The “Student Debt Cancellation Tour” rolled through Boston on Tuesday, 25 October 2022. The political mini-junket featured appearances by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D), aiming to promote President Biden’s Student Debt Relief Plan.

First stop of the day was the Grove Hall branch of the Boston Public Library, situated at the border of the neighborhoods Roxbury and Dorchester. A gaggle of press and concerned citizens gathered around the empty speaker pit, waiting on the arrival of the Senator and Representative.

The pair were introduced by local political luminares ex-Mayor of Boston Kim Janey and President of the Boston branch of the NAACP (and loser of the 2022 Democratic primary for Secretary of State) Tanisha Sullivan.

A major theme of the day was the intersectional nature of student debt relief, combining both economic and racial justice goals.

In a nod to the diverse community in the room and outside the library walls, Sen. Warren acknowledged the disproportionate burden that communities of color shoulder in the student debt crisis: “People of color borrow more money to go to school, more money while they’re in school, and have a harder time paying it off when they get out of school.”

Pushing back against the notion that student debt relief is a program designed to reward the rich and idle, Warren doubled down: “Student loan debt is not the issue of a handful of elites from ivy league colleges – it is a racial justice issue.”

The speech was twice-interrupted at the start by two protestors in the small crowd. Both individuals expressed concern about an impending nuclear war, presumably as a result of conflict with Russia over its actions in Ukraine. The men were escorted out one after the other without incident. And, in what has become a standard trope of any public address in Boston, a third protestor launched into a tirade about Mass & Cass as the event concluded.

In Pressley’s remarks, the Representative shared her personal experience as a student loan debtor, describing the psychological toll that debt inflicts alongside the economic burden. During the Q & A, she lauded the work of unions to help their members sign up for the student loan debt relief plan. She also warned about potential scams that attempted to bilk unsuspecting individuals out of a fraudulent fee in exchange for debt relief. No such fee exists.

After the event, the Senator and Representative joined neighborhood gadabout and podcaster James “Jimmy” Hill (host of “Java With Jimmy”) for a brief interview. Then it was back on the road for the whirlwind, one-day tour with stops in Brockton, Worcester, and Springfield.

If you’d like to learn more about the Student Debt Relief Plan, visit https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief/application today and apply by December 31st. 

And if you worked in public service for 10 years, you may be eligible for even more debt relief. Note: the deadline for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is due October 31st. Find out more at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/publicserviceloanforgiveness/.