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).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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