Quotes from Ayanna Pressley

When I was growing up, 'Ebony Magazine' was a must read in our household. In those pages I found our news, our stories, and my pride.

I'm doing what Democrats said we needed to coming out of 2016, after that sobering defeat, which is to build a bench, to usher fresh faces and new voices and new ideas.

I'm asking people to vote for me because I'm an activist leader and a problem solver.

There's something to be said for perseverance.

I'm very confident about my ability to earn votes in every neighborhood.

We want Boston to be the safest bicycling city.

I've always had a love affair with Boston.

My mother informed me that the way to be a change agent to create change, the first line of defense, or however you want to phrase that, is politics and government.

From drug companies to health insurers to Wall Street banks, big corporations are spending millions to buy influence in Washington and drown out the voices of regular people.

You cannot have a government for and by the people if it is not represented by all of the people.

I think culture is a very challenging thing to reverse.

My priority will remain supporting those courageous individuals and organizations, among both Israelis and Palestinians, committed to bringing peaceful coexistence to the region.

We should be uncomfortable with the growing gaps in our society, and we cannot allow ourselves to become desensitized to these injustices.

Plans without price tags are simply pandering.

We must acknowledge that issues like systemic racism, economic inequality, and the achievement gap are the result of manmade policies.

True enough, Trump is a formidable foe, and systemic inequalities and disparities are worsening under this administration. But they existed long before that. And I want to lead, organize, and legislate to disrupt these disparate outcomes.

People close to me personally, politically, have expressed frustration that I'm not the political animal that they wish that I were.

Bad influences and distractions were around every corner. But I also learned that my neighborhood could be a nurturing, positive place to grow up.

If the power was equitable, then our boards, then our commissions, our contracting, our wealth-building opportunities would all look very different.

People entrust me with the responsibility of actualizing our shared values and, that said, I'm not in the business of going to try to convert people and getting their buy-in. I just do the work.

I have been a policymaker proven in tackling some very complex social issues on the municipal level here in Boston.

I think people want to live in a city that is welcoming and inclusive. I don't think people want to feel that they can only go into a place with a rainbow flag in front.

I know, given my own life challenges, that there are many non-academic barriers that get in the way of the scholastic and life success of our children and that complicate teaching.

Race is a factor in everything.