From the moment Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat a ten-term incumbent in the primary election for New York’s 14th on June 26, 2018, her journey to the national, if not world, stage, was fast-tracked. Six months later, as the youngest Congresswoman ever elected, AOC became one of a handful of Latina politicians in Washington, D.C. Just thirty, she represents her generation, the millennials, in many groundbreaking ways: proudly working class, Democratic Socialist, of Puerto Rican descent, master of social media, not to mention of the Bronx, feminist—and a great dancer.
AOC investigates her symbolic and personal significance for so many, from her willingness to use her imperfect bi-lingualism, to the threat she poses by governing like a man, to the long history of Puerto Rican activism that she joins; to the simple power of dressing Latina in hoops and red lipstick. Contributors span a wide range of voices and ages, from media to the arts and politics; they include Lynda Lopez, Jennine Capo Crucet, Andrea Gonzalez-Ramirez, Patricia Reynoso, Pedro Regalado, Natalia Sylvester, Rebecca Traister, Carmen Rita Wong, Tracey Ross, Erin Aubry Kaplan, Mariana Atencio, Wendy Carrillo, Nathan J. Robinson, Maria Cristina González Noguera, Elizabeth C. Yeampierre, and Maria Cristina "MC" Gonzalez Noguera.
