The selection of Lawrence was symbolic: It was the site, in 1912, of one of the most famous labor strikes in U.S. history, started by a group of women at Everett Mill, where Warren made her announcement. Warren drew on the story of the strike as an example of women, many of them immigrants, taking on a system that was heavily stacked against them and triumphing, gaining raises, overtime and other benefits. She described the U.S. economy today as similarly tilted against the middle class, with government catering to the wealthy donors who fund political campaigns.
“Today, millions and millions and millions of American families are also struggling to survive in a system that has been rigged by the wealthy and the well-connected,” Warren said in prepared remarks, adding, “Like the women of Lawrence, we are here to say enough is enough!”
In her prepared remarks, Warren described how she rose from a childhood as the daughter of a janitor to become a law professor and a senator. That breadth of opportunity, she argued, had diminished in recent decades, as wealth had become more concentrated at the top and the government was controlled by rich donors.
Warren touted proposals aimed at diminishing the financial industry’s power in Washington and touted her proposed tax on the wealthy, which she dubbed an “Ultra-Millionaire Tax.”
“I will fight my heart out so that every kid in America can have the same opportunity I had — a fighting chance to build something real,” she said.
Warren also received two important endorsements Saturday, from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and from Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III, D-Mass., who introduced her Saturday.
Her announcement comes as she seeks to establish herself in the race as a champion of liberal policy, like her newly proposed wealth tax, but also as she continues to face questions about her claims to Native American ancestry and her sometimes awkward attempts to settle the issue.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.