She plans to 'make it loud' to ensure her district isn't ignored.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Live fearlessly.

The phrase is tattooed on Moira Jayne Walsh’s collarbone, and the 26-year-old exhibited the sentiment when Walsh learned people gossiped about her on freshman orientation day at the State House.

“Do you know who had no tattoos, and never swore one time in public?” the new legislator said.

“Gallison,” Walsh answered, referring to Raymond Gallison Jr., the former state representative being investigated for possible embezzlement. “So me swearing or having ink in no way affects my ability to be a good legislator.”

The single mom is one of the 16 new General Assembly members come 2017. She narrowly beat incumbent Rep. Thomas Palangio to represent the city's District 3: Smith Hill and surrounding neighborhoods, where Walsh grew up poor.

Her Douglas Avenue apartment is her first without lead paint. It’s decorated eclectically —Bohemian accents, a cousin’s painting that says “Living is awkward” and a doorknob sign: “Dear Santa, define good.”

Walsh, a waitress at the The Classic Cafe in Providence, is looking to shake things up, even in her first term, and said not filtering her comments isn’t diplomatic, but it is “efficient.”

“I’m not here to make friends," she said. "I’m here to take care of my people, and so far, they are loving it.”

Momma bear

The Progressive Democrat didn’t initially plan to be, as she described herself, the “momma bear” of the district.

Lobbying successfully with others last year to increase the minimum wage for tipped employees, from $2.89 to $3.89, was the first catalyst.

“I didn’t see a single person who didn’t know how they were going to pay their rent this month,” she said. “I didn’t see a single person up there who had to decide between buying insurance or paying their electric, so it is really hard for them to comprehend what it’s like being poor.”

Walsh will take advantage of her legislator state benefits to have dental insurance for the first time in a decade.

The second catalyst was a conversation with Michael Araujo, now the executive director of RI Jobs With Justice, about the usual reluctance of women — no matter how successful — to run for office.

“Moira’s biggest strength is she is a wholly authentic person," Araujo said. "She is who she is. Her overall impact to advocate and move without question will be effective.”

While canvassing in the Chad Brown housing complex, for example, a potential voter looked at the white woman and said, “You’re not scared?”

Walsh said her response was, “I am more scared walking around PC [Providence College] at night with a large group of frat boys who have a loose interpretation of the word rape."

Michael Walsh, her father, known to many because he was the owner of the now defunct Earthen Vessel thrift shop on Smith Street, said fearlessness is one of his daughter's many strengths. At age 10, he said she and a friend put a sign in the window of his store: “Two hard-working girls looking to shovel snow, call Moira at ….”

He added, “She’s never been afraid of work, and she seems to have a heart for social justice.”

At Classical High School, which she graduated from in 2008, Walsh said she was the ringleader for all the kids who ate lunch alone.

'Stand up for yourself'

Walsh left college when she became pregnant with Malcolm, who is now 2 and sometimes greets guests with a lightsaber and request for a duel.

Walsh said that ultimately, Malcolm was the reason she ran for office: “I needed to find a way to show him not only do you have to stand up for other people, but you also have to stand up for yourself.”

She has already had one community meeting, and plans to hold them monthly. Walsh asked her constituents what they wanted, and ran her priorities by them to see if she was on the mark.

A medical marijuana patient, Walsh wants to push for the legalization of the drug, which could open up new job opportunities in her district. She also wants to revisit the tipped minimum wage, and get more budget money for her district.

"They have been ignoring my community for 25 years, so it’s our turn. I am going to be so annoying. Let’s make it loud.”

—apina@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @AlishaPina