U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s SXSW sit-down with The Emancipator’s publisher, Amber Payne, was an intimate glimpse into what it is like to grow up as a child forged in resistance and become a legislator whose North Star is firmly on justice for marginalized people and causes. Her guidance on resisting tyranny, drawing on ancestral wisdom, using one’s talents for righteous fights, and radically claiming joy, were prescriptions for anyone seeking to choose community over chaos.

Here are some moments worth revisiting.

You can view the entire conversation from SXSW below.

YouTube video

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Halimah Abdullah is an award winning veteran national political journalist with more than 20 years of experience covering politics and government at the local, state, and federal level. She has edited and helped manage Washington coverage for such organizations as PolitiFact, Newsela, NPR, ABC News and NBC News — networks where she also wrote. Her work has also appeared in Newsweek, Capital B, CNN.com, Newsday, McClatchy newspapers, MSNBC.com, thegrio.com, TODAY.com, and The New York Times, among...