BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

There's no question that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrived in Congress like a lightning bolt, defeating Joseph Crowley (a ten-term Congressman in the Democratic leadership), and making clear she was not content to be a quiet backbencher. What makes her different from similar recent arrivals across the aisle, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, is that Ocasio-Cortez showed up ready to work on legislation and oversight and not just get herself facetime on some cable news show.

While she has an interesting life story – she may be the only member of Congress who both worked as a bartender AND has an asteroid named after her (Asteroid 23238 Ocasio-Cortez) – it's a bit premature for a full-fledged biography to be published. AOC: The Fearless Rise and Powerful Resonance of Alexandria-Cortez is a collection of essays about AOC written by a number of writers and activists. Biographical details emerge, but only in passing, and the slim volume (218 pages), reads more like a fan magazine devoted to a single star. That's not to say that the articles are superficial. There's serious discussions about Democratic socialism and the Green New Deal, and even on AOC's mastery of social media.

However, there are also essays that might be called "What AOC Means to Me" where the authors are mostly talking about how AOC inspired them as a Latina or person of color or, more specifically, Puerto Rican. While interesting, these reveal far more about the writers themselves than about the congresswoman. One writer, award-winning author Jennine Capó Crucet, even gushes, "I'm writing in the end to ask: Do you want to be friends?" (p. 22) Somebody in AOC's office should send her an autographed picture.

Editor Lynda Lopez, an anchor WCBS Newsradio 880 in New York, says her intention with the book was "to explore the significance of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez now." (p.8) As a snapshot of a political star in the early stages of what promises to be a long career, it may be of interest to her supporters, but only until something of greater substance come along.

-- Daniel M. Kimmel, editor, OnTheIssues.org, May 2021

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Education     Made college loan payment during House committee hearing.     Public option for elementary education is vitally important.

Immigration     Questioned Guatemalan asylum seeker at hearing in Spanish.

Jobs     Worker power means aggressive support for labor unions.     Insisted on a living wage for her congressional staff.

Principles & Values     In Congress to safeguard and protect people, not profit.     Protesting Dakota pipeline & Flint water transformational.     Her background can help Democrats better understand.     Socialism is democratic participation in economic dignity.

Technology     Don't post a meme if you don't know what a meme is.     Research should help everyone, including developing nations.

Welfare & Poverty     Bills to chip away at economic injustice: "A Just Society".

Click for quotations from other sources by: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez