Democratic Boston Representative Ayanna Pressley is under pressure to relinquish her $1.1 million residence on Martha’s Vineyard following her statement that “we are all on stolen land.”
Pressley took to social media on Monday to share a controversial message about ‘Indigenous People’s Day,’ also known as Columbus Day.
In a post on X, Pressley remarked, “We are all on stolen land. While Republicans attempt to alter American history, we recognize our nation’s impact in causing harm to our Indigenous communities.”
‘We’ll keep celebrating their contributions, centering Native voices in our policymaking, & building a more just, equitable future.’
The ongoing debate about replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day has polarized communities and has left some politicians frustrated over what they perceive as “woke” historical revisions.
Pressley’s comments provoked a backlash on X, with critics encouraging her to give up her home in the affluent Massachusetts area, which also counts the Obamas and Martha Stewart among its residents.
Democratic Boston Rep. Ayanna Pressley is facing calls to give up her $1.1 million Martha’s Vineyard home after claiming on Columbus Day that we are all on stolen land.
Pressley and her husband Conan Harris purchased the three-bedroom home in Martha’s Vineyard in 2023. Stock photo
“You should consider returning your stolen land—starting with your $1.1M house on Martha’s Vineyard,” commented conservative pundit Greg Price.
‘So when are you giving your new $1.1 million Martha’s Vineyard summer home back to the Wampanoag?’ added Gerry Callahan, a conservative pundit.
Pressley, who often speaks about inequality and the rights of the poor, and her husband Conan Harris purchased the three-bedroom home in Martha’s Vineyard in 2023, as reported by the New York Post.
Pressley and her husband Harris, who spent 10 years in prison for drug trafficking, also own a two-unit rental property in Mattapan, a low-income area in south Boston.
That property earned them between $50,000 and $100,000 in 2024.
The Democrat owns four rental properties in Massachusetts, which earned her as much as $350,000 in profit in 2024, according to her annual financial disclosure cited by the Post.
It’s a significant profit increase for Pressley, who in 2020 declared a rental income of just $15,000.
Despite her profitable career as a landlord, Pressley has campaigned for taxpayer-funded rent relief.
Pressley and her husband Harris, who spent 10 years in prison for drug trafficking, also own a two-unit rental property in Mattapan, a low-income area in south Boston
The Democrat owns four rental properties in Massachusetts, which earned her as much as $350,000 in profit in 2024
The controversy over Pressley’s Martha’s Vineyard home came as some progressives chose to celebrate the Indigenous of the Americas instead of Christopher Columbus.
Columbus Day is meant to highlight Italian Columbus’s journey to discovering the West. But, in recent years, there has been a push to remove the holiday named for him because of the treatment of Indigenous people.
Indigenous People’s Day has been around since 1977, when it was first introduced at a United Nations conference.
For the past three years, it has shared the same day with Columbus Day following a 2021 federal proclamation from President Joe Biden.
