Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) second-grade teacher offered the New York congresswoman words of encouragement ahead of her speech at the virtual Democratic National Convention next week.
Ocasio-Cortez, reacting to reports that she would be given 60 seconds to speak at the event, tweeted Benjamin E. Mays’ poem “Just A Minute.”
“You’ve got this. Remember all those poems we recited together in 2nd grade? It was prep for this moment. You’ve got this,” Twitter user mjacobs324 responded.
Ocasio-Cortez recognized the user’s surname and responded “Ms. Jacobs! Is that you?! Yes, I do remember the poems we recited in second grade! You prepared me perfectly for this moment. Thank you for teaching me, encouraging my growth, and believing in me as a child.”
The freshman congresswoman is set to address the convention Tuesday evening. The convention program Tuesday is also set to include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), former President Bill Clinton and former acting Attorney General Sally Yates. In addition, the party platform the convention will vote on includes policy recommendations Ocasio-Cortez developed with former Secretary of State John Kerry as part of former Vice President Joe Biden’s and Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) working group.