I think if you are passionate about what you want to be or where you want to go and you work very hard to that goal, it will happen. And, yes, you'll be knocked down and you'll have some tough times. And it won't be easy all the time, but the rewards are pretty amazing, especially if you stay true to yourself.Collection: Amazing
I'm proud of my accomplishments - but that's not why I've memorized them. It's because as a woman, and especially as a black woman, I've had to become comfortable with recognizing and articulating my own value just so that other people would value my knowledge and expertise, too.Collection: Knowledge
I grew up in Hempstead, NY, and my very first job was working for an environmental organization.Collection: Environmental
Avoidance and delays aren't neutral; they send a very clear message.
There's something called the Hatch Act that I have to be very mindful of.
Joan Trumpauer Mulholland is proof that not all heroes get the recognition they deserve.
Being the oldest of three siblings, I had to take care of my siblings while my parents were working six, seven days a week.
It can be really hard to ask for help when you need it, but that's why you have a network of supporters! They're there to support you. Let them.
Once I have that positive attitude, I bring that into work and try to lift up everybody around me.
Whether it's a job or life choice, make sure you're figuring out what makes you motivated, not what motivates everyone else.
When it comes down to it, AIPAC's policies are not progressive policies.
I am a Black, gay, immigrant woman.
As we've seen over the course of the Trump administration's tenure, words can prove just as destructive as laws.
Nixon's impeachment-forced resignation gutted trust of the Republican party for years.
The 2018 elections gave Democrats a landslide victory in the House and showed that voters are eager if not desperate to hold Trump accountable.
Every person who stays silent on Donald Trump's racism, regardless of their own race or party, is betraying not just America's communities of color, but the very ideals on which this country was founded.
You cannot call yourself a progressive while continuing to associate yourself with an organization like AIPAC that has often been the antithesis of what it means to be progressive.
As the chief public affairs officer at MoveOn and an MSNBC political analyst, you can often find me talking in front of a podium or in front of a camera about the day's top news stories. A lot of the time, I'll connect it back to my personal story.
Unfortunately, AIPAC's policy and conference speaker choices aren't its only problems. Its severely racist, Islamophobic rhetoric has proven just as alarming. The organization has become known for trafficking in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric while lifting up Islamophobic voices and attitudes.
AIPAC's values are not progressive values.
I am one of those people... where statistically I am not supposed to be where I am today, statistically that's what I was told growing up. I am not supposed to be in the space having an office in the West Wing.
Being a teacher was very important to me.
Being an advocate and a voice was very important to me.
When you ask who I am, my parents are from Haiti. So we have an amazing history of the first Black republic... that is something that I hold very dear, very close to me.
The beauty of America is its freedoms and the promise that you can achieve your dreams, no matter your race, sex, country of origin, sexual orientation or gender identity. This is something we continue to strive toward and fight for.
Democratic lawmakers increasingly rely on people of color to show up at the polls to remain in office, but following an unfortunately familiar pattern, then ignore the views of the very people responsible for voting them into office.
I was a phone canvasser, and I was terrible at it. It's really hard to ask for money, especially over the phone.
I once had a job where I was essentially a fundraiser assistant. It was a volunteer thing I was doing, and I didn't like it.
Representation does matter. You hear us say this often in this administration, and no one understands this better than President Biden.
If a person espouses hatred, we need to call that out.
Voters are excited about progressive candidates because they're fighting for our interests, not special interests.
Progressive candidates don't hesitate when it comes to supporting universal health care, or the fight for $15 minimum wage, or the right to vote.
Voters in 2020 are going to back candidates who've got their backs - and those candidates are progressives who won't compromise on the backs of the American people.
Trump wants people like me and my family to be scared. He leads out of fear, because that's what he is: fearful, of who we are and what we are capable of when we use hope and love to guide us.
In 2018, I witnessed Americans all over the country vote in the most diverse Congress in history, repudiating the Trump administration's regime of white supremacy.
The day of Trump's inauguration, he talked about 'American carnage.' I was providing political analysis for PBS NewsHour, so I had to watch it live. I felt hopeless. But then the Women's March happened.
My parents taught me by example what it means to be American: to hope and to dream, and to work hard for those hopes and dreams.
Look, when I came to this country, my parents, like many immigrants, are looking for a better life. And in their minds for their children, the way that they saw success is they wanted me to become a doctor, a lawyer, or engineer, that is what they perceived as success.
Coming from a working-class family, not having a lot of money, it's hard to get into politics because it's known for being for young people who come from financial wealth. So, I primarily ran up credit cards.
Many people when they file their taxes, they count on the funds that they're going to get back from their tax returns.
I had a lot of ups and downs. Being an immigrant in this country is incredibly difficult.
I was the oldest of three and there was tons of pressure on me to succeed.
I spent my whole childhood, my college years, thinking that I was going to be a doctor.
I know Joe Biden well. I find him incredibly endearing.
I will never forget working in the White House for the first Black president.
One of the things that we do is we elevate people. We put them on pedestals, and people are flawed. No one is perfect.
Candidates inspire you. When they inspire you, you believe in them. It becomes kind of cultish in some weird way and so you have to really be able to separate that.
I was born in Martinique.
Follow your passion. Follow what you believe in. And just keep that focus, because that matters.
In its attempts to ruin the Iran deal, AIPAC supported the group that's credited with inspiring President Trump to enact the Muslim Ban and has been known to spread anti-Muslim racism.