All Black History Month long, Cheddar News is highlighting industry trailblazers that continue to carve their own paths and set trends across a number of disciplines.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D - MA) joined Cheddar News to talk about her experience being the first Black woman elected to Congress from the state of Massachusetts. She noted that being the first is a privilege but she recognizes that it also comes with a host of responsibilities.
"I have twice now broken concrete ceilings but certainly that did not happen just by my own sheer strength. It was about timing and grace and hard work but also many who came before who blazed a trail. And I don't just mean those who ran for office and won, I mean those who ran and lost. They made the road a little bit easier," she told Cheddar News.
Pressley was also the first Black woman to serve on the Boston City Council.
When it comes to battling adversity in politics, she said staying the course is key and not losing sight of the goal you set out to accomplish is how she overcame trying times. Pressley also noted that by not chasing power, position, or prestige and staying committed to having an impact on Black and other marginalized people, she was able to navigate her political ascension more easily.
"I'm someone who is very fortunate because I had a clarity of purpose very early in my life, probably since the age of 10 and I credit my mother for that. A parent is a child's first teacher and I had an extraordinary one -- in both my mother and my father," she said.
Watch more of this exclusive interview with Rep. Ayanna Pressley on Cheddar News Thursday, February 16, 2023.
A former U.S. diplomat has been arrested and accused of being a secret Cuban spy.
Philadelphia City Council passed legislation to ban ski masks in some public spaces, a measure supporters say will increase public safety amid high violent crime, but opponents argue it will unfairly target people without proof of any wrongdoing.
A federal appeals court ruled that former President Donald Trump won't have presidential immunity in civil lawsuits related to the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference known as COP28 kicked off in Dubai and major progress is already being made.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis squared off in a very unusual political debate Thursday night on Fox News.
Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court, died Friday, the high court said.
Sen. Rand Paul successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver on fellow Sen. Joni Ernst as she choked at a GOP lunch that she was hosting.
Israeli fighter jets hit targets in the Gaza Strip minutes after a weeklong truce expired on Friday, signaling that the war with Hamas has resumed in full force.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to authorize subpoenas for two prominent conservatives who arranged luxury travel and other benefits for Supreme Court justices, but Republicans planned to object to the legitimacy of the action.
Someone in China created thousands of fake social media accounts designed to appear to be from Americans and used them to spread polarizing political content in an apparent effort to divide the U.S. ahead of next year's elections, Meta said Thursday.
