WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.840 I'm still like getting used to seeing people in person 2 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:08.520 without a mask, especially inside. Yeah, I don't know if 3 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:10.080 you feel this a bit like I always feel like 4 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:13.280 I'm doing something like wrong, I know, and I'm like, 5 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:17.320 oh my god, I'm going to get caught. But it's fine. 6 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:25.680 From Futuro Media, it's Latino USA. I'm Maria in Josa. Today, 7 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:30.920 Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the congresswoman from New York, opens up 8 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:36.080 about the past year in a personal one on one interview. 9 00:00:38.800 --> 00:00:42.479 The last in person interview I did for Latino USA 10 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:46.680 was in March of twenty twenty. We all know what 11 00:00:46.720 --> 00:00:53.160 happened next. A global shutdown because of a pandemic fast. 12 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:56.960 Breaking developments in the coronavirus emergency in the US and around. 13 00:00:56.720 --> 00:01:00.720 The world, followed by a massive economic mcdownturn. 14 00:01:01.040 --> 00:01:04.480 Many working class Americans don't have the option to work 15 00:01:04.520 --> 00:01:06.959 from home, and the jobs they were counting on in 16 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:10.640 a bar, or restaurant or a retail store may not 17 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:13.000 be coming back as soon as they'd hope. 18 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:18.240 An uprising of national Black Lives Matter protests, we. 19 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:21.280 Out here because we need to be heard. Our voices 20 00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:23.360 need to be heard, our faces need to be heard. 21 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:25.720 That people need to hear us, that we stay quiet. 22 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:31.720 Nothing happened, a presidential election, an attempted coup, and a 23 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:36.760 new but unsurprising border crisis, and the administration wants to 24 00:01:36.800 --> 00:01:39.440 get kids out, but they're dealing with so many of 25 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:43.760 them right now, they're just frankly overwhelmed. Considering all of that, 26 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:49.760 it seemed just right that my first in person interview 27 00:01:49.960 --> 00:01:53.120 after fifteen months would be with the leader of the 28 00:01:53.200 --> 00:02:05.520 United States political future, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. AOC represents 29 00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:09.120 parts of Queens and the Bronx, which are home to 30 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:12.840 large working class, black and immigrant communities in New York City. 31 00:02:13.600 --> 00:02:17.680 Since the start of the COVID nineteen pandemic, Ocasio Cortez's 32 00:02:17.760 --> 00:02:23.239 priority has been helping people on the ground. Literally last spring, 33 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:28.080 as the coronavirus raged through New York City, AOC would 34 00:02:28.120 --> 00:02:32.840 often go out herself to provide food and supplies to 35 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:34.639 her neighbors and constituents. 36 00:02:36.040 --> 00:02:39.680 This morning, we are heading into the most heavy impacted 37 00:02:39.720 --> 00:02:44.480 neighborhood in the country, in our backyard, Coroma and Queens. 38 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.400 She's also responded to the many other defining events of 39 00:02:48.440 --> 00:02:52.440 the past year. Amid black Lives Matter protests. Last summer, 40 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:57.320 AOC joined calls to defund police forces across the country. 41 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:01.120 You have an entire city budget and half of that 42 00:03:01.240 --> 00:03:02.960 budget goes to policing. 43 00:03:03.320 --> 00:03:08.760 We have a problem. Mass unemployment resulted in economic insecurity 44 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:13.520 for millions of Americans. Ocacio Cortez led the charge for 45 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:18.520 strong stimulus packages for individuals and small businesses, holding both 46 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.760 the Trump and Biden administrations accountable. 47 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:27.120 We passed unprecedented huge amounts of money to relief and 48 00:03:27.160 --> 00:03:28.160 who did it go to? 49 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:29.639 Who did it go to? 50 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:34.880 Then the election happened, and soon after there was the 51 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:40.280 Capitol riot on January sixth. In the weeks following that 52 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:45.120 attempted coup, Alexandri Casio Grtez opened up about her experience 53 00:03:45.720 --> 00:03:48.720 on her own terms during an Instagram live. 54 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:52.800 These folks who tell us to move on, that it's 55 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:55.480 not a big deal, that we should forget what's happened, 56 00:03:56.320 --> 00:04:01.240 or even telling us to apologize, these are the same 57 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:03.760 tactics of abusers. 