The current Congress of the United States stands as the third oldest Congress since 1780. Although the age of politicians has not been decreasing, younger voters are still finding ways to stay involved in the conversation.
Following the 2024 election cycle, politicians and activists began organizing grassroots movements to push back against the Trump administration. One example is the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour spearheaded by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Their monster crowds have drawn over 36,000 attendees at some events, and placed up-and-coming politicians on the national stage.
On their stop in Los Angeles, Sanders and Cortez were introduced by U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida and L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez. Frost, elected to office in 2022, was the first member of Generation Z to serve in Congress. His political career began with organizing, specifically with a focus on gun violence prevention. He was the national organizing director for March For Our Lives, and the first-ever bill he introduced served as the framework for the Office of Gun Violence Prevention during the Biden Administration.
Hernandez, born and raised in the district she now represents, also began as a community organizer and now focuses on community care, harm-reduction programs, workforce development and social services.
Frost and Hernandez discuss the purpose of community organizing and the power of younger generations with Annenberg Media, as well as what inspires them as politicians. Responses have been edited for clarity and length.
Dahlia Sarmiento: You were the first Gen Z Congressman. What advice would you give to young people who want to make change but are also swallowed by student debt?
Maxwell Frost: I’d say the big thing is to get involved with a local organization that you can really build with, do work with and build a community with. That’s the most important thing. And then, you know, we want more people running for office, but we really want people running for office who understand their community, doing work for their community. And so, that’s what I would say – get involved in that community grassroots advocacy.
Dahlia Sarmiento: How do we mobilize all of these people and all of this power into real, tangible policy change?
Maxwell Frost: Well, the first thing is making sure that we don’t organize in isolation. That’s why this is really important. But then the same thing is making sure that we elect people who actually give a damn about what the movement has to say. So that’s us running for office, which is what I did and what a lot of other people are trying to do, but it’s also maintaining those relationships and building systems of accountability. And so that’s what we do in our district, but we need more people to do that, and when you have that, it’s more of a mutually beneficial relationship. A lot of politicians see themselves as on top of the movement, as you know, the sole leaders. And that’s not, you know, the truth. The truth is that we are all leaders in this movement; we just do it in different spaces.
Dahlia Sarmiento: Final question, what’s your number one goal while in Congress? What’s one change you want to see?
Maxwell Frost: I would say my number one goal is, I just believe in a world where everyone has their basic necessities met, and I believe when we do that we’re honoring the promise of this country.
Dahlia Sarmiento: What are ways you feel that Los Angeles, particularly concerning marginalized communities, is taking action following the recent election?
Eunisses Hernandez: So right now, a lot of the crises that we’re experiencing are being driven by what’s happening at the federal level, which sometimes makes it feel like it’s out of our hands, out of our reach to make a difference and make a change. But what people need to do is look around their local neighborhoods, their block, their city and check out what’s not going good. Right now, the rent is too damn high and at the local level, that’s why I believe that local government can do a lot of motions, a lot of laws, a lot of policies to try to keep people in their housing; to make sure that we get rent control so that people don’t have to drive hours away to come and work in the city. Everybody who works here should have the opportunity to also live here, and we do that by making housing affordable and by making sure that wages are at thriving levels.
Dahlia Sarmiento: What’s the role of young people and students in furthering this change? What’s our purpose?
Eunisses Hernandez: Right now, special interests billionaires want people not to pay attention. They want young people in particular, not to pay attention. But your future is going to be determined by who’s in office and who’s writing laws about whether housing is affordable, whether your parks are green, and whether they’re cleaned up. And so the job, and I think the purpose of young people, especially those who are in school right now, is to build deep and tight-knit communities because that is what builds people power. Government does the right thing when people push it to do the right thing. It doesn’t normally do the right thing because we don’t have good people in there. So, organize yourselves, build the people power and also take up these seats. Run to be a judge. Run to be a council person, be on the Board of Public Works, on the board of water. Just do it and start taking up these spaces so no matter what the conversation is – we’re always bringing the lens of, ‘how do we keep those most marginalized at the forefront and how do we make sure we don’t leave nobody behind?‘.
Dahlia Sarmiento: Final question, what do you feel is the purpose of big rallies and organizing movements? What is their purpose in making change post-election?
Eunisses Hernandez: What I think the purpose of these convenings, these gatherings are, is to one, make the connections with people that share the same values as you, that want to see the same vision. Today, what it reminds me of is that I’m not alone, that I’m not alone in advocating for affordable housing, that I’m not alone in wanting to see more of our budget be invested in our young people. That’s inspiring, but also that’s what helps us build more people power. And I think at the end of it, we just need to all leave with the fact that we are all here together wanting the same things, and we need to dig deeper and come together so we can actually fight to make those things happen.