AOC: Changing Politics

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a Democratic congresswoman from New York’s 14th congressional district. She defeated Joe Crowley, the fourth most powerful Democrat in the House, who had served 10 consecutive terms, in 2018. She made history as the youngest woman ever elected into Congress. So who is Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC? What does she represent? What does she mean to young demographics?

AOC was born into a working-class Puerto Rican family and went to college in Boston. She worked on Senator Ted Kennedy’s campaign and participated in community events. After the death of her father to cancer, she took various restaurant jobs to support her family. In 2018, she ran against Joe Crowley, who beat her with a 10-1 fundraising advantage. Despite the odds, she led a fiery campaign, and in the end, she won.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is my inspiration. She is a Latina congresswoman who doesn't owe anything to anyone. As a Hispanic, I find it inspiring to see someone like AOC rise through the ranks and create change at such an important level. She knows that everyday Americans aren’t asking for a lot, they are just asking to get by. But what are some of the things she’s done that make her so popular? How do these things affect students like us?

AOC, along with Senator Ed Markey, introduced the Green New Deal resolution. It included funding to help communities that are affected by climate change. Invest in renewable energy sources. Encourage companies to use clean energy. Achieve a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, investing in green transportation, and more. Ocasio-Cortez got 60 members of the House and nine senators, among them senator turned vice-president Kamala Harris, to support her.

How does this deal affect us? Well, to begin with, it's our future. No other planet will sustain life like Earth. No matter what you tell yourself, life on Mars is both far in the future and far-fetched. This world is in our hands. We caused the mass extinction of species, the melting of permafrost, and the burning of rainforests. It's our job to clean it up. The Green New Deal will help us get there. It isn't about political divide, it's about saving our future. Not the republicans’ future, not the democrats’ future, but our future.

I asked some students about their views on the climate and AOC’s policies. Anna Hull, a 10th grader, said, “I think AOC’s support of the Green New Deal affects me as a young person because this deal would affect my generation for the rest of our lives. Although I don't agree with all of her stances, she is an example of what you can achieve early in life.” While not everyone agrees with all of her policies, her support of the Green New Deal is one of the highlights of her career. Layla Hijjawi, another 10th grader, agreed with what Anna said, stating, “I think AOC’s support of bills like the Green New Deal is really inspiring to young people like me because it increasingly feels like politicians are wildly out of touch with issues that are going to affect the current youth the most.” She adds that politicians nowadays are mostly white middle-aged men, which means they will be out of touch with our issues. AOC on the other hand is a young Latina woman, who knows the struggle of everyday Americans.

Ocasio-Cortez also speaks out about our border issues. She voted against an emergency bill that allowed the border patrol to detain and deport children. Upon visiting a facility in Texas, she described the horrific state of the facility. People against “illegal” immigration claim that the United States is “our” country. Well, who’s working the jobs left to those with no choice? Taking care of your children? Working for less than the minimum wage, because if they say something, they’ll be deported. Who has to leave their children behind to find a better job and be able to send back money so they can have a better life? Immigrants, especially Hispanic and LatinX immigrants, make this country move forward. Would you work 12 hours in a field picking strawberries? Would you risk contracting skin cancer, or passing out from exhaustion? Eli Borgenicht, a 10th grader, said, “About immigration laws, I think everyone should be accepted into the country, and nobody should be banned. This country was built off of immigrants, and we can’t forget that.” This is 100% true. Do you think Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel had to work two jobs after getting out of college to support his family? Has he dealt with racial discrimination? Like AOC says, “Everyday Americans deserve to be represented by everyday Americans.”

More recently, AOC raised over $5 million for Texas to help them recover from the snowstorm and power outages. It is incredibly difficult for a politician, especially one in only their second term, to raise this much money so quickly. Not only that, but she flew to Texas to help out: she helped deliver meals and organize drives. This wasn’t a publicity stunt for her, this is what she does. On Inauguration Day, instead of celebrating, she was helping workers get better pay. She was protesting with them on the streets. Layla says, “I know she gets labeled as ‘radical’ or ‘crazy’ in the media, but once again I still think, whether you agree with her or not, she’s starting conversations that need to be held rather than keeping these issues in the dark and leaving them as ‘taboo’ problems that will never get addressed properly unless you have somebody like AOC willing to throw ideas out there.” I couldn’t agree more. AOC presented more bills than any other freshman in Congress.

How does AOC affect us? The young generation? Personally, I aspire to be just like her. My dream is to one day represent Utah in Congress. Utah needs to advance, we need to accept new ideas and innovate. This is exactly what Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez stands for: new ideas. While she still needs a few more years in Washington, she is a perfect candidate for president in 2028 or 2032.

Everyone gets to their political position by either money, influence, or both. AOC had neither and was elected by her passion and her determination. This is an inspiration to young people everywhere: Hard work will help you more than money ever will. She doesn't accept donations from large corporations, her only funding is from grassroots campaigns. Barack Obama once said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for, we are the change we seek.” That change is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Read the full quotes from students here and zoom in on Rodrigo's photo here.