58 00:04:04.040 --> 00:04:07.480 The congresswomen and I, both fully vaccinated by now, met 59 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:10.640 at her campaign office in her district in the Northern 60 00:04:10.640 --> 00:04:14.320 Bronx and from the moment our mics were on, we 61 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:17.800 got right into it. She spoke about the pandemic and 62 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:22.600 the Capitol Riot, as well as immigration, American history, and 63 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:26.960 her personal thoughts about being a young, influential Latina navigating 64 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:39.960 the American political system. How are you, I'm like, am 65 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.440 I actually sitting here? We're five feet apart? Yes, so 66 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:49.680 not six. Yeah, we're both fully vaccinated. So we took 67 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:53.640 off our masks. By the way, I was sick with 68 00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:54.679 COVID at the beginning. 69 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:55.479 Oh my gosh. 70 00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:58.359 And so then when I would see you getting on 71 00:04:58.440 --> 00:05:04.760 the train, I was like, damn aoc because you put 72 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:11.520 your body out there, you got the vans, you got 73 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:15.480 the groceries, you were knocking on people's doors. Again, I 74 00:05:15.520 --> 00:05:20.160 was like, oh my god, you you haven't stopped. 75 00:05:20.440 --> 00:05:22.880 Yeah, no, no, I mean the thing is too, is 76 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:28.800 that because our city, but also my district was the 77 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:32.680 hardest hit congressional district in the country at the outbreak 78 00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:36.600 of COVID when we didn't know anything about the disease. 79 00:05:36.640 --> 00:05:39.600 You know, we were still wiping down our packages because 80 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:42.520 we didn't know about surface transmission or anything like that. 81 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:48.120 But the thing is is that, you know, it's it's 82 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:52.159 I'm not trying to make it seem like this big deal, 83 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:56.360 but that is what leadership is supposed to be. 84 00:05:57.040 --> 00:05:58.479 I have to say I was really proud of you 85 00:05:58.480 --> 00:05:59.960 because I was like, this says what it looks like. 86 00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:02.159 And I feel like I learned a lot of this 87 00:06:02.400 --> 00:06:08.640 too from what happened with Maria, because when a disaster strikes, 88 00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:12.960 one of the most demoralizing and also where things can 89 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:15.839 really start falling apart is when people start to perceive 90 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:21.880 that leadership is not on the front line. You know, 91 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:26.159 that they are putting themselves first in terms of comfort 92 00:06:26.839 --> 00:06:30.000 and safety, when it's supposed to be the opposite, you know, 93 00:06:30.200 --> 00:06:35.000 And I think we deserve better. We deserve to expect 94 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:38.880 more from our elected officials, especially on a federal level. 95 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:42.839 I don't think that it's acceptable for us to watch 96 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:47.040 other people make sacrifices without meeting them there and doing 97 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:50.320 everything that we can. And it was a very difficult 98 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:54.560 time because you know, our federal government did fail in 99 00:06:54.600 --> 00:07:00.919 that response big time, and it was really frustrating for 100 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:05.040 me that the thing that I felt that I could 101 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:09.279 do best was get vans and get groceries so that 102 00:07:09.320 --> 00:07:13.600 families could be fed, and source our own ppe at 103 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:19.000 the time to fundraise and get it to hospitals. You know, 104 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:24.440 that's shameful. That's shameful for any elected official to be 105 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:26.800 in that position and that be the main way that 106 00:07:26.840 --> 00:07:31.840 they could help instead of actually providing the structural changes 107 00:07:32.080 --> 00:07:32.720 that we need. 108 00:07:34.080 --> 00:07:37.679 So, just so you know, the last in person interview 109 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:41.640 I did in March of twenty twenty, katvon d Oh, 110 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:48.400 there you go, okay, Lex Lex Lex in her house 111 00:07:48.760 --> 00:07:53.920 like amazing, and then you are the first in person interview. 