Jason,
There is no pocket in this country where there is not someone fighting for justice.
Whether it's Tennessee or The Bronx, Minnesota or California, there are fighters for justice everywhere.
And yesterday, they sent a resounding message that the city of Pittsburgh is not for sale by sending Summer Lee back to Congress — not by a little, but by a lot.
But this is about a larger battle for our country. We have billionaires funneling money because historically the law in politics has been 'Whoever spends the most, wins'. AIPAC has pledged to spend $100 million to try and stop Summer and our entire progressive movement this year. |
After Summer moved into Congress in 2022, it turns out her office is actually just a few doors down from mine.
But despite the fact that we are physically close, the way the House works is very isolating — you have different committees, all these things going on — and to be elected and to make history is to be significant, but it often means you are alone.
Summer Lee is the first Black woman to represent Pennsylvania in Congress — but to be first is to be alone. You are in a room, alone. Told you don't know what you're talking about, when really you are speaking from another perspective.
But they act like that means you don't know.
I don't know what it is to have billions of dollars and sleep at night defunding our public schools. I'll admit that I don't know how we can send billions and billions of dollars into a relentless war without even being able to afford our own housing or healthcare. I admit to not understanding that logic.
But I do know that to fight for common sense in the House of Representatives is to often be alone.
Yesterday, we showed Summer, and the world, that she is not alone. And every day she walks down that hallway, she walks with a million people by her side.
But this is about a larger battle for our country. Because we are in a moment where wealth has concentrated to absolutely unsustainable levels in the United States.
They have purchased our political system — it's not just Republicans, it's not just Democrats, it is the system that is often purchased. We have billionaires funneling money because historically the law in politics has been 'Whoever spends the most, wins'. That's the brass tax.
And so when they want to take on someone like Summer — someone like us — they pour in money. And they've got big old slush funds for the 1%, like AIPAC for Republican millionaires, that think that they can buy our government.
We have to show them that we are in a moment that is the opposite of cynical. Cynicism says, "The system is cooked, the outcomes are already predetermined, why bother?" — and that's what they buy. They buy the amplification of saying 'There's no point. We shouldn't try'.
What we are here to say is our lives are worth fighting for.
And they didn't just try to buy this election – they're trying to buy every election from the people who threaten them the most. Summer Lee was top of the ticket. But it's not just Summer.
Jamaal Bowman. Cori Bush. Ilhan Omar.
I just got a primary challenger too. They're trying.
Pittsburgh was the first of the rest of these races, and sent a message to the 1%: it ain't working anymore. Our cities are not for sale anymore. We have woken up. We see this game for what it is. Your money isn't good here anymore.
We're going to protect our representation. We're going to grow it, and expand it.
Westchester is not for sale. St. Louis won't be for sale, either. The Bronx and Queens is never for sale. And it started in Pittsburgh yesterday.
Reject cynicism. A just America is worth fighting for.
Our families are worth fighting for. Our wages, our lives, our healthcare, our education is worth fighting for.
This year the left must win as many elections as possible to halt the immediate threat of fascism and expand our strength to chart a path of policy transformation in Congress. |
We will not give up.
In solidarity,
Alexandria
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