Member Spotlight: Michael Paris

In this SOMA Action Member Spotlight, we speak with one of SOMA Action’s earliest members, Michael Paris, seen here addressing a rally in South Orange.

When and why did you get involved with SOMA Action?

The election of Donald J. Trump was a devastating experience.  Soon thereafter, my partner of twenty-five years (Amy Higer) invited forty or so friends and acquaintances in our towns to gather at our home to discuss the election and its significance. People ate, drank, commiserated, shared their experiences in politics, and brainstormed about what might be done.  We invited more people to join us, held meetings, and formed several committees to work on particular issues. Unbeknownst to us, another group of local residents began meeting and forming a citizens’ action group.  We learned of this other group just as Trump took office an instituted his Muslim ban. We then joined forces. Quite unexpectedly, “South Orange-Maplewood Action” (SOMA Action) was born.  It has been one of the best experiences of my life to be an active and engaged member of SOMA Action.

Let’s back up a step: can you give us a brief bio?

I was born in Rochester, New York in 1960, one of seven children in an Italian-Catholic working class family.  Neither of my parents attended college. After doing well in college, I attended law school and practiced anti-poverty law in New York City for four years, before entering a Ph.D. program in Political Science. Since 1995, I have worked full-time as a professor at various colleges and universities.  Since 2007, I have taught politics and legal studies at the College of Staten Island (CUNY). My wife and I have lived in South Orange-Maplewood, along with our two children, since 1999.

What are some of the specific ways you’ve been involved with SOMA Action?

I have been an active member of one of our many committees. The Financial Conflicts of Interests and Corruption Committee addresses the vast corruption that marks the Trump Administration. We have joined national groups in days of protest, such as Tax Day marches, and held our own protest events, such as ones objecting to suppression of the Mueller Report and demanding Articles of Impeachment. We have sponsored community forms, like one we held with former New York Civil Liberties Union President Norman Seigel, to inform community members about pending litigation challenging the Trump Administration. And we have shown up for fellow SOMA members in protests about a broad range of issues—for example, ICE detentions and horrible jail conditions in Essex County, NJ, or the Kavanaugh nomination to the Supreme Court.

Tell us about a SOMA Action accomplishment of which you are particularly proud. 

In the summer of 2018, SOMA Action mobilized hundreds of volunteers to make phone calls, write letters, and go door-to-door to support Democrats challenging incumbent Republican House members. I very much enjoyed knocking on 1,000 doors and engaging in conversations with people about why they should vote for Tom Malinowski in New Jersey’s 7th congressional district. 

What appeals to you most about being part of this organization?

What I love most about SOMA Action is the many ways in which it has fostered new relationships in our community, relationships often bridging divides of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, immigration statues, and age, and always marked by mutual concern and respect. We try to model participatory democracy in how we do what we do. We share a commitment to well-timed, thoughtful, and creative social protest. We know that we cannot simply watch as corruption and greed run rampant through the halls of power. In SOMA Action, we do our research, we form alliances, we take care of each other, and we speak up and fight back.