112 00:07:54.080 --> 00:07:57.840 I think this might be my first in person press 113 00:07:57.880 --> 00:08:03.880 interview as well. It's been like all zooms. I think, yeah, so, 114 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:07.320 how are you doing? No last year was overwhelming for everyone, 115 00:08:07.520 --> 00:08:09.960 but I do feel like it was especially overwhelming for 116 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:14.360 our community. We were hardest hit. We had to discover 117 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:17.200 all this stuff before the rest of the country had 118 00:08:17.200 --> 00:08:20.679 to discover it. And whether it was bagging groceries here 119 00:08:21.080 --> 00:08:24.720 or fighting with our own party last year as to 120 00:08:24.840 --> 00:08:29.640 why mixed status families and iten payers deserved stimulus checks. 121 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:30.880 You know, it was. 122 00:08:30.880 --> 00:08:36.280 Exhausting, and you had that with the layer of just 123 00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:41.800 this fascistic Trump administration on top of it, with the intense, 124 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:48.840 intense stress and high stakes that the presidential election was, 125 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:55.160 and then you have this transition period of escalating violence, 126 00:08:55.240 --> 00:08:59.640 which really culminated on the six for which you know, 127 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:04.320 was an extraordinarily traumatizing event that's not really being discussed. 128 00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:08.840 It's politically sensitive. You know, no one wants to say, 129 00:09:08.840 --> 00:09:12.760 oh boohoo, but there are members of Congress that served 130 00:09:12.800 --> 00:09:17.480 in war, and not just that but also staff. You know, 131 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:21.240 there's this woman whose smile I love, and she's just 132 00:09:21.280 --> 00:09:24.160 so incredible, and she's a food service worker and her 133 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:29.640 name's Veronica, and she works in the basement of the Capital. 134 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:32.320 They have coffee places, things like that, and all I 135 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:34.920 could think of that day is how they like, you 136 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:37.600 have these people that are storming the Capitol and there's 137 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:41.040 no place for our food service workers to go. Where 138 00:09:41.040 --> 00:10:00.320 our custodial staff went. The cycle has just been moved dawn, 139 00:10:00.880 --> 00:10:06.480 but it has deeply, deeply affected lawmaking, policy making. It 140 00:10:06.520 --> 00:10:10.400 has impacted the actual legislative process, the aftermath of it, 141 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:13.320 and it's very quiet. It's not spoken about. I think 142 00:10:13.400 --> 00:10:19.240 after the sixth I took some time, and it was 143 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:22.320 really Iona Pressley when I explained to her what had happened 144 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:24.040 to me, like the day of, because I ran to 145 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:28.079 her office and she was like, you need to recognize 146 00:10:28.160 --> 00:10:32.320 trauma and that this is something that you went through, 147 00:10:32.360 --> 00:10:36.560 but we're all going through and it's really important to 148 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:41.600 pause after that because that's how you process it. And 149 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:44.679 I feel like I learned this the hard way after 150 00:10:44.880 --> 00:10:46.800 my father had passed away when I was a teenager, 151 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:51.320 because I was like, you know, first born, only daughter 152 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:54.200 of a Latina family. You know how that dynamic is 153 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:58.280 and you need to like do everything. So that happened 154 00:10:58.280 --> 00:11:00.520 to me at a young age, and I suck it away 155 00:11:01.400 --> 00:11:04.959 and I had to live with that for years, and 156 00:11:05.040 --> 00:11:08.160 so I learned my lesson then and now I feel 157 00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:10.480 like I've kind of taken I've had to take a beat. 158 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:15.120 If I take a couple months now and just be 159 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:18.960 really good, then I don't have to live with this 160 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:22.200 thing festering and lingering with me like a roommate in 161 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:28.840 my apartment for years. So you're doing therapy, Yeah, oh yeah, 162 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:35.000 I'm doing therapy. But also I've just slowed down. I 163 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:37.520 think the Trump administration had a lot of us, especially 164 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:43.200 Latino communities, in a very reactive mode, and so I've 165 00:11:43.800 --> 00:11:48.400 been putting myself in a more proactive space and I've 166 00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:49.000 what do you. 167 00:11:49.040 --> 00:11:50.480 Mean, a more proactive space. 