Democratic Socialist politician, the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx borough of NYC to a Puerto Rican family. Her political tendencies were recognized from a young age, and in high school, she participated in the National Hispanic Institute’s Lorenzo de Zavala Youth Legislative Session and later served as its Secretary of State. She attended Boston University, graduating cum laude with a BA degree in international relations and economics. While studying in college, she was an intern in Senator Ted Kennedy’s section of foreign affairs and immigration issues. As the only Spanish speaker in the office, she was the one to assist the families who were separated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
After college, Ocasio-Cortez returned to the Bronx and worked at the nonprofit National Hispanic Institute, as well as a community organizer, a waitress, and a bartender, helping her mother with fighting a Foreclosure on their home. In 2016, she was a volunteered organizer at Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign. She became active with the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, traveling across the country speaking to the communities that have been affected by the change of drinking water in the area. The encounter with the local activists inspired her to work for her community. Not long after, she received a call from Brand New Congress, recruiting her as a progressive candidate for the congressional district election.
In April 2018, still working as a waitress, Ocasio-Cortez launched her primary campaign for NYC’s 14th congressional district election – the first person in 14 years to challenge Joe Crowley’s seat in US congress. Under the slogan “The Courage to Change,” she organized an all-volunteer grassroots campaign and did not take corporate donations. With a strong social media presence, she defeated her opponent by almost 15%, becoming the youngest woman ever to serve in the US Congress.
Arriving at the House of Representatives with millions of followers on social media, Ocasio-Cortez was appointed by her colleagues to give them social media lessons. In congress, she runs on a progressive platform. She is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and a loud advocate for social policies, such as abolishing ICE, universal healthcare, gun control, cancellation of student debt, tuition-free public college and trade school, criminal justice reform, and ending the privatization of prisons. She is also promoting climate policies, and together with Senator Ed Markey, she introduced the “Green New Deal” – a plan to switch to renewable energy sources for the entire country to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Read more...
A socialite and philanthropist. The co-founder of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and its biggest donor.
Abigail Aldrich Rockefeller was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Her father was a Republican senator, and she grew up traveling back and forth between Rhode Island and Washington, DC. She was educated by a Quaker governess till she was 17 years old, and then attended Miss Abbott’s School for Young Ladies in Providence.
During her upbringing, she was introduced to socialite and political circles, and at 19 years old, she made her official social debut. The following year, she embarked on an extensive European tour, where she visited many museums and art galleries and began to sharpen her skills as an art collector. At 20 years old, she met John Davison Rockefeller Jr., the son of the businessman and philanthropist John Davison Rockefeller Sr. After five years of courtship, the couple married at a big society wedding. The young Rockefellers settled in NYC, first in 13 W. 54th Street in Manhattan and later in 10 W. 54th Street.
Rockefeller was a philanthropist in the heart, and she devoted herself to various charities. She donated money to the girl scouts, chaired the Auxiliary 336 of the American Red Cross, was a member of the Young Women’s Christian Association National Board, and served as chairman of different committees of the organization. In 1918, Rockefeller was chosen to chair the Housing Committee of the War Work Council, in which she worked for the improvement of living conditions for working women. She later applied the concept to the employees of Standard Oil – her husband’s family firm, purchasing land and building homes for the workers as well as a Community Center that included a clinic, nursery school, gym, and even a bowling alley.
In 1925, Rockefeller revived her love for art and began collecting paintings and drawings mainly of contemporary American artists as well as European modernists such as Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Within a few years, she converted part of the room in her 7th floor Manhattan apartment into a gallery, where visitors could view the art on display. In 1929, alongside Lillie P. Bliss, Mary Quinn Sullivan, she co-founded the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in NYC – the first museum in the US devoted entirely to the modern movement. Rockefeller held several positions in the museum management team, from treasurer to Vice-President and Vice-Chairman, as well as served in its committees. She pushed for establishing the museum’s film library and for the War Veterans’ Art Center – a rehabilitation program for WW2 veterans through art.
Rockefeller’s dedication to art expanded outside of MoMA; she donated art pieces to other institutes, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Met Cloisters, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Ludwell-Paradise House at Colonial Williamsburg. She passed away after suffering a heart attack at the age of 73. Read more...
