Newsletter no. 4

6 min read

Author

Marcos Candido
July 29, 2025

Rallying Together

Campaign Updates!

Folk Fest week has been quite the quick one! I have spent the week either knocking doors or growing our coalition! While talking to neighbors, I become more convinced that we are ready for and want change to be implemented now.

I also took part in a debate this past Saturday alongside incumbent Descoteaux and challenger Maldonado. I'll be posting clips of the event throughout the week, so make sure to follow my socials. TLDR; Our city is facing multiple crises and as city councilor, I would be a principled voice doing everything in my power to push the city in the right direction.

And last but not least: my campaign kick off event is at Tyler Park this Saturday from 4-8 PM! There will be free food, live music by local bands, local vendors, and a chance to speak with me!

Peace Now, And Forever

Our past and present have been defined by wars. And if we continue on this path, so will our futures. It's at our door step, we bring it to everyone’s doorstep. Politicians say they hate it but behind doors fund and create it. We must recognize our power in numbers, and work across international lines, to create a better world.

Lowell, a gateway city home to many who have fled wars, is an especial refuge for Cambodians. Fleeing the U.S. backed Khmer Rouge’s Cambodian genocide, many started their new lives in Lowell. For this reason, I draw attention to the recent Thailand-Cambodia border conflict, a consequence of senseless border creations by French imperialists over a hundred years ago.

After days of terror and blood shed, I am relieved at the news of a ceasefire agreement between the two nations. The reignition of this conflict which has suddenly upturned tens of thousands of lives must serve as a reminder for why peace and cooperation is the only way forward.

As a Mexican and Brazilian, I am no stranger to the violence which borders bring. Our entire world is marked by the scars of imperialism and for too long, the working class of this world have killed each other over borders drawn by foreigners of the past with no connection or care for the shared history and cultural ties between peoples.

Borders are vestiges of the past, catalyzing conflicts over resources and separating communities from our heritage. When we recognize this, we create a world where not only Thai and Cambodian people - but all people across borders can live in peace!

For too long, we have inherited hate and waged wars that further divide us. We are all more alike than we may believe. We all want a simple, happy, and dignified life and only when we come together and reject division, will we finally end these bloody conflicts and thrive together.

Let us look no further than Lowell, a melting pot of displaced peoples, as a beacon which carries the message “one people, one earth.”

The land is for us all. Our rivers run irrespective of borders. Our temples and monuments are to be worshipped and marveled by all of us. We are one people on one earth, and when we march together, we are powerful.

Budget Shortfalls

In this past year alone, we crudely cut down on the number of public health nurses as well as the school budget by millions of dollars. We must do everything we can to make sure those aspects which make a city thrive such as our healthcare and public education system, community programs, and public transportation are well funded. Not once in history has budget cuts to critical services ever helped a city thrive or even barely survive. Austerity is a neoliberal lie which will negatively impact every single member of our society, especially our most vulnerable community members.

However, the irony is that we did not cut our budget - we increased it a “fiscally responsible” amount - so how is it that we are losing public health nurses and our school system is facing a budget cut of millions of dollars? Even with added money, budget redistributions demonstrate our clear lack of value for social services. Have we learned nothing from history? Have we forgotten the importance of properly funding healthcare, schooling, public transportation, and community programs? Cuts to these initiatives will only put our city in a death spiral. If we are to redistribute our resources, let us allow the public to comment on what they feel needs to be prioritized. 

Second, it is of utmost importance to make sure those in public office can be held accountable for the decisions they make, supposedly in the interest of the public. For this reason, our residents deserve accessible, understandable, and translated notes from public meetings because the informed vote is a core tenet of a truly democratic society.

The government of this city has not acted in the best interest of all its citizens and this must change.

Donations and Mutual Aid

The Saturday cookout would not be possible without the generous support you all are providing! If you believe, as I believe, that we can win this race and are able to support the campaign with a donation, you can do so here. 

Additionally, please consider donating to mutual aid efforts! Donating to those in need, either within your community or abroad, is a major way to show support to those people our governments are failing. With the recent border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia in mind which has impacted so many within my community, please consider donating to this local call for aid that will help those affected by the recent blood shed.

For quote of the week: the great decolonial theorist Frantz Fanon. No stranger to French imperialism, Fanon speaks of the need to reject the two poor choices we are given – to either win or lose a war– and to march together to make possible a third option - a peaceful and prosperous international cooperation.

“In order to terminate this neurotic situation, in which I am compelled to choose an unhealthy, conflictual solution, fed on fantasies, hostile, inhuman in short, I have only one solution: to rise above this absurd drama that others have staged around me, to reject the two terms that are equally unacceptable, and through one human being, to reach out for the universal.”

Let us reach out and create the universal, together.

In Peace,

Marcos Antonio Candido Jr.