168 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:54.760 Like you know, there was this thing where you have 169 00:11:54.800 --> 00:11:59.200 to like scroll Twitter all the time because the administration 170 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:02.640 was announcing horrifying change that it was like, how do 171 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:04.720 we protect people now? How do we protect people now? 172 00:12:04.760 --> 00:12:05.600 How do I mean? 173 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:08.920 Literally it felt like every day it was. 174 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:11.640 It was like three cycles. It was just an assault. 175 00:12:12.800 --> 00:12:17.560 And for a community that's fifty percent immigrant, that has 176 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:22.560 really high concentration of essential workers, where we have mixed 177 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:27.680 status families, you know, these federal policies that even Democrats 178 00:12:27.760 --> 00:12:31.520 champion don't help us were excluded from them due to 179 00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:37.839 just political convenience and narratives, and so, you know, moving 180 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:43.120 to a place where while we have political differences with 181 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:46.920 the Biden administration, at the very least, it's not this 182 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:51.280 all out constant assault. And now we can move to 183 00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:55.960 a place where we're making the argument on pushing on 184 00:12:56.040 --> 00:12:59.360 certain issues. You know, this crisis of what's happening at 185 00:12:59.400 --> 00:13:02.720 the border is a manifestation of just our political environment 186 00:13:02.760 --> 00:13:10.320 and attitudes towards immigrants for decades senture essentially too, yeah, 187 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:13.320 I mean, and then even longer because it's there's a 188 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:19.480 direct through line through imperialism and the attitudes and power 189 00:13:19.520 --> 00:13:25.920 structures there, to anti Asian violence, to what's happening at 190 00:13:25.920 --> 00:13:30.880 the border, to anti black racism, all of it. And 191 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:34.720 there's a through line there and our lack of acknowledgment 192 00:13:34.800 --> 00:13:37.360 of that, and it goes into our foreign policy and 193 00:13:37.400 --> 00:13:40.560 all of it. You know, people want to think that 194 00:13:40.640 --> 00:13:43.320 this stuff is disconnected because they want to believe in 195 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:49.880 this mythology of America or the United States that we 196 00:13:49.880 --> 00:13:51.160 were fed as children. 197 00:13:52.520 --> 00:13:55.640 I think, you know, twenty twenty was a culmination of 198 00:13:55.679 --> 00:14:01.240 confronting a lot of mythologies about this country. Democracy, representation. Okay, 199 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:04.040 but I want to just stay with this for a 200 00:14:04.040 --> 00:14:09.319 moment because I having been through trauma myself, I can 201 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:13.280 see that this is not a done deal. January sixth 202 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:16.440 This was an attempted coup. 203 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:20.080 Yes, And it's almost like we refuse to acknowledge it 204 00:14:20.520 --> 00:14:24.680 because we don't want to believe that it happened, and 205 00:14:24.800 --> 00:14:28.520 people think that it's some sort of exaggeration. This was 206 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:33.760 an all out attempted coup. Mike Pence was taken out 207 00:14:33.800 --> 00:14:37.840 of the Senate Chamber something like sixty seconds before these 208 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:43.240 terrorists insurrectionists got into the Senate chamber sixty seconds and 209 00:14:43.280 --> 00:14:46.800 Mike Pence was the one person arguably that had one 210 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:50.880 of the most important roles in making sure that procedurally 211 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:57.240 the electoral College counts went on as proceeded. Sixty seconds 212 00:14:58.840 --> 00:15:03.800 could have meant potential the difference between what we have 213 00:15:03.920 --> 00:15:07.000 right now in a martial state, and we don't want 214 00:15:07.040 --> 00:15:09.320 to acknowledge it. That's how close we got, But that 215 00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:12.840 is how close we got. We think of kus as 216 00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:16.720 something that happens in quote unquote Banana republics or in 217 00:15:16.760 --> 00:15:20.680 the developing or quote unquote third world, and it happened here. 218 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:24.680 When I talked about how dangerous it was, and there 219 00:15:24.760 --> 00:15:29.000 was this intense attack back on the right, it was 220 00:15:29.040 --> 00:15:30.520 a protection of mythology. 221 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:35.680 I think the question here is is Alexandria Ocsio Cortez 222 00:15:36.040 --> 00:15:38.720 somebody who is credible or somebody who has a history 223 00:15:38.760 --> 00:15:39.120 of lye. 224 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:44.000 She even accused the cop who came in to assist 225 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:47.920 of wanting to hurt her. She said he looked hostile 226 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:50.560 and had a look in his eyes. So really, I mean, 227 00:15:50.640 --> 00:15:52.480 it is just crazy stuff. 