Seven women , masked and on a mission in business casual attire , pause to peer through the gaps in a tall chain link fence along Phillips Street in Central Falls . One by one , they erupt in laughter , pointing at a closely cropped cutout of a woman ’ s head taped to the door of a yellow shed .
“ It ’ s my face ,” says Maria Rivera , mayor of the city . She smiles , exhales and rounds the corner of the block . Such scenes might be unsettling if they weren ’ t so common ; these days , Rivera sees herself everywhere , from residential homes to restaurant windows .
The group passes in front of the house , a tidy single family with coordinating yellow vinyl . In the shadow of a small shrub , a frog figurine holds a sign offering free kisses . An older gentleman emerges from the front storm door with a piece of mail .
“ My daughter ! I love you !” he shouts across the lawn in accented English . He approaches Rivera , tucks her into a warm hug and hands her the envelope . It ’ s an invitation to a retirement party . Rivera accepts it , smooths her tight blond ponytail and , with a gracious exit , continues walking to her destination . She gets but four paces along the empty neighborhood street before another resident , at an intersection a block back , leans out of his car window and yells , “ Hey Maria , did you look into that ?”
Rivera gives a half-hearted “ Yeah ,” with a wave of her hand . Someone in the group tells her she needs a bodyguard .
The attention , which borders celebrity , is part and parcel of being Maria Rivera , a much-celebrated civil servant in this tight-knit majorityminority community of 20,000 residents . Last November , Rivera was elected as the city ’ s first female mayor and , two glass ceilings in one , she became the state ’ s first Latina mayor , too .
On this humid summer day , Rivera and the group — various members of the Central Falls school district — are hand-delivering backpacks and materials to kids returning to in-person instruction after eighteen months of distance learning . The women arrive at an apartment building on King Street , the home of two elementary-age children and a high schooler , and pack into the family ’ s kitchen , where the night ’ s dinner cools under foil and a telenovela plays in the background . The youngest boys stand by the sink with their mom , eyeing the blue backpacks .
“ Jason , esta es tu mochila ,” says Maria Pedraza , who works as the district ’ s truancy officer . “ Can I open it ? Is that okay ? It ’ s yours , I just want to show you something , okay ? Gracias !”
As Pedraza digs through the backpack , pulling out forms and flyers and explaining the district ’ s policy on universal masking , Rivera stands behind an oval dining table covered in a lace tablecloth and a striped runner . A plastic pitcher filled with agua de Jamaica , a sweetened hibiscus tea , rests next to a stack of blue cups and a bowlful of fresh fruit . Rivera doesn ’ t interject in the conversation , which includes scheduling another home visit to set up the eleventh-
54 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l NOVEMBER 2021