Your power
Last night was the result of a years-long journey in the struggle for our freedom.
Two years ago, I was a working mom sitting in my cubicle at the Federal Reserve going through thousands of pages of reporting from some of the largest banks in our country and the world. Delving in big data and high-security information and detecting lies and discrepancies that could bring down our whole economy and destroy the livelihood of our people. Every night spent away from my family was very tough, but it was a badge of honor to be serving the working people of our country.
I never imagined that a woman like me could ever dream to have such trust from our community and carry the voices of the working class into the boardrooms of the biggest corporate players in the world, holding them accountable, and catching their lies that could cost us trillions, and again like the 2008 financial crisis, cost us jobs, homes, healthcare, education, and lives.
Only thirteen years earlier, I was earning poverty wages mopping restaurant floors and babysitting. I was an undocumented worker denied healthcare, a bank account, a living wage, and who lived in an apartment infested with mice and with no heat in the winter.
Yet in all that struggle, there was something so profound that kept me going. Some call it hope, others call it courage. I call it the fight for our freedom.
I came to our beautiful country from Meknes, Morocco with nothing but a little suitcase containing summer clothes. I was far from what constitutes “American” in the eyes of those who have created set standards for what it means. I was told that only tourists look up to see how high the sky scrapers were, and that keeping my head leveled would make me look more like a New Yorker. Never look people straight in the eyes, look at their shoes when on the subway, and most strikingly, do not converse with or give to the homeless.
As I stared down at shiny shoes stomping the ground in lower Manhattan, my eyes couldn’t escape homeless folks at the feet of the biggest buildings. The injustice of such stark inequality, the dehumanizing conditions, stereotypes, and the ignorance created by oppressive systems that make the oppressed become the oppressor, had me question whether we truly are free as Americans.
I started to realize that the poverty I was experiencing was not by any means an acceptable bargain in the pursuit of the American Dream, that what was once defined as “the immigrant experience” was a flawed narrative created by the super wealthy to keep not only immigrants, but millions of working people across our country under the boot.
I vowed to fight for the most vulnerable, to abolish poverty, and end the unnecessary suffering of our people once and for all.
I scraped every dollar I earned to put myself through community college, earned a women in Math scholarship to Boston University and became first in my family to graduate from college. I worked to eliminate food deserts, saved cities from bankruptcy, battled the biggest, most corrupt wall street players on behalf of the American people, and ultimately challenged the most powerful name in American politics because Medicare for All and the Green New Deal can’t wait.
Today, as we continue in the struggle for our freedom, we are faced with serious threats to our democracy. It is in our hands to save our country from economic collapse, a pandemic and a dictatorship, and to save our planet from an environmental emergency. We are not free until we secure economic liberation. We are not free until we put an end to racism, sexism, islamophobia, anti semitism, transphobia, ableism, and xenophobia. We are not free until we have true freedom of speech and identity, guarantee freedom to our bodies, and until no human being is illegal. We will not have true freedom until every one of us is truly free.
Our love campaign has restored many people’s faith in our democracy and helped reinstate their belief in our individual and collective power to transform our country. Every one of the 16,511 votes and counting is a victory to be celebrated. Now, we must build on this momentum to organize, not only to defeat Trump this November, but to build the country we believe in — an America that loves its people back. Where everyone — no matter their color or where they were born — is guaranteed a right to healthcare, housing, education, clean air and water, and a good paying job.
To those who voted for us, worked with us, volunteered your precious time and donated your hard-earned money, endorsed us, I extend to you my deepest appreciation and gratitude. It’s been an honor to get to know you and to be in this fight for justice with you.
Thank you to the postal workers, the Secretary of State’s office, and town clerks for ensuring a smooth democratic process during difficult circumstances.
I look forward to further turning our struggles into multiple victories and to building the country of our dreams together.