228 00:15:52.680 --> 00:15:55.880 People will believe this crap. Some already do. 229 00:15:56.440 --> 00:15:58.640 And that's what a lot of I think the attacks 230 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:02.200 on the right are about. Out There are certain mythologies 231 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:07.280 that are really important to this idea of American exceptionalism. 232 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:10.400 But there's also certain mythologies that are very important to 233 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:13.160 maintaining white supremacy. White supremacy in and of itself is 234 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:17.080 a mythology, and you have to protect it in order 235 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:20.400 to protect that political power, which has now become a 236 00:16:20.560 --> 00:16:24.440 very important base in the Republican Party. And that's why 237 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:30.560 that response was so vociferous to make it seem that 238 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:33.800 it wasn't as bad as it was, and it was bad. 239 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:41.240 They constructed gallows, functional gallows with nooses, and they put 240 00:16:41.280 --> 00:16:43.200 it in front of the Capitol, and they were looking 241 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:49.000 for us, and we were not protected. There are things 242 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:54.560 that happened that day that if sixty seconds went differently, 243 00:16:55.080 --> 00:17:00.360 if a different door was opened, if a chair wasn't 244 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:03.960 barricaded in a certain way, we could have a completely 245 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:05.080 different reality right. 246 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:07.960 Now, Okay, we don't want to spend the whole time. 247 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:11.320 We don't want to know because because we could. Yeah, 248 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:14.320 and I think it's and I think it's super necessary. Yeah, 249 00:17:14.600 --> 00:17:16.600 because I think that's the thing about this country that 250 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:19.480 freaks us out the most is the capacity just kind 251 00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:22.720 of we'll move on. Yeah, So you brought up the 252 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:27.639 Biden administration the virtual town hall that you held, you 253 00:17:27.800 --> 00:17:31.800 said that the Biden administration has been exceeding progressive expectations. 254 00:17:32.840 --> 00:17:35.640 One thing that I will say is that I do 255 00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:42.160 think that the Biden administration and President Biden has definitely 256 00:17:42.840 --> 00:17:47.040 exceeded expectations that progressives had. You know, I'll be frayed. 257 00:17:47.080 --> 00:17:49.240 I think a lot of us expected a much more 258 00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:50.360 conservative administration. 259 00:17:50.800 --> 00:17:51.960 So help us to understand. 260 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:56.120 Yeah, well, I so the second sentence after I said 261 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:59.800 that was because we expected a much more conservative administration. 262 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:05.480 It doesn't mean that he exceeded progressive standards. Doesn't make 263 00:18:05.560 --> 00:18:10.399 him a progressive president. But I do think that, you know, 264 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:12.680 if I'm going to be very frank I think that 265 00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:20.200 their outreach and collaboration with House progressives, while I wasn't 266 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:22.359 there at the time, from what I'm hearing from my colleagues, 267 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:26.160 is less contentious than it was with even the Obama administration. 268 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:31.120 And so when it comes to that perspective, I think 269 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:36.120 the administration has acknowledged that there are very strong parts 270 00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:39.240 of the progressive movement that frankly like save the party's 271 00:18:39.280 --> 00:18:42.639 ass in November, and they recognize it. 272 00:18:42.840 --> 00:18:44.880 Oh, so you feel like they are recognizing. 273 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:47.920 I think they know that. I think they know progressives 274 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:54.040 delivered Philly, which helped deliver Pennsylvania, that it was immigration 275 00:18:54.280 --> 00:18:58.560 organizers in arisona that helped save that state and that 276 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:01.320 is helping turn the tide and the rest of the Southwest. 277 00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:04.520 And I think they recognize that politically, because we sent 278 00:19:04.560 --> 00:19:09.399 a strong message that you ice out young people, you 279 00:19:09.520 --> 00:19:12.439 ice out people of color, you ice out progressive policies 280 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:18.040 in a way that there's no give and is very condescending. 