“We have a political culture of intimidation, of favoring, of patronage, and of fear, and that is no way for a community to be governed.”

I was born to a dad who was born in the South Bronx while the Bronx was burning, while landlords were committing arson to their own buildings.

It’s disingenuous to pretend the sources of our money don’t impact the policy we write – you just can’t serve two masters.

The Republicans galvanize their base by inciting a lot of fear; they operate on a lot of mythmaking. So we have to have something compelling. We shouldn’t be afraid to be bold.

I felt like the only way to effectively run for office is if you had access to a lot of wealth, high social influence, a lot of dynastic power, and I knew that I didn’t have any of those things.

Campaigns are so much more expensive than people think they are. Just to keep the lights on is several thousand dollars a month.

Not all Democrats are the same.

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.

Pig power in America was infuriating, but pig power in the communist framework was awesome and unaccountable.

It’s good to put money back into communities.

In order to create a new era full of peace and hope, we will do our utmost to solve various issues facing the world together with the international community.

I am so confident in that idea that if love gets a chance, it will transform the community and the world into a more prosperous place, because we are capable of love.

Our community belongs to us and whether it is mean or majestic, whether arrayed in glory or covered in shame, we cannot but share its character and destiny.

As athletes, we stand on the shoulders of giants. We must continue their fight on behalf our community.

We must put communities of color at the forefront of our COVID-19 recovery plan.

Communism is the riddle of history solved, and it knows itself to be this solution.