As I have always said, those closest to the pain should be closest to the power.
You cannot have a government for and by the people if it is not represented by all of the people.
At some point or another, everyone has felt unseen and unheard and marginalized.
Making progress on longstanding challenges requires a different lens and a new approach.
We must acknowledge that issues like systemic racism, economic inequality, and the achievement gap are the result of manmade policies.
Let me be abundantly clear: I am black, and I am a woman, and I embrace both of those facts.
Our immigration system is fundamentally broken, and ICE's role in supporting the existing system - including separating families seeking refuge in the United States and conducting indiscriminate deportation raids in our communities - is creating an atmosphere of toxic fear and mistrust in immigrant communities.
I will sit at the table and compromise with anyone in the name of progress, but there are things I'm not willing to compromise and negotiate on, and that is the rights of women, of immigrants, of workers, and of the LGBTQIA community.
I am probably an outsider because I challenge conventional narratives about who should have a seat at the table.
Plans without price tags are simply pandering.
My mother did not raise me to ask for permission to lead.
There's many law changes, policy changes I can point to. But a lot of my work has also been to name the issue that no one else named - to spotlight it, to advocate for it. That's where all advocacy begins. I've asked different questions. I've raised different issues.
There's something to be said for perseverance.
My life as an advocate for those most in need is inspired by my mother's example. She believed in the potential inherent in each of us, and that belief is the foundation of my work.
I know, given my own life challenges, that there are many non-academic barriers that get in the way of the scholastic and life success of our children and that complicate teaching.
I happen to be black and a woman and unapologetically proud to be both, but that is not the totality of my identity.
Neighborhood restaurants matter.
If you look at the Affordable Care Act, ultimately that was saved not solely by lawmakers but because of the courage of individuals and families who went to Washington, who organized, who mobilized and said 'We're not turning around.'
I understand and appreciate and respect that any time a barrier is broken or history is made, people want to celebrate it and mark it as progress.
Raising me as a single parent, my mother held many jobs. Most of them had to do with the betterment and the advancement of our community and society at large. I grew up seeing her active in ministries at our church, with the homeless, as a social worker, with elderly, with youth, as a children's rights organizer with the Urban League of Chicago.