281 00:19:18.600 --> 00:19:20.440 We lose the House, we lose the Senate, we lose 282 00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:24.960 the presidency. I think they do recognize that. Now that 283 00:19:25.080 --> 00:19:29.960 being said, we are still part of a larger party 284 00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:36.800 that has elements that are still clinging on to i 285 00:19:36.840 --> 00:19:42.560 think problematic neoliberal thinking that the Biden administration has made 286 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:49.280 appointments that aren't great in that vein. I like, the 287 00:19:49.320 --> 00:19:52.040 president is the president, he has a very long history. 288 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:56.960 I was expecting you know, I guess it's the it's 289 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:00.760 the lowest, Yeah, exactly. I had very low expectations of 290 00:20:00.800 --> 00:20:02.520 this administration. 291 00:20:02.280 --> 00:20:07.040 And so anything that is you know, ingen tours is like, Okay, 292 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:07.919 let's applaud that. 293 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:13.560 But yeah, for sure, I mean it exceeded my expectations 294 00:20:13.560 --> 00:20:16.840 when they actually decided to have a conversation with us. 295 00:20:17.240 --> 00:20:18.840 So I think that's the thing, is that people made 296 00:20:18.840 --> 00:20:23.399 this whole like hullabaloo, But the asterisk is that my 297 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:27.760 expectations were not high. And I think it's also part 298 00:20:27.800 --> 00:20:31.440 of a thing on race and gender, because we don't 299 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:36.280 have the same high expectations of white men and politics 300 00:20:36.320 --> 00:20:39.359 that we do of people of color and women. And 301 00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:41.840 I mean that's just straight up like for me as 302 00:20:41.840 --> 00:20:46.840 a first term freshman, I could not mess up once. 303 00:20:47.320 --> 00:20:49.959 I could not have a hair out of place, I 304 00:20:50.040 --> 00:20:53.919 could not say and instead of butt, and it was 305 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:59.440 front page news. You know, for better or worse. Joe 306 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:01.639 Biden can do that, he can have that day and 307 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:05.520 it doesn't even make page sixteen of the New York Times. 308 00:21:05.880 --> 00:21:08.359 Like we have to acknowledge that it worked for Trump 309 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:11.400 and it also worked for Joe Biden in that if 310 00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:15.720 you mess up, all is forgiven. And that is a 311 00:21:15.800 --> 00:21:19.320 structural advantage that men have in politics. They have the 312 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:21.520 advantage of low expectations. 313 00:21:21.840 --> 00:21:29.240 Seriously, So after Joe Biden's speech to Congress, I tweeted 314 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:36.920 out something like, obviously it's totally different than the Trump administration. True, 315 00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:41.040 but please don't be upset if I'm asking for more. 316 00:21:41.320 --> 00:21:45.240 It's not that I'm ungrateful, but specifically for me, as 317 00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:49.760 an older Latina, I don't have a lot of time exactly, 318 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:56.000 so on the issue of immigration in particular, I am 319 00:21:56.840 --> 00:22:03.480 honestly flabbergasted, I guess because it's so easy in some 320 00:22:03.560 --> 00:22:06.919 ways to make a massive, dramatic shift and change the 321 00:22:07.040 --> 00:22:12.160 entire narrative and secure support for the Democratic Party it is, 322 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:15.840 and yet you are hearing the same things coming out 323 00:22:15.840 --> 00:22:19.800 of the mouth of his spokesperson, which is to refugees. 324 00:22:20.680 --> 00:22:26.000 Can you just wait and come back later talk to 325 00:22:26.040 --> 00:22:28.119 me about where you're at on the issue of immigration 326 00:22:28.359 --> 00:22:30.399 and your patience level or not. 327 00:22:31.080 --> 00:22:35.159 Yeah, I mean I don't have a patience level. The 328 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:40.040 patience is gone, and I think that there's very slim 329 00:22:40.080 --> 00:22:44.359 window where it's like, okay, it's literally thirty days after 330 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:49.959 the Trump administration, but now it's done. There are some 331 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:53.080 things that are unacceptable. The reason I take issue with 332 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:56.240 this term surge and all of these things at the border, 333 00:22:56.359 --> 00:22:59.640 and just even if forget whatever you want to call it, 334 00:23:00.040 --> 00:23:03.359 the situation in general is unacceptable because people want to 335 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:04.800 act brand new every. 336 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:06.399 Time, like it's never happened. 337 00:23:06.440 --> 00:23:10.760 Yeah, before Biden administration, we couldn't anticipate this. The Trump administration, 338 00:23:10.840 --> 00:23:14.040 we couldn't anticipate this, The Obomba administration, we couldn't anticipate. 339 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:17.080 It's like it's like Latinos and Latinas, and of course 340 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:20.800 not all immigrants and refugees are, but it's like weird 341 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:21.800 and people. 