Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

[lpetrich]

John Hendrickson on Twitter: "
On Tuesday, Jamie Raskin buried his son.
On Wednesday, he and his daughter fled the Capitol rampage.
On Thursday, he prepared articles of impeachment against the president.
I called him last night to talk about all of it: (link)" / Twitter
How Jamie Raskin Survived the Capitol Attack and His Son's Death - The Atlantic - "The day before the Capitol riot, a congressman buried his 25-year-old son, who had left a note for his family on New Year’s Eve."

On the House floor, Raskin quoted Abraham Lincoln, reminding his fellow lawmakers that they were there to carry out the will of the people, not the orders of one man. Minutes later, voices echoed through the Capitol’s marble hallways. Raskin heard what sounded like a battering ram slamming against the door. He and his colleagues were instructed to retrieve their gas masks. Guns appeared. The chaplain led the room in a prayer. Raskin’s mind flashed to Tabitha, 23, who, along with her sister’s husband, Hank, was seated in the second-floor gallery.

Raskin and the others on the House floor evacuated the building and made their way to a secure location, but spectators had to seek shelter inside the Capitol. Raskin’s chief of staff, Julie Tagen, led Tabitha and Hank to an office, where they hid beneath a table while insurrectionists overtook the building. A group of rioters repeatedly attempted to enter the room. Tagen stood guard next to the blockaded entrance, clutching a fire iron. “I asked her to protect them with her life, and she did,” Raskin told me.

...
“The president is a lethal danger to the American republic and the American people,” Raskin told me. “There has been nothing like this since the Civil War.”

 

[thebeave]

Yes indeed.

I’m okay.

Was barricaded in for several hours. I’ll tell y’all about it later.

For now, we must focus on task at hand: to preserve the integrity of our democracy, hold accountable those responsible for their attempts to subvert our nation’s elections and shred our Constitution apart.

Sorry for the earlier comma typo. It’s been a day.

That I'd like to see. Barricaded in one's office buildings seems rather odd -- I'd expect for the Congresspeople and their staffers to flee to some more distant place, like the Pentagon building.

Given the events of Jan 6, has AOC made any changes to her "defund the police" philosophy? Specifically, I'm wondering if she will call for defunding the Capitol Hill police, given their gross incompetence and the shooting death of an unarmed "protester" at point blank range. What have you heard, if anything?

 

[lpetrich]

I haven't found anything from AOC about "defund the police" recently. But I'm sure that she wasn't completely anti-cop.

One of AOC's friends in Congress: Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland-CA
Barbara Lee on Twitter: "If we're going to address systemic racism, if we're going to address reparations, and repair the damage of endless wars, we must continue the fight to reduce our defense spending until our communities have the resources they need to thrive. https://t.co/xSaGl8Ggqx" / Twitter

Rep. Barbara Lee: on 40 Years of Seeking Justice | Outrider - "From her first days in Washington, her policy outlook stemmed from Black revolutionary ideas and street activism, something you’ll almost never find in the typical nuclear weapons expert’s biography. She looks at systems and whether they succeed or fail to protect the most marginalized."

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "A lot of people have asked for a link to last night’s remarks on IG live.
Here are the remarks in full (captioning currently being generated): (link)" / Twitter
linking to
What happens after the Capitol attacks? | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - YouTube

 

[lpetrich]

Pelosi Announces Additional Committee Assignments for 117th Congress | Speaker Nancy Pelosi - Jan 5
Pelosi Announces New Committee Appointments | Speaker Nancy Pelosi - Jan 14
No Unity Without Accountability on Twitter: "All the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee: David Cicilline, Jerry Nadler, Steve Cohen, Ted Deutch, Joe Neguse, Cori Bush, Greg Stanton, Sheila Jackson Lee, Hank Johnson, Jamie Raskin, Mondaire Jones, Lieu, Scanlon, García, McBath, Escobar, Dean, Swalwell (link)" - Twitter

