Tables Upon Tables is bringing Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa to Massachusetts to share her remarkable knowledge and experience in protecting facts and standing up to a dictator.
ABOUT TABLES UPON TABLES (TXT)
For over two years, Homes for All MA, Alternatives for Community and Environment, New England Community Project, MA Voter Table and T4MA have been forging a powerful alliance, uniting diverse grassroots efforts to confront urgent challenges and cultivate a movement for lasting change.
We’re facing unprecedented challenges and a systematic dismantling of fundamental rights and vital programs. These aren’t abstract issues; they directly impact the wellbeing of our communities and the very fabric of our society.
By weaving our diverse efforts together, we’re building a grassroots movement rooted in deep connections that is ready to meet challenges head on to boldly uplift everyone we serve. We’re uniting to harness our collective power in a strategic effort to protect our communities and the values we hold.
This is our powerful act of collective resilience.
THE 4 PILLARS OF OUR MOVEMENT
We are building a movement around these 4 pillars:
Housing is consistently the number one issue for people across the state, and it is an existential crisis in the communities we organize, in particular in Black, Brown, and Asian Pacific Islander working-class communities.
Housing is fundamental to people’s ability to live, work, and thrive in our state, but it is a complex issue with many solutions. We need to continue working to make housing more affordable and high-quality for our communities, and come together to fight for the solutions that mobilize our people and allow them to stay here in our cities and state.
Transportation justice is environmental, housing, health, and climate justice. Often, transportation is talked about separately, removed from our other concerns and realities. The truth is transportation is the through-line that connects us to our homes, jobs, medical needs, and opportunities.
Although often taken for granted, transportation has a direct impact on our quality of life. Transportation connects us to places, families, our workplaces, healthcare facilities, and more. To effectively advocate for transportation justice, we must know its pervasiveness
and potential.
The impacts of climate change are not felt equally – vulnerable and marginalized communities often face the greatest risks and deepest consequences. From compromised housing and transportation systems to degraded air quality and public health, climate change weaves through every aspect of our lives. It influences financial systems, housing stability, and workforce development, connecting issues that might otherwise seem separate.
With extreme weather events, rising costs of living, and widening inequities intensifying the crisis, the urgency for action has never been greater. Climate change serves as the “glue” that links all policy areas, while also
acting as a powerful disruptor. TXT examines the intersections of climate with economic justice, housing, public health, and infrastructure, and seeks strategies for building resilient, equitable systems that leave no community behind.
Our goal is create a space where everyone – especially communities historically excluded from power – has a real voice in the decisions that shape their lives. Rooted in housing justice, transportation equity, and climate action, our fight for democracy means ensuring that public systems and resources serve the public good, not private interests.
It is the belief that safe, affordable housing is a right; that transportation connects people to opportunity without harm or displacement and that climate solutions prioritize frontline communities most impacted by pollution and extreme weather. Our fight for democracy calls for transparent governance, community-led planning, and policies that redistribute power and investment to those who have been marginalized.
For our first convening of 2026, Tables Upon Tables brings together community movement leaders and Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa on April 27th, Monday.
A global figure of democracy and press freedom, Maria will talk about what it takes to counter misinformation, manage narrative warfare and how to overcome a dictator.
This is an invitation only event.
Every year, we seek to bring together community and grassroots leaders all over the state to be in space, to strategize and to be re-energized. We started this practice in 2025 and we hope to continue to host these convening for tables upon table of power.
Please direct any questions to tablesupontables@t4ma.org