to our state, to our districts, for the people, how it is to work in cooperation, to support each other, and create policies that are formed by consensus in a group. As an educator, I loved that I was part of an organization that was trying to change not only how we look at things, but how we do things and how we treat one another. We work as a team with differing ideas on how to get something done. We came from all different cultures, and we learned how to negotiate and navigate through that so we could present one strong front. That was really exciting, to work in a cooperative setting that had the goal of bringing the best to Rhode Island. It wasn’t about each of us scoring a win for our careers. We all wanted the same thing: what’s best for Rhode Island and the people of Rhode
Island.

To have so many people win our first time out shows that people were hungry for that. That our communities – our neighborhoods – wanted to have that feeling of being part of this system, and feel they were actually being listened to (we very much encouraged people to come on in and
get involved).

That’s what motivated me, and honestly thrilled me to talk to people every day. Even my campaign changed with what my neighbors were saying. They told me what they needed to see changed. I think it’s highly likely that the success that the Political Cooperative enjoyed in 2020 will be
reproduced in 2022. I don’t think people are done wanting to be part of the process, and wanting to see meaningful change.

AK: Your opponent in the general, Scott Zambarano, has been making some waves on social media. What was your experience, as a Progressive Democratic woman, running with him as an opponent?

KA: Our political process – our democracy – is created to give everyone a chance to participate and bring their ideas to the table. Unfortunately, in the last four years – it’s probably been going on longer, but it’s been popularized in the last four years – is a style of campaigning, legislating and leading, which deals with inflammatory personal attacks that have nothing to do with getting the best for the people of your district or state. My opponent ran his campaign that way.

I chose to ignore it most of the time, and told my campaigners that, out there, we’re talking about our campaign and about the positive we’re going to bring this district. But what he did was spin his wheels, and he continues to do so, because he wasn’t going to bring positive change to the district. And I think that talking about positive change is the only way you win an election! What “positive change” is may be different for different people, but in our district, people understand what’s going on. I think it’s unfortunate that any negative energy is still being expended – and I
pretty much ignore it.

AK: How did you make the decision to vote for Senator Goldin for Senate President and Senator Calkin for Senate Majority Leader? Where do you see existing leadership has failed, and where would new leadership do better?

KA: In 2018, I participated in the process of trying to reform the rules at the State House, and bring some change to how decisions were made by legislators. I started to understand how much power just one or two people have in making decisions for everyone in Rhode Island, and how it is no
longer democratic when something like that happens. I had mostly followed the House on those rules changes – and not as many happened as we wanted to see. Focusing on the Senate, and even just trying to get environmental legislation out of committee, I saw that the rules were not
designed to do that. It was designed for one or two people to decide what made it to the floor.

That did not make me happy – I don’t see it as democracy. So when I decided to run for office, part of it was to break up the decision-making that is only at the top, and bring some leadership to the rest of the Senate. I made that a campaign promise, that I would not vote for the current
Senate President or Majority Leader; that I thought the system needed drastic reforming, and that we needed someone new – who believed in democracy the way I did – to bring that forward.

Gayle Goldin bravely stood up to be that person in a sea of people who were not going to support her, and the newly elected progressives decided that they were going to support her. I was very proud – I remember waking up the day of the Democratic Caucus, and excitedly realizing it was the day I got to fulfill my first campaign promise and vote for a new leader. I was really nervous, because I knew I was doing a nominating speech, but I was excited to take that stand, and take it from conversations at my constituents’ doors and do what I promised I was going to do! It felt
right, and I was never unsure of that vote.

I was also disappointed that, in both the House and Senate, the majority leaders were both men, and status quo Democrats. I felt it was important to represent progressives as well. Jeanine is an experienced, progressive leader who I supported to bring some balance to the Senate and help
move progressive legislation to the floor for debate.

AK: Senate Leadership seemed to change their tone after the caucus, between talking about a $15 minimum wage and Senate Majority Leader McCaffrey tweeting about the “existential threat” of climate change. Are you optimistic about these changes?

KA: What’s great is the words have been uttered. So at least we can use that, if nothing else, to leverage.

AK: What are you planning on working on this term in the State Senate?

KA: Environmental legislation, of course, and any kind of jobs plan that ties into what we’ve known as a Green New Deal. I like to think of it as a jobs program that is changing the systems and structures to bring more prosperity to everyone, with the health and safety of people and our
planet. Anything that accomplishes that, I’m signing on!

I’m also really hoping that the rules will change within the General Assembly, so that more people can be a part of the decision-making process. Also, a $15 minimum wage, fairly taxing the highest 1% of earners in Rhode Island, and concentrating on education – including bringing an environmental and climate change curriculum to all schools.

AK: Is there anything that you want to say that we haven’t covered?

KA: One thing that I feel good about is the amount of women that are stepping up, and are in leadership in the State of Rhode Island. I’m not going to say that just “women leaders” are the end-all-be-all because there are some that have destructive policies and behavior. But what’s
great is that we are starting to be in places of power, for good or for bad, and it’s starting to reflect the communities, the neighborhoods and the state of Rhode Island.

We’re 50% or more of the population, so that is a good sign. It means that people who have been disenfranchised in the past – people of color, mostly women of color – are starting to get into seats of power. That is another thrilling thing for me. I honestly believe that those who haven’t
really had a say in any of what happens to their communities, should be the ones that are creating the laws that are impacting people.
And at the end of the day, I don’t have career goals in politics – I’m just doing this because I want better for people.

Alex Kithes is a member of the RI Political Cooperative and Climate Action RI.