• Marie Newman: Sml Bsns, Tpt Infra
• Jamaal Bowman: Sci Spc Tech, Educ Lbr
• Mondaire Jones: Educ Lbr, Judiciary
• Cori Bush: Oversight, Judiciary
• AOC: Oversight, Fin Svcs
• Ayanna Pressley: Oversight
• Rashida Tlaib: Oversight, Fin Svcs
• Ilhan Omar:
• Katie Porter: Oversight, Nat Rsrcs
• Pramila Jayapal:
• Ro Khanna: Agriculture, Armd Svcs, Oversight

Porter loses seat on House panel overseeing financial sector | TheHill
noting
Katie Porter on Twitter: "@SylvanLane Procedural clarification: under House Dem rules, a member is allowed to serve on two non-exclusive committees. Mine are Oversight and Natural Resources. One can ask for a waiver for a third committee. I asked. Others in same situ got waivers. I did not. I play by the rules" / Twitter

 

[Harry Bosch]

I haven't found anything from AOC about "defund the police" recently. But I'm sure that she wasn't completely anti-cop.

One of AOC's friends in Congress: Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland-CA
Barbara Lee on Twitter: "If we're going to address systemic racism, if we're going to address reparations, and repair the damage of endless wars, we must continue the fight to reduce our defense spending until our communities have the resources they need to thrive. https://t.co/xSaGl8Ggqx" / Twitter

Rep. Barbara Lee: on 40 Years of Seeking Justice | Outrider - "From her first days in Washington, her policy outlook stemmed from Black revolutionary ideas and street activism, something you’ll almost never find in the typical nuclear weapons expert’s biography. She looks at systems and whether they succeed or fail to protect the most marginalized."

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "A lot of people have asked for a link to last night’s remarks on IG live.
Here are the remarks in full (captioning currently being generated): (link)" / Twitter
linking to
What happens after the Capitol attacks? | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - YouTube

Defund the police is the dumbest idea that the left has ever come up with. I expect most politicians to put it in their rear view mirror as quickly as possible.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Defund the police is the dumbest idea that the left has ever come up with. I expect most politicians to put it in their rear view mirror as quickly as possible.

There are plenty of examples, even some recent ones that have led to violence and death, of politicians continuing to hold stupid ideas if they feel it is to their political advantage to do so.

So don’t expect some of these ideas to just fade away because they are dumb.

 

[lpetrich]

Caucus Rules | Who We Are | House Democrats

What's this about exclusive vs. inclusive committees?

• Exclusive: Appropriations, Ways and Means, Rules
• Exclusive only for members who first served in 104th Cgrs or later: Energy and Commerce
• Exclusive only for members who first served in 109th Cgrs or later: Financial Services
• Non-exclusive: Agriculture, Armed Services, Budget, Education and Labor, Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security, House Administration, Judiciary, Natural Resources, Oversight and Reform, Science and Space and Technology, Small Business, Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans' Affairs

AOC arrived in the 116th Congress and we are now in the 117th one.

The rules on exclusivity are rather complicated. These rules can be overridden with special permission, however.

• No member of an exclusive committee can be a member of another committee, except for the Budget and House Administration committees.
• No member can be a member of more than two committees with legislative jurisdiction.
• No member can be a member of the Ethics or Budget Committees for more than 3 Congresses in a contiguous set of 5 Congresses.

Opinion | Katie Porter is off the House Financial Services Committee. We’re all worse off for it. - The Washington Post

Katie Porter on Twitter: "@SylvanLane Procedural clarification: under House Dem rules, a member is allowed to serve on two non-exclusive committees. Mine are Oversight and Natural Resources. One can ask for a waiver for a third committee. I asked. Others in same situ got waivers. I did not. I play by the rules" / Twitter

That's why AOC didn't get into the Energy and Commerce Committee, I think. But she'll still be in Oversight and Fin Serv.

 

[lpetrich]

Go Ahead. Fantasize. - The New York Times - "Imagining a better future, whether it includes gigantic house parties or just more hugs, helps humans cope with difficult times."

“The important thing about imagination is that it gives you optimism,” said Martin Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and the director of the Positive Psychology Center there.

His work is dedicated to studying human agency, which is predicated on efficacy, optimism and imagination. (When Dr. Seligman was president of the American Psychological Association in 1998, he pushed for moving away “from focusing on what’s wrong to what makes life worth living.”)