342 00:23:21.600 --> 00:23:26.800 Act as though this as though migration patterns haven't existed period, 343 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:29.320 and that they haven't existed in this way, and that 344 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:33.199 this problem is brand new when it's just not. But 345 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:35.800 the thing that I think is the toughest nut to 346 00:23:35.840 --> 00:23:40.160 crack is that this is about our foreign policy, and 347 00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:44.879 this is about both parties engagement in foreign policy, particularly 348 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:49.600 neoliberal foreign policy. A lot of the conversations I hear, 349 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:52.959 even with my colleagues in Congress, around the Northern Triangle 350 00:23:53.040 --> 00:23:54.800 and around all of these things have to do with, oh, 351 00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:59.639 we need to send aid. And aid is important, sure, 352 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:02.840 depending on the type of it, because sometimes it's very 353 00:24:02.840 --> 00:24:07.479 problematic aid that gets sent out. But what good is 354 00:24:07.520 --> 00:24:14.480 aid when we are helping to create the problem. 355 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:18.479 Coming up on Latino USA, New York Congresswoman Alexandri Gacio 356 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:24.359 Cortez keeps our conversation personal, talking about her Latina identity 357 00:24:24.800 --> 00:25:18.800 and how she advocates for her community. Stay with us, Yes, Hey, 358 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:23.400 we're back. I've been having a conversation with New York 359 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:29.400 Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and it's not lost on her 360 00:25:29.520 --> 00:25:32.080 that those of us still here, those of us who 361 00:25:32.080 --> 00:25:36.600 are still healthy and alive, that we've made it through 362 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:41.520 a year with historic implications. Through it all, aoc has 363 00:25:41.520 --> 00:25:44.639 been reflecting on the need to learn about our own 364 00:25:44.840 --> 00:25:49.480 identities and personal histories. In her view, that's the first 365 00:25:49.520 --> 00:25:54.080 step in challenging the status quo and actually in creating 366 00:25:54.080 --> 00:25:58.119 a better future for all of us. It's not often 367 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:00.399 that you get a chance, I guess, to talk a 368 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:03.600 little bit about the issue of who we are. And 369 00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:08.240 I was thinking about you and this question. I was 370 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:12.760 thinking about my students now at Barnard, many of whom 371 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:17.879 are still struggling with the essential question, Am I Latina enough? 372 00:26:18.440 --> 00:26:21.680 Am I Latino enough? Where do I fit in? Yeah? 373 00:26:21.800 --> 00:26:25.360 And if we've been so targeted in the past, do 374 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:27.520 I want to be Latina and Latino? 375 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:31.719 I think a huge part of life is us just 376 00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:36.960 figuring out who we are and just continuing to grow 377 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:40.399 into who we are. And there is this question of 378 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:43.720 you know, am I Latina enough? Am I Latino enough? 379 00:26:44.320 --> 00:26:47.119 Like there's some ways where you can answer no, you 380 00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:51.679 know in that we should know where we come from. 381 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:57.560 And we grow up in a colonizing educational system that 382 00:26:57.800 --> 00:27:01.440 does not tell us who we are, and it tells 383 00:27:01.480 --> 00:27:05.000 white people who they are. Right, you started this country, 384 00:27:05.040 --> 00:27:09.879 you are pioneers, you are explorers. And if you study 385 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:13.240 world history, at least my experience in a public school system, 386 00:27:13.280 --> 00:27:17.560 world history is primarily just European history with a couple 387 00:27:17.600 --> 00:27:22.680 of you know, side adventures in South Asia and Latin America, 388 00:27:23.280 --> 00:27:27.960 But the vast majority of world history quote unquote is 389 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:34.560 European history. Right now, our educational system largely teaches white 390 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:39.920 people who they are and everyone else is a supporting character. 391 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:46.200 And so if we really want to embrace who we are, 392 00:27:47.640 --> 00:27:49.879 it's kind of at tax in a way, because it 393 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:53.120 wasn't given to us. We have to give that to ourselves. 394 00:27:53.800 --> 00:27:56.920 I think there's kind of this las fare like you're Latina, 395 00:27:57.000 --> 00:27:59.560 you're Latina, Like that's enough, And in some ways it 396 00:27:59.840 --> 00:28:06.560 is like you're born enough. But also it's really important 397 00:28:06.560 --> 00:28:09.520 for us to know who we are because it will 398 00:28:09.960 --> 00:28:10.800 help us make a. 399 00:28:10.760 --> 00:28:14.080 Better world, to do the work, To do the work. 400 00:28:14.520 --> 00:28:17.959 I think it makes us better parents, it makes us 401 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:23.360