Diverse stories and politics

First black woman from New England in Congress

Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, who shares the honour with Hayes, was a Boston city councilwoman. Pressley spoke openly on the campaign trail about surviving sexual assault and the impact of incarceration on her family.

Describing Trump’s administration’s policies as a ”locomotive that has been coming at us to roll back every civil right protection and freedom that we’ve fought for”, she said women have been emboldened: to vote, to volunteer, to write checks, to run for their first political office or aim for a higher one since the Women’s March after

2016 elections.

“When we stood on the Boston Common, we held signs that said: ‘Today we march, tomorrow we run.’ They just didn’t believe us,” she said.