The hours spent fantasizing and daydreaming about future plans are valuable, Dr. Seligman said. They allow people to escape routine, and cultivate hope and resilience. Imagination also helps people live a “good life,” which Dr. Seligman has found is greatly influenced by positive thinking, emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishments — or what he calls PERMA.

“Imagining the future — we call this skill prospection — and prospection is subserved by a set of brain circuits that juxtapose time and space and get you imagining things well and beyond the here and now,” Dr. Seligman said. “The essence of resilience about the future is: How good a prospector are you?”

Then this nice tweet for nearly 1 1/2 years ago:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "A new day, a new friend https://t.co/1PmPEHP5Yx" / Twitter
AOC with a penguin in Monterey Bay Aquarium
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Just a penguin dance throwback from the before times

Today in the NYT there’s a story about how imagining activities & scenes to look forward to can help us with difficult times during the pandemic.

I’m looking forward to big dinners w/ friends & live shows. How about you?" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "“Imagining a better future, whether it includes gigantic house parties or just more hugs, helps humans cope with difficult times.” https://t.co/wBfIiXA1O1" / Twitter

AOC seems very positive. Very unlike a certain stereotypical sort of left-winger who denounces the evils and corruption of existing society without proposing anything better.

 

[lpetrich]

This is Martin Luther King Day, and we are seeing lots of tributes to MLK Jr. Among them are some tributes by a notable admirer, AOC herself.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "“The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power.”

- MLK Jr." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "“I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic...”

- MLK Jr" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "“But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, ..." / Twitter

“But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label was not Jesus an extremist for love?: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” and Thomas Jefferson?: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ..." So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ayanna Pressley on Twitter: "Good afternoon.

Dr. King was an anti-war, anti-capitalist justice seeker who rejected poverty, racism, militarism and the death penalty. (video link)" / Twitter

Jamaal Bowman on Twitter: "“It’s much easier to integrate a lunch counter than it is to guarantee an income to get rid of poverty for negroes and all people.”

On this MLK Day, let us push for more than just decency by recommitting to the struggle for genuine economic, social, and political equality. https://t.co/8OzMPZBJxx" / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "FYI there is (yet another) viral misinformation campaign going on, ..." / Twitter

FYI there is (yet another) viral misinformation campaign going on, this time a false tweet that’s been photoshopped to look like I sent out a call for a “purge.”

Unsurprisingly it’s circulating like wildfire on FB & Twitter. This is one way death threats & targeting ramp up.

On a lighter note there was also another viral photoshopped tweet about my shoes () but also now ppl are asking if I need shoes no thanks. That was fake too!

Sometimes when people call me “extreme” I wonder how many fake Facebook stories/posts they’ve been exposed to

AOC has been subjected to a lot of such fakery, like a fake tweet where she allegedly wanted COVID-19 lockdowns to continue.

 

[Swammerdami]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "FYI there is (yet another) viral misinformation campaign going on, ..." / Twitter

FYI there is (yet another) viral misinformation campaign going on, this time a false tweet that’s been photoshopped to look like I sent out a call for a “purge.”

Unsurprisingly it’s circulating like wildfire on FB & Twitter. This is one way death threats & targeting ramp up.

On a lighter note there was also another viral photoshopped tweet about my shoes (??????) but also now ppl are asking if I need shoes ?????? no thanks. That was fake too!

Sometimes when people call me “extreme” I wonder how many fake Facebook stories/posts they’ve been exposed to

AOC has been subjected to a lot of such fakery, like a fake tweet where she allegedly wanted COVID-19 lockdowns to continue.

Should not FB and Twitter be obligated to keep track of which users received the photo-fake and send retraction follow-ups? (This would be impractical for most lies, but surely when a top politician is slandered with a lie, the billionaire media moguls should take a miniscule financial loss and provide truth when alerted by, in this example, AOC. ... No?)

 

[lpetrich]

AOC retweeted
b-boy bouiebaisse on Twitter: "For MLK Day, here a passage from his book “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” (pic link)" / Twitter
He's NYT columnist Jamelle Bouie.

