AOC in Montgomery, Alabama

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]HOW'S IT GOING, MONTGOMERY?

[00:00:03]>> [cheering] >> I NEED TO FIX ALL THESE MICROPHONES HERE. There's a lot of them.

[00:00:08]I LOVE YOU, TOO.

[00:00:15]HOW ARE WE ALL DOING TODAY?

[00:00:18]>> [cheering] >> I'M SO grateful to be here in this moment and in this fight alongside each and every one of you shoulder to shoulder as we fight to continue the legacy and expand upon that of Montgomery, Alabama.

[00:00:40]I was um I was with Senator Warnock last last Sunday.

[00:00:46]And we were at Ebenezer Church in Atlanta.

[00:00:50]And after his beautiful sermon, Senator Warnock took me to the original Ebenezer that Martin Luther King Jr.

[00:01:01]had had preached at and had organized in.

[00:01:06]And we sat inside that sanctuary.

[00:01:12]And what had struck me was how small it was.

[00:01:17]AND SENATOR WARNOCK TURNED TO me and he said, "This sanctuary only fit 300 people."

[00:01:26]And he said, "Congresswoman, can you believe that this sanctuary of just 300 people CHANGED THE WORLD?"

[00:01:40]THOSE 300 congregants at Ebenezer Baptist Church turned into those congregants at Dexter AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH RIGHT BEHIND us here today.

[00:01:53]AND FROM DR. KING'S WORK RIGHT HERE ON DEXTER AVENUE, we saw the LAUNCH OF THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT.

[00:02:02]>> [cheering] >> AND IT WAS RIGHT HERE IN MONTGOMERY WHERE WE SAW SOME OF the most cruel repression in the history of America.

[00:02:13]WHERE WE ALSO SAW THE HIGHEST ANGELS OF AMERICAN HISTORY >> [cheering] >> RISE TO CREATE our democracy.

[00:02:23]Because it wasn't until THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 19 uh it wasn't UNTIL THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT THAT WAS PASSED THAT WE EVEN HAD A DEMOCRACY IN THIS COUNTRY.

[00:02:35]>> [cheering] >> THERE WAS NO DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA until every human BEING BORN HERE WAS GUARANTEED AND PROTECTED THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

[00:02:47]BUT WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THOSE BUS BOYCOTTS. AND WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED ON THE TRAIL TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GOT THAT LEGISLATION PASSED. Because with every expansion, there is an attempt at regression.

[00:03:03]THIS SUPREME COURT UNDER JUSTICE ROBERT ROBERTS IS PART OF THAT LONG HISTORY of regression and repression in America.

[00:03:13]But they do not triumph, Montgomery.

[00:03:16]You triumph, MONTGOMERY.

[00:03:20]AND I I AM HERE TODAY because I want TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT MONTGOMERY IS NOT ALONE.

[00:03:30]That you all are not alone.

[00:03:32]And for all of THOSE WATCHING TODAY WHEN THEY ASK, "WHAT DO WE DO in this moment? I feel helpless. WHAT ACTION CAN I TAKE?" IT IS TIME for the north TO PULL UP TO THE SOUTH.

[00:03:46]>> [cheering] >> IT IS TIME FOR NEW YORK TO PULL UP TO ALABAMA.

[00:03:52]IT IS TIME FOR ALL OF US TO COME TO GEORGIA, TO LOUISIANA, TO TENNESSEE, TO MISSISSIPPI, AND LET THEM KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY HAVE UNCOILED WITH THIS INJUSTICE. THEY THINK THEY CAN DRAW US OUT OF POWER. THEY DO NOT KNOW the sleeping giant THAT THEY JUST AWAKENED.

[00:04:15]BECAUSE IT IS NOT A COINCIDENCE, and our whole country must understand that it WAS NOT UNTIL VOTING RIGHTS WERE RATIFIED IN THIS COUNTRY THAT WE GOT THE GREAT SOCIETY.

[00:04:27]BECAUSE WHEN BLACK AMERICANS HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE AND THAT VOTE IS PROTECTED, OUR SCHOOLS GET FUNDED.

[00:04:35]WHEN VOTING RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED, HEALTH CARE GETS EXPANDED.

[00:04:40]WHEN VOTING RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED, our country moves forward.

[00:04:45]And Montgomery, that's what they're actually afraid of.

[00:04:49]THEY'RE AFRAID OF US COMING TOGETHER.

[00:04:52]THEY'RE AFRAID OF US PROTECTING one another.

[00:04:55]Alabama is the crucible.

[00:04:57]GEORGIA IS THE CRUCIBLE. TENNESSEE, LOUISIANA, Mississippi is the crucible.

[00:05:03]So, if you ARE NOT FROM HERE, IT IS TIME TO PULL UP.

[00:05:08]BECAUSE WHAT THEY THOUGHT [laughter] WAS THE FINAL BLOW IS ACTUALLY JUST THE OPENING SALVO.