Congresswoman Cori Bush was joined by her family, Circuit Attorney of the City of St. Louis Kim Gardner, a representative of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, the President of Harris-Stowe State University, many local performers, students, and St. Louis residents who tuned in virtually

Press Release

Today, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) was ceremonially sworn-in as a member of the 117th Congress in a virtual community event. The program was a celebration of "Living Black History' and featured performances by drummers and singers as well as spoken word poetry. Schools across Missouri's First Congressional District virtually joined the Congresswoman in watching the ceremony live. Congresswoman Cori Bush offered remarks and led a community pledge.

The Congresswoman's remarks as delivered are below:

Dear St. Louis, I could never have dreamed when I was a youth, that I would be representing you -- in any capacity.

You are the place that raised me. You are the place that loved me. You are the place that accepted me. You are the place that taught me. You are the place that struggled with me. You are the place that will always and forever be my home. You are the place that I love.

Dear St. Louis, I'm here because my parents Errol and Barbara worked hard and sacrificed a lot day in and day out for my survival, for my sister, for my brother. I'm here because of every teacher I had in school, because of every one of them, whether I liked them or not, whether we got along or not. I'm here because my two children continue to say "yes mom, it's OK, do it, go for it, you have got to do this." I'm here because I heard St. Louis crying. And that's a sound I can't unhear. And I continue to hear that sound. I'm here today because I cannot sit idly by while you or your loved ones hurt.

Dear St. Louis, you are built on injustice. You are the place where colonizers set up their base to expand westwards, sacrificing countless Indigenous people in the process. You are the home of our nation's first lynching. Your skyline is made up of a courthouse that sold slaves. You lead the nation in police killings.

Dear St. Louis, you carry with you these scars and stains, but you're the heart and soul of progress in this country. As we celebrate Black History Month and recognize Living Black History, we remember that you are where the modern movement fighting for Black lives was born on the streets of Ferguson. You are home to history makers like Maya Angelou, Josephine Baker, Chuck Berry, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Bob Gibson. You elected our state's first Black Congresswoman, and I stand before you today as your first Black Congresswoman.

Dear St. Louis, you're a place where our children aren't always sure what their futures will be like. I know that I certainly did not know what my future would look like when I was a child. But St. Louis, you are full of promise.

So, I want to address our youth, I want to address our students who are tuning in from across the district -- whether you're in Jennings, or St. Louis Public Schools, Confluence Academy, U-City, Rittner, Ferguson-Florissant, Normandy, wherever you are, all over the district -- hear me.

I know it can be tough. I know it can be tough right now. I know it's difficult. Especially with COVID-19. But even before COVID-19 and beyond COVID-19, I know it's not easy getting up every single day, not understanding why I have to keep going to this place. Test after test. Essay after essay. Learning things that you just don't understand why I have to learn this, how am I going to use this in my everyday life? People teasing you.

Teachers may not understand you always. Parents may not understand you always. Sometimes you may have gone to school hungry. You may have gone to school and not had lunch money. Our system is not set up well enough for you in that respect. You may have had to go to school with dirty clothes or chose not to. Maybe you don't have running water at home.

We know it's tough. We're asking that you press through. We're asking that you press through. That you endure. We know that it's not easy. But we are working -- the people that you see on this stage, from many different areas of society, doing a lot of different work, all of this, if you put all of our work together. It comes together to push forward for everything that you need. So I know it's tough right now, but we are asking that you press. Go further. Keep going. When you don't feel like getting up, when you know you're tired, when you know it's been rough, when you don't have the money, press. Because I'll say this, once you get the piece of paper, and then the next piece of paper, and the next piece of paper, all of those, whether you get three or four, or more, nobody can take it from you once you have it. Nobody can take it from you, so press. And look at it this way. This is preparation.

Let me give you an example: so, you woke up your beautiful self this morning. You know, I thought I was beautiful when I woke up. You woke up your beautiful self, but you understood that the way that you woke up, you couldn't just walk out the house that way.

You couldn't just get out of the bed, or whatever you sleep on, and just walk out the door. You knew that you couldn't just get up and go to the Zoom and be video ready or whatever the video you're using. You knew you couldn't do that. You took a minute to go get cleaned up. You took a minute to groom your hair however you want to wear it. You took time to put clothes on. And if you were going out the door, you took time to put a coat on, scarf, hat, boots, shoes, whatever you were wearing. When you took the time to groom yourself, that was your preparation. You were preparing yourself for the video call, for class. You were preparing yourself to go outside the door. It was necessary. When you decided, I gotta leave out the door, so I gotta put a coat on. You had clothes on, but you said, I need a coat because it's cold. That was protection.

You were protecting yourself -- you decided to protect yourself from the elements. The snow is cold and wet. The wind is cold. So I'm going to protect myself. That's what your education is right now. That's the place that you're in right now, so to our students. I know it's rough, I know it doesn't seem like something that you would need later, but if would just hold on and hang on that is protection. It's preparation for what you need later and it's protection to help you to get what you need later. So don't stop. Keep going. And all of the people up here are willing to support you in that. And you have someone on this stage that is ready to welcome you when it's time up here on this stage to this very place.

So yes, for the students listening, whether you're in this building or whether you're watching virtually. I want you to say this: say, "I am somebody right now." Students. Say it again, "I am somebody right now." And then now turn to somebody else and say "you are somebody right now." "You are somebody right now." You just gotta build people up that way.

So I want you to know, and to everyone else, that St. Louis is a place where you can go from unhoused to serving in the United States Congress. Where you can go from being hungry at home, to helping galvanize a national movement for justice. Where your ZIP code does not have to define you. I want you to know that because you live here, the sky is not even your limit -- the sky is not your limit. And I know we say that all the time, "Oh I'm shooting for the stars, I'm shooting for the sky" -- no I'm not shooting for that because I learned that I can go past that. Because I'll tell you what, I never thought I would be here, if you had told me 7 years ago I would be here, I would have told you no. If you would have told me 6 years ago, I would have told you no. So the sky is not your limit. Push past. And don't live in a box. Live limitlessly. Every one of you, live limitlessly. You are limitless, you are powerful, and you can accomplish so much more than what you could ever imagine. This is your time. Whether it's your time to move or your time to educate, whether it's your time to grow. There is a moment right now for you, so don't let it go. I'm here today because I said yes. There was a yes in my heart and in my mouth and I moved on it. So whatever your yes looks like, right in the position you are right now, walk in that yes, no matter who's walking with you or not with you.

And to the Harris Stowe State University community -- you are part of something special. This is one of our state's two Historically Black Colleges and Universities. It is a place where any student can thrive, a community where we can grow, and a family in which we can be our authentic selves. I am so grateful for the space this university has created and for the time that I spent here.

Dear St. Louis, we are a district that has gone through so much. But through it all, it is the love that kept us together. Because St. Louis is a place of