What was her undoing?

THERE IS a reason those of us who support Dianne Wilkerson often really, truly, deeply support her. She stood up on many issues when others wouldn't, and contextualized them when most people couldn't.

She fought for people in witness protection, pushed for aid for Katrina victims, fought for laws against predatory lending. She tried to make allies across race, gender, and class lines, pushing for data collection on race and gender discrimination, creating community reinvestment programs, and successfully advocating for wrongful-conviction laws.

That these accomplishments often went unrecognized in the greater community only made those she fought for feel more personally connected. "Forgetting to pay taxes," for example, seemed almost insignificant if she had helped protect you from an abusive spouse or made it so that your family had the recognition of marriage.

Did the weight of everything she was fighting against break her down and push her to an extreme level of corruption? Or was it always her goal to exploit the situation for her own financial means? Did she set out to mock democracy and take advantage of elected office, or did elected office take advantage of the good in her?

Likely, it's a mix of both, neither of which can be ignored.

EMMA C. WILLMANN
Jamaica Plain