Written by Barbara Smith,
Activist and Blogger
https://www.facebook.com/HWdemocrats/
In the beginning,
When I first learned about the creation of the Hamilton Wenham Human Rights Coalition (HWHRC) back in 2020, I was excited. This was shortly after Hamilton and Wenham residents and the police departments united to condemn the murder of George Floyd. I assumed that the human rights coalition had the simple goal of providing victims of hate crimes support and resources. I assumed that the function of the coalition was to unite – not divide the towns.
But, I was wrong,
The leaders of the HWHRC had an agenda to create a non-profit, 501 (C) (4) political lobbying group that receives “dark monies”. I had no idea why they needed money in the first place since I assumed that they were just a community human rights watchdog group. I read up on THIS and explained what “dark money” is all about in this post
The following demonstrates how a 501 (C) (4) can operate: (info from :501(c)(4)s: The Good, the Bad and the Flat Out Illegal – The Metropreneur
Let’s say your public school uniform plan is not getting any traction, and you can’t find any candidates that want to take on your cause. So, you go find some. You tell individuals that if they are willing to run for office, you will fund their entire campaign as well as attack ads against their opponents. In return, once in office, they must pass your proposed legislation. They agree. In order to further distance yourself and your candidates from the 501(c)(4) you create additional 501(c)(4)s— all funded through the original. One 501(c)(4) donates directly to the candidates’ campaigns, another buys attack ads against your candidates’ opponents, and another buys the commercials telling viewers to support the legislation. You succeed. Your candidates are in office, and you are rich.
So the Hamilton Wenham Human Rights Coalition has “dark money available for their candidates of their choosing….. These candidates pledge to this group of apparently faith-based, secretive, unelected leaders. Their goal is to replace any remaining independent thinkers on the Board of Select, School Committee and Planning Board with their followers.
The HWHRC Agenda
Over the past 2 years I ‘ve watched the growth of hate and division as the Coalition leaders organized and bullied their way into power. According to them
They are always right, dissent is not allowed, even worse you may get labeled as a “racist” and “classist” . I was banned from their Facebook page because I stated that I did not support their candidate.
They decide what students need to learn. They get to decide that teaching proper pronoun usage is more important than spending time analyzing history, literature and both sides of political issues. If students don’t want this agenda or refuse to sign student pledge requests, they risk being bullied and ostracized.
They decide what the residents of Hamilton feel, think and how to honor native americans with a specific proclamation and if you don’t you must be anti-native American.
They decide what flags to fly at town hall and school buildings and if you don’t want flags (I don’t) then you must be anti-human rights, right?
They decide who gets elected to office. The political lobbyist HWHRC had a big voice in the recent state representative race, and MONEY. Money is very important in reaching voters with postcards, signs and ads.
The Hamilton Wenham Human Rights Coalition and Hamilton Human Rights Commission are intermingled . The lines between the groups are blurred and they no longer exist for the benefit of Hamilton and Wenham. They have their own agenda and their pledge signers answer to THEM.
Here are the pledgers….. who answer to the Coalition instead of you and me, the VOTERS….
https://www.hwhumanrights.org/elections-candidates
The Hamilton Human Rights Commission is supposed to be under the auspices of the elected town officials. Yet, one Select Board member is married to a Coalition leader . The are both people of faith which is great, but what about the separation of church and state? While their efforts to fight hate and discrimination is impressive, it is not appropriate to bring their faith into the government sphere.
The three men on the Board of Select rejected including women and atheists as protected classes in the Hamilton human rights policy. Why does a so-called human rights organization get to decide WHO is worthy of their protection , money and political influence-
Hamilton Wenham Human Rights Coalition and Hamilton Human Rights Commission appear to be “faith based”
I claim this based on the fact that the tax funded Hamilton Human Rights Commission refuses to specify women and atheists as protected classes in the policy. The Commission is funded by our tax money that pays salaries to our officials. What right do they have to deny women and atheists recognition as a protected class? If THEY ARE GOING TO SPECIFY INCLUDING EX-CONVICTS- THEN THEY CAN INCLUDE ALL MARGINALIZED CLASSES !!!
The Coalition and Commission ARE not Independent of each other
Im sharing a screen shot that a concerned citizen sent to me. It is an email from around June 2020 when Anna Siedzik was working with town manager Joe to figure out how to avoid town oversight. I underlined the disturbing sentence indicating her goal of having both the Coalition and Commission under one sail.
Vote April 7th
The Coalition and Commission are doing everything they can to replace independent minded candidates for town offices with their followers. They are a self-righteous group who believes ONLY they are right and everyone else is wrong. This sounds like cult behavior… That is not how democracy should work. Please let your voices be heard at the ballot box.