America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing to prevent us from paying adequate wages to schoolteachers, social workers and other servants of the public to insure that we have the best available personnel in these positions which are charged with the responsibility of guiding our future generations. There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American citizen whether he be a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid or day laborer. There is nothing except shortsightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing an annual minimum -- and livable -- income for every American family. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from remolding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "MLK deserves actual study. If you haven’t had the chance to, use today to take in his work. Places to start-

Speeches:
- Drum Major Instinct
- To the Mountaintop
- Beyond Vietnam

Books:
- Why We Can’t Wait
- Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
- All Labor Has Dignity" / Twitter
I wish to add MLK's Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

Then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "You can join @JumaaneWilliams, @AyannaPressley, @ninaturner, @JamaalBowmanNY for a reading of the Drum Major Instinct today: https://t.co/9wHmFzpm2v" / Twitter
noting
Jumaane Williams on Twitter: "Please join us tomorrow for a dramatic reading of Dr. King's Drum Major Instinct.
Followed by an interactive discussion.

@AyannaPressley @JamaalBowmanNY @ninaturner #mosesingram

@TheaterofWar
#MartinLutherKingDay
#MLK (links)" / Twitter

Featuring performances by Congressman Jamaal Bowman of New York, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Moses Ingram (The Queen's Gambit).

AOC herself didn't participate in any MLK events this year, as far as I can tell.

 

[lpetrich]

I note that because she participated in MLK events in 2019 and 2020.

I found this tweet: Nessie on Twitter: "@rup1953 @nikoCSFB I understand the need to give ppl the benefit of the doubt. Sadly, AOC has already amassed a record which puts her firmly in the "controlled opposition" camp in an era when we need ppl who will #DoTheRightThing and stop telling us to bide our time. #Birmingham #MLK (pic link)" / Twitter
"Controlled opposition"? It's fun to see stuff like that, stuff that makes me seem like a card-carrying member of the John Birch Society.

I must confess that over the past few years have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

From his Letter from a Birmingham Jail

 

[lpetrich]

Alveda King urges AOC to 'take a page out of Martin Luther King Jr.'s book' | Fox News
not
Alveda King: Martin Luther King Jr.'s inspiring message to a nation plagued by violence, injustice, discord | Fox News

Dr. Alveda King called on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to "take a page out of Martin Luther King Jr.'s book" on Monday after the congresswoman referred to President Trump as the "poison of White supremacy."

The New York lawmaker made the comment during a virtual town hall last week before calling on the federal government to direct funds toward "deprogramming" White supremacists in an effort to bridge the racial divide in America.

"I believe that AOC really should take a page out of Martin Luther King Jr.'s book...," Alveda told Fox News host Harris Faulkner.

Alveda told Faulkner that while her uncle praised the law for keeping bad actors in line, "he also said that the law cannot transform the human heart."

Does she have any better ideas?

 

[lpetrich]

Town Hall on Capitol Attack with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - YouTube (a week ago) - she described it as an emergency one

AOC had a guest: NY Attorney General Letitia "Tish" Jones.

She talked about, among other things, doing a case against the NY Police Dept for excessive use of force in a demonstration. She said that there were only 5 days more to go until Trump is gone.

Then AOC came in. She talked about how she has committed herself to supporting the US Constitution with her oath of office. For instance, she dislikes the Electoral College, but she is committed to changing it with mechanisms that are within the Constitution, not of inviting her followers to the Washington Mall, and then encouraging them to mob the Congress building and force Congressmembers to do what she wants.

She repeated her demand for the resignations of Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and many others. Why did they do that? She speculated a bit, and then she restated her responsibilities as an elected official.

She's working on some stuff to take care of service workers like food-service ones at the Capitol.

Among the Capitol Police, some did acts of courage and some did act of betrayal. We will have to investigate everybody.

White supremacists? They won't be going away on Joe Biden's inauguration. She then said that she was the vice chair of the Oversight Committee's Subcommittee on Civil Liberties, a subcommittee headed by Jamie Raskin, a Constitutional scholar, a good friend, and all-around great human being. She was involved in hearings on the growing white-supremacist threat. She once had a witness who was a former neo-Nazi. He noted some ways of deprogramming white supremacists, including some Federal programs for doing so. The Trump Admin cut off funding, something that I'm sure that Fur Boy Aaron Mostofsky would be delighted to learn (sarcasm - he is Jewish).

