Gloria Fox
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Gloria Lavera Fox is a former Massachusetts state representative for the 7th Suffolk District,. Fox represented the 7th Suffolk District from 1987 until her retirement in 2016.


Early and personal life

Fox was born on March 18, 1942. Raised as a foster child, Fox attended Boston and Everett public schools. She has also completed the MIT Community Fellows program. As a single mother, she raised two sons in the Whittier Street Housing Development in Roxbury. She worked as a community organizer before entering politics. She was active in the fight to stop the Southwest Expressway.


Political career

Fox first ran for the 7th Suffolk seat in 1984, losing a write-in campaign against six-term incumbent and Democratic nominee Doris Bunte. Fox ran for the seat again in 1986, when Bunte announced her retirement from the legislature. Fox won the three-way Democratic primary and also the general election, where she was unopposed. Fox faces two challengers in the 2012 primaries, her first contested primary race since 1994. Fox served on the Joint Committee on Housing as vice chair, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, the House Committee on Steering, Policy and Scheduling, and the House Committee on Ways and Means. Her legislative work on criminal justice reform, child welfare and foster care, redistricting, Election Day voter registration, and eliminating
health disparities Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequiti ...
in communities of color. When Fox retired from her seat in 2016, she was the longest serving woman on in the
Great and General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, w ...
. Fox was a member of the Boston Delegation of the Massachusetts Legislature, the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators, the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, and the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. Her papers are now held at the
State Library of Massachusetts The State Library of Massachusetts in Boston, Massachusetts was established in 1826 and "supports the research and information needs of government, libraries, and people through ... services and access to a comprehensive repository of state docum ...
. In 2009, Fox came under scrutiny for a visit she made to the
Old Colony Correctional Center Old Colony Correctional Center is a Massachusetts Department of Correction men's prison in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The medium security facility is located in a plot of land in the Bridgewater Correctional Complex with the Bridgewater State ...
in
Bridgewater, Massachusetts Bridgewater is a town located in Plymouth County, in the state of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's population was 28,633. Bridgewater is located approximately south of Boston and approximately 35 miles east ...
. While visiting inmate Darrell Jones, Fox was accompanied by Jones' girlfriend, Joanna Marinova. Fox was criticized for bringing Marinova into an unsecured area through her legislative privileges. Fox responded by denying any wrongdoing, and that she was unaware that Marinova was Jones' girlfriend. On March 19, 2014 a jury found the '' Boston Herald'' liable in the libel suit brought by Marinova, citing the fact that no sexual acts occurred while Fox and Marinova visited the prison, as the ''Herald'' had reported. Fox voted against casino gambling in Massachusetts, and opposed a 'three-strikes' bill that passed through the legislature and was signed by Governor Deval Patrick.


Awards

In 2011, Fox received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators for her community activism.


See also

*
List of Massachusetts General Courts The legislature of the U.S. state of Massachusetts is known as the General Court. It has a 40-member upper house (Massachusetts Senate) and a 160-member lower house (Massachusetts House of Representatives). Descended from the colonial legislatur ...
(1985-2016)


References


External links


Representative Fox's Facebook PageMassachusetts Legislature ProfileFox's Biography at Project Vote Smart
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Gloria 1942 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Activists from Boston Politicians from Boston Women state legislators in Massachusetts African-American state legislators in Massachusetts African-American women in politics 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women