For the majority of this dreadful year, one woman has gotten me through it. Her name is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez is different from other politicians. Here is her story. She was born on October 13, 1989, in the Bronx to a working-class Puerto Rican family. The congresswoman studied at Boston University in her college years with a major in Economics and International Relations. During her college years, she worked for Senator Ted Kennedy’s office where she focused on immigration issues. Her passion for immigration blows me away because we have finally come across a congressperson who genuinely cares about the immigrants in our country.
After her graduation, she returned to her home city and became a community organizer. However, during the recession as well as after her father’s death, Ocasio-Cortez knew she had to work various low-wage restaurant types of jobs to help her family during this crisis. During this time, she started having the urge to go into politics. She organized a grassroots campaign and created a campaign video that went viral with the theme of “Women like me aren’t supposed to run for office.” With her charisma and compassion, thousands of people voted for her and she ultimately defeated Democratic Senator Joe Crowley and took over his seat after his 14 years in office.Â
She defeated her Republican opponent Anthony Pappas and became sworn in by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on January 3, 2019. Ever since then, she has been an active member of the Democratic Socialists of America who used their resources to promote their presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. She was a part of his campaign too and advocated for so much on her progressive platform. She advocated for universal healthcare, abolishing ICE, tuition-free college, and criminal justice reform. Her entire platform was focused on her making the working-class Americans feel represented and cared for.Â
As soon as February 2019, Ocasio Cortez did not wait to do what she signed up for and stick to her words. A big part of her beliefs is environmentalism. Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey proposed the Green New Deal. This plan was for switching the entire country to renewable energy sources to decrease our carbon footprint and energy waste. The main goal was for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by a significant amount by the year 2030. The plan also mentioned the investment of creating new, clean technologies and also including universal healthcare. This plan was co-sponsored by many people including Kamala Harris and Corey Booker.Â
She has also openly spoken up about the importance of women’s rights, especially with the issue of abortion. When mentioning a law in Alabama outlawing abortion, she said “When women are in control of their sexuality, it threatens a core element underpinning right-wing ideology: patriarchy,” which is completely true. The “pro-life” ideology thrives off patriarchy. People should always be in control of their own bodies. Ocasio-Cortez also gained attention from the media while questioning Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about his company’s policy of showing political advertisements with misleading information. During her questioning, you could see the fear he has of her.Â
She was even verbally attacked by Representative Yoho who called her misogynistic names and even called her politics dangerous. What exactly is dangerous, Mr. Yoho? Her compassion? Her willingness to prioritize people’s lives over people’s money? Ocasio-Cortez has spoken up about not accepting abuse from men in her outstanding speech that has inspired many women and has even become viral on TikTok.Â
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG2sgYhNR6o
A few days before election day, Representative Ocasio-Cortez had some fun and played the internet’s current favorite game: Among Us. She played with YouTubers and also her fellow representative and friend, congresswoman Ilhan Omar. She encouraged the younger generation of Millennials and Gen Z to go out and vote during her livestream. It was an organic way of getting young people’s attention. Her livestream received good reactions because she was not trying too hard to be likable. She just is by being herself, and what more can we ask for from our beloved congresswoman? Lastly, keep in mind that although she is doing a lot of good work, we should not glorify any politician. We must always keep informed of what they do because what they do affects us all.
