Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria, 1989- , American political activist and member of Congress, b. Bronx, N.Y., Boston College (B.A., 2011). Born to Puerto Rican parents, Ocasio-Cortez’s family moved to Yorktown, N.Y., when she was five years old. While attending college, she interned with Senator Ted Kennedy, graduating with a degree in international relations and economics in 2011. After graduation, she moved to the Bronx and worked for the National Hispanic Institute. In 2016, she organized for Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign, leading her to run for Congress, challenging long-term representative Joe Crowley, who was chair of the Democratic Caucus. Ocasio-Cortez pulled off a surprise victory in the Democratic primary and subsequently won the general election. On joining Congress, she became known as the leader of a group of new Congress members collectively called “The Squad,” who worked together to push progressive and environmental issues; she is popularly known as “AOC.” She also became a target for conservative politicians and media, and was among one of the representatives targeted during the resurrection in Congress on January 6, 2021.
See essay collection by L. Lopez, ed. (2020).
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