 

[lpetrich]

She warns that one should not expect success in one conversation. Such people didn't get started in one conversation, but by repeated exposure to what they came to believe, like repeated claims of massive election fraud. She spoke of "deradicalizing".

After going into immigration and DACA, she got into the question of what to do about laws and policing and intelligence after the 1/6 attack. She thinks that we have plenty of both, and that the big problem was failure to use what we had.

She then got into Facebook, and how it enabled white supremacists to have a platform there.

She then praised a staffer in the attacks, someone she called "G". She also suspected that the Capitol attackers would have been treated differently if they were nonwhites. She recalled the simple metal barricades around the Capitol building in the days prior to the event -- they didn't try very hard to secure that building. She then noted the cops' restraint toward the attackers.

About how she got through the attack, she said that a nice feature of the Medicare for All bill that she supports is that it covers not only dental and vision, but also mental health. She also noted that thinking that one's life is in danger is a good predictor for post-traumatic stress disorder, and that one good coping mechanism is to tell one's story. She has been doing that, and she now thinks that she's OK. She's been taking it easy, giving herself some rest if she feels like she needs it. She also mentioned humor as a coping mechanism.

 

[lpetrich]

AOC thinks that Joe Biden is excessively optimistic about the Republican Party, that that party will behave reasonably after the end of Trump's Presidency. Seems like he's in for a nasty surprise. Mitch McConnell laughed when he recalled keeping Obama from getting Merrick Garland as Supreme Court Justice.

A reporter said that she was there, and AOC said that she was sorry about those horrible events. AOC said that she appreciated all the love that she has gotten from her constituents in this horrible time. She also said that she is being fed (laughs), that she was eating (laughs), and that she was drinking water and juice (laughs).


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "A historic day. Congratulations to our new President @JoeBiden and our new Vice President @KamalaHarris.

Now we must begin creating justice, healing our planet, and improving the material conditions for all people.

The work is on all of us to organize and build a better future." / Twitter

But guess where she spent Inauguration Day? Not in DC for the festivities.

AOC Remarks at Hunts Point Produce Market Strike | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - YouTube

On January 20, 2021, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined the picket line at the Hunts Point Market strike, where workers demanded a $1/hr raise.

Hunts Point Market has been critical in feeding New York City throughout the pandemic. 60% of New York City's produce is processed through the facility.

"When you're standing on this line, you're not just asking for $1, you are asking for transformational change for your lives, over the lives of every food worker across this country, for kids or food workers across the country."

That reminds me of when I first learned about her. She had a bold progressive platform, but she seemed to neglect organized labor. But she has since made up for that deficiency.

She talked about how the strike action started on Martin Luther King Day, and how she comes from a "spiritual family" and how she believes that that was not coincidence. There is another way that it need not be coincidence, one that does not require the action to be somehow rigged from behind the scenes. That the organizers themselves decided that that would be a good landmark day for starting their action.

One of the last actions in MLK's life was attempting to organize garbage collectors, she noted. So it wasn't just racial justice that MLK was concerned about, but also economic justice.

 

[lpetrich]

Hunts Point Produce Market union workers strike over hourly wages - ABC7 New York

Union workers at a Bronx supermarket, that processes more than half of the city's fruits and vegetables, have gone on strike.

"For them to say 32 cents is all we're going to offer, it's a slap in the face," striking worker Darren Brenner said.

...
Sixty percent of the city's fruits and vegetables are processed at the market.

It's hard, physical labor usually done during the overnight hour, which is when picket lines have been busiest with visitors like representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez lending support.

There have been arrests as well. Six strikers summonsed for blocking trucks from entering the market and other vehicles have turned around in solidarity.

AOC spends inauguration day at NYC Teamsters picket line - NY Post

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined a picket line in the Bronx on Wednesday to support food and manufacturing workers.

The congresswoman was spotted bringing boxes of Bustelo coffee and hand warmers to workers of the Hunts Point Produce Market, who are on strike for the fourth day.

