Ayanna Pressley

Politician

1974-02-03

Ayanna Pressley is an American politician serving in the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. She became the first Black woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts.

Quotes by Ayanna Pressley

I'm asking people to vote for me because I'm an activist leader and a problem solver.
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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.
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We need a permanent solution to TPS recipients and develop a path to citizenship. And, more fundamentally, we need to ensure that our immigration policies treat those coming to this country with the dignity and compassion that should be afforded to all human beings and immediately stop tearing families apart.
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I'm not naive. All politics is about identity, right? Neighborhood politics, cultural politics, issue politics. It's not as though I don't get that. It's just - it has to be, I think, tempered in a way that is for our overall advancement and not to our detriment or obliteration. When I say 'our,' I don't mean just communities of color.
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I happen to be black and a woman and unapologetically proud to be both, but that is not the totality of my identity.
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If elected, I will work with federal leaders to rehouse the non-immigration enforcement functions of ICE - including human trafficking and money laundering investigations - elsewhere in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security while immediately eliminating funding for enforcement and removal functions.
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At some point or another, everyone has felt unseen and unheard and marginalized.
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Since being elected to the City Council, I have been unwavering in my commitment to address issues uniquely impacting women and girls and advance policies that stabilize and strengthen our communities.
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For me, whatever vantage point that I'm serving, I'm going to be an advocate and do the work to actualize my values.
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I'm very confident about my ability to earn votes in every neighborhood.
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I think people want to live in a city that is welcoming and inclusive. I don't think people want to feel that they can only go into a place with a rainbow flag in front.
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