When We Organize We Win! Back Story on Redistricting Changes from Chelsea Collaborative
The new redistricting maps came out and the plan won high praise from advocates of transparency and advocates for the establishment of some changes that would recognize the growing majority minority population in Massachusetts. As Steve Brown from WBUR reported
THE STATE HOUSE — The number of legislative districts with a majority-minority population will double next year under a plan unveiled on Beacon Hill. The proposal is being cheered by groups advocating increased minority representation. Right now 10 out of the 160 House districts in Massachusetts are defined as “majority-minority,” meaning that a majority of the residents there are African-American, Latino, Asian or another minority group. If the maps unveiled Tuesday afternoon are approved by the full Legislature and signed by the governor, there will be 20 such majority-minority districts in the House.
But not everybody was completly satisfied, including the Chelsea collaborative that wanted one preceinct shanged. They worked hard and organized a big coalition community leaders and learned the lesson of all organizers for justice 
In a true testament to the strength of community organizing, the Chelsea Collaborative's Chelsea Voter Initiative (CVI) responded by mobilizing the Latino and larger community to this late addition to the redistricting plan which would have been a huge blow to the voice and the voting power of the Latino community in Chelsea.
After 2 days of the release of the report, a delegation of 15 Latino community leaders were meeting with Representative Michael Moran, the head of the Redistricting Committee, to express their serious concerns about the potential relocation.
We brought this to the city's streets, the churches, the Spanish and English language media and to local and state government. Within 3 days we collected over 800 signatures on a petition and over 150 individual letters from voters of that neighborhood. We organized 100s of phone calls and dozens of emails to the Redistricting Committee.
At the CVI City Councillors Candidates' Forum, the candidates were asked their position on the proposed redistricting plan. Out of this came a unanimous Chelsea City Council resolution against the relocation. The Collaborative called on Representative O'Flaherty to meet with concerned voters and political leaders to urge that he advocate to keep the district in Chelsea. Representative Eugene O'Flaherty wrote a letter opposing the late redistricting proposal which complemented the groundswell of community opposition. We are grateful for the support of former City Councillors Roy Avellaneda and Juan R. Vega and our partners ¿Oiste? and NUBE.