Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Advice To WOC Interested In Politics: 'Start Building Your Own Power Structure'
AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 09: (L-R) Briahna Gray and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speak onstage at Featured Session: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the New Left during the 2019 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Austin Convention Center on March 9, 2019 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Samantha Burkardt/Getty Images for SXSW)
There are several hot sessions at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, and people vying to hear Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speak over the weekend definitely were the golden ticket holders. The newly minted congresswoman garnered crowds and bestowed upon them some words of wisdom.
On Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez spoke about the future of the country and her election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Part of what happened last year was a crack in the system,” she explained.
How often have you seen a Puerto Rican woman from the Bronx, who isn’t even 30-years-old, break down the wall and win big in politics? Not often, at all.
But there was one question that stood out amongst the political talk and it was aimed at her fellow women of color. Two young women from the Radical Monarchs of Austin asked Ocasio-Cortez what advice she had for breaking into politics. And her reply was succinct and apropos.
“Stop trying to navigate systems of power and start building your own power,” she said.
“There are so many subconscious forces that make us try to act like somebody else … but when you’re a woman of color, there are so many things about you that is non conforming,” she said.
Maybe we should start printing Ocasio-Cortez for President buttons in preparation for when she’s eligible to run.
