“We know enough to reject the stereotype that people in the Midwest do not care about their brothers and sisters.”

I know what it’s like to access the privilege of a ZIP Code but also be born in one that could have destined me to something else.

I knew that our community needed a very clear voice. and I think we deserved representation that rejected lobbyist funds and put our voters and our community first.

Women like me aren’t supposed to run for office.

For me, democratic socialism is about – really, the value for me is that I believe that in a modern, moral, and wealthy society, no person in America should be too poor to live.

I see people like me, who thought someone like me couldn’t be in politics, now are saying, ‘Oh, wait, I don’t need to take money from corporations to run. Maybe I’ll run, too.’

I wake up every day, and I’m a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx. Every single day.

I don’t think most of Congress understands how economics works.

Capitalism has not always existed in the world and will not always exist in the world.

I wasn’t born to a wealthy or powerful family – mother from Puerto Rico, dad from the South Bronx.

I’m an educator. I’m an organizer.

The only time we create any kind of substantive change is when we reach out to a disaffected electorate and inspire and motivate them to vote.

Rather than think of it as somewhere to run from, the Bronx is somewhere to invest.

People try to identify who is the most likely person to turn out, and what we did is that we changed who turns out. And that changes the whole electorate.

I was born in a place where your ZIP code determines your destiny.

When people feel like they are being spoken directly to, I do feel like… they’ll do things like turn out in an off-year, mid-year primary.

Democrats should be getting high-fives from sanitation truck drivers – that is what should be happening in America.

Good ones don’t have time to bother with success or getting rich.

I came from a big family – two brothers and two sisters. So, there were always a ton of boys around and a ton of girls around. So, I grew up comfortable with both sexes.

I had no desire to be an film actress, to always play somebody else, to be always beautiful with somebody constantly straightening out your every eyelash. It was always a big bother to me.

I thought it was a fun thing to do, but we stepped outside my brother’s school and he was mortified!

I’ll never forget the time my mother showed up with her best friend and two daughters, and all four of us dressed up in matching clothes, shoes and hats to go pick up my brother from school.

We all tend to be in the same circles – people like my Wu-Tang brothers, or Black Thought from The Roots.

Prince Paul is another good friend; he’s like an older brother. He’ll criticise and be brutally honest with you. That’s what I like about Paul.

I wish I could say I see my little brother more.