Ocasio-Cortez: ‘When We Make Hope Kinetic, the Good Will Win’

New York’s firebrand congressional representative, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, exhorted Montgomery County Democrats insisting the country would not backslide from progressive policy advances.

“I will always believe that when we make hope kinetic, the good will win,” Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said.

Ocasio-Cortez joined Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) for a rally on Thursday night that raised money for his youth program Democracy Summer, which aims to teach young Democrats political organizing strategies.

Among the 725 who attended the event included civil rights activist Bob Moses, actor Danny Glover.

Raskin said that he saw the former-bartender-turned-Democratic-congresswoman as “historic” and said people will study Ocasio-Cortez’s victory for years to come.

“She built a movement that has changed New York politics forever,” Raskin said.

Ocasio-Cortez came to Silver Spring days after she and three other congresswomen — Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) — were named in one of President Donald Trump’s tweets.

“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how……..it is done,” Trump tweeted.

“Organizing is hope kinetic,” @aoc says.

“It’s been kind of a crazy week, hasn’t it?”

— Media Doug (@Media_Doug) July 18, 2019

Three of the women were born in the United States. Omar was born in Somalia and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000.

Ocasio-Cortez didn’t mention the president by name, but she condemned racism, which she noted has been “newly emboldened.”

“We will not go back. We will go forward, but we sure as hell will not stand still. We will move forward because we have no choice,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

During the rally, a handful of Democracy Summer fellows had a chance to ask Ocasio-Cortez some questions. One asked Ocasio-Cortez about the rise of white nationalism.

“It’s actually not just about how people of color respond to it, it’s about how our white friends respond to it,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

.@AOC talks about “checking” racism to combat the rise of white nationalism. pic.twitter.com/dRfVBB7uZK

— Deirdre Byrne (@DeirdreByrneMCM) July 19, 2019

Ocasio-Cortez also answered questions about criminal justice reform, climate change and gun reform.

Raskin noted at the event that the Democratic party was unified — which seems to allude to the reports of a division between Ocasio-Cortez’s progressive wing of the Democratic party and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s attempts to bring together a moderate wing of the party.

“Whatever political or policy differences we have within our caucus are nothing compared to the vast gulf that separates us and Donald Trump and his dark authoritarian vision for America” Raskin said.

Ocasio-Cortez ended her speech noting the progress American has made since its founding.

As the DC Labor Choir leads “This Land Is Your Land,” @aoc joins in. pic.twitter.com/JRP188agdN

— Media Doug (@Media_Doug) July 19, 2019

“We need to choose who we are going to be in America’s story. That’s what this moment is all about because years from now, decades from now, when people ask, ‘Who were you then?’ You will say, ‘I was a fighter for justice.’ You will say, ‘I was hope kinetic.'”

 

Ocasio-Cortez Joins Raskin in Silver Spring

Here is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s speech to about 725 people Thursday night in Silver Spring.

Before the rally started, MyMCMedia talked to Montgomery County Counclmember Evan Glass, Olivia Bartlett of Bethesda, Luz Chavez of Gaithersburg, Daedra Gilliard of Silver Spring, and Michele Bollinger of Takoma Park, about their reaction to President Trump’s racist tweets about Cortez, Omar, Pressley, and Tlaib.

During the speeches, one woman protested that rapists retain parental rights. Here’s the incident:

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Bob Moses, Danny Glover Attend Rally Hosted by Raskin and Ocasio-Cortez