Lisa Blunt Rochester

"“As a young, young girl, I probably didn’t know about women like Rosa Parks. I wasn’t that kid who said, ‘Someday, I want to be in Congress.’ But I knew my grandmothers, and they were incredible people.”"

"“And then, one day, I remember going to the supermarket here in Delaware, and there was a family in front of me, a father and a couple of kids. He had put back a bunch of grapes because they were five dollars a bunch and he couldn’t afford it. It was this turning point. I just realized that I wasn’t the only one struggling. I’m blessed. I have a house. I have great kids. I suffered a loss, but there are a lot of people who are suffering—loss of their jobs, loss of their homes, loss of a child to gun violence.”"

"“My mother’s mother worked at a ball‑bearing plant. She was a steelworker at a time when it wasn’t common to see a woman in that position. Eventually she became a union leader and an activist, trying to stop drugs in her community. (She and her family were pushed out of their neighborhood by drug dealers.)”"