OUT ON THE HILL is the official blog of the Victory Congressional Interns. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of LGBTQ+ Victory Institute. Learn more about the internship at victoryinstitute.org/vci.
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“Policy is my love language. Every inequity, every indignity, every injustice is one that was legislated… I believe the people closest to the pain should be the closest to the power, driving and informing policy making.”
Representative Pressley (MA-07), Congressional Mama’s Caucus Shadow Hearing, 6/30/26.
Those words, spoken by the Honorable Representative Ayanna Pressley, encapsulate the meaning of my time on the Hill. As I must often remind myself, proximity to power means nothing without a seat at the table. Being here, in this moment, means far more than gaining ephemeral access to the hallowed halls of our nation’s political center.
It’s breaking through the divisiveness of politics, fostering connection with those from whom you least expect it. It’s meeting your heroes, and holding close the wisdom of those before you to bring the repetition of history’s greatest mistakes to a grinding halt. It’s pulling aside Representative Kelly Morrison for a conversation after a hearing – joining a circle of women telling tales of their resilience, and being inspired anew to fight for our shared futures.
As a girl, I often wondered why the policies coming out of the Capitol never seemed to align with what my community so desperately needed. As time passed, and more and more rights began to fall to the wayside, falling victim to regressive political ideology, I realized this one simple truth: representation is how we resist. In the marathon that is life, it is never enough to accept the things you cannot change. You must become the change you seek. This is why representation is so key. When you’re not in the room, when you don’t have a voice, your absence is what defines you. And absence is a slow death all its own.
I entered this space with plenty of assumptions. Assumptions about my own capabilities. Assumptions about the effectiveness of my political participation. Assumptions about what possibilities were open for that little Black girl who looked at her history textbooks not so long ago and wondered why women like her were always absent. And now, I can finally tell that girl that representation is her.