Luis Feliz Leon on Twitter: "⁦@AOC⁩ showed up for the workers at #HuntsPointStrike. I told her that I loved how she was repping the Bx with Bustelo coffee and Tims. ⁦@clauirizarry⁩ and ⁦@CWEBCRUZER⁩, what did she say? https://t.co/6qcjj6ty8g" / Twitter

Ocasio-Cortez spent inauguration evening supporting striking workers in New York | TheHill

Ocasio-Cortez also tweeted her support of the strikers Wednesday night, calling it “embarrassing” that management would not agree to the demand of a $1 raise despite receiving a Paycheck Protection program loan of more than $32,000.

 

[lpetrich]

New Story on Instagram: “Tag that friend doubting themselves as they tackle their big dream!⁣ ⁣ Episode two of the Founders Lab podcast is for them. Link in bio.”
"Any time you are feeling self-doubt, know that behind the genesis of almost every great thing, there was a person who was probably too inexperienced. -- Alexandria Lafci, Co-Founder, New Story"

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Instagram: “NYC’s produce workers are on strike. Let’s help them get paid. Drop off supplies or show up to the picket line. (address)”

NYC-DSA on Instagram: “We need to turn out for these essential workers who deserve everything they’re asking for. Thank you @AOC for joining us today. Join…”

"That's Upside Down": AOC & Other Lawmakers Back Hunts Point Workers' Strike - Gothamist

Elected officials, including Bronx/Queens Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are now backing the workers' strike at the Hunts Point Produce Market, where employees have entered day four of a strike over wages.

Some 1,400 employees represented by the Teamsters Local 202 union, comprised of warehouse workers and drivers at the gargantuan industrial site in the Bronx, help move around 300,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables daily. The Hunts Point Produce Market is a cooperative of 30 merchants who purchase produce from farms and importers and distributes the goods to grocers, restaurants, and more. All told, they handle 60% of the city's produce.

...
"When you're standing on this line, you're not just asking for $1, you are asking for transformational change for your lives, over the lives of every food worker across this country, for kids or food workers across the country," Ocasio-Cortez said, flanked by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and state Assemblymember Amanda Septimo on a frigid Wednesday night outside the enormous, city-owned property. "Because there's a lot of things upside down right now in our economy. And one of those things that are upside down [...] is the fact that a person who is helping get the food to your table cannot feed their own kid. That's upside down."

Rebeca Ibarra on Twitter: "Meanwhile Hunts Point workers continue their strike:" / Twitter
noting
David Cruz on Twitter: "“Something’s upside down,” says @AOC at a rally supporting Hunts Point workers in the #Bronx on strike tonight fighting for a $1 raise. https://t.co/kgCspOIrNY" / Twitter

What's upside down is people who feed others not being able to feed themselves.

 

[lpetrich]

Teamsters JC 16 on Twitter: "BREAKING: 21 train cars of merchandise turned back at Hunts Point Market strike line.

“The locomotive engineer said, ‘we’re @Teamsters too,’ turned the freight car around, and headed back to Ohio.”

UNION SOLIDARITY #1u #HuntsPointStrike https://t.co/b1zqhT3ARU" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Stocking up on Bustelo + hot chocolate to support the picket line of @TeamstersJC16 workers later!

Hundreds are on strike at Hunts Point Market in the Bronx for a $1 raise.

They need our support! Check out their story & thank a food worker today (link)" / Twitter
noting
Nathalia on Twitter: "@AOC at Costco - best. day. ever. https://t.co/WCbeRBmc3A" / Twitter
Hunts Point Market Workers in The Bronx Strike For a $1 Raise — and Respect - THE CITY - "The first strike in 35 years at the Bronx-based food hub has hundreds of workers on the picket line — buoyed by political candidates and besieged by the NYPD."

AOC made several tweets on the strike and retweeted several others, especially those that featured her appearance there.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "It’s embarrassing that a corporation enjoying pandemic profits, millions in PPP & more in tax giveaways is fighting a $1 raise for essential workers who‘ve risked their lives all year to feed us.

It’s time we stand up for essential workers everywhere. Thank you @TeamstersJC16 " / Twitter
noting
David Cruz on Twitter: "“Something’s upside down,” says @AOC at a rally supporting Hunts Point workers in the #Bronx on strike tonight fighting for a $1 raise. (video link)" / Twitter

Ocasio-Cortez joins Hunts Point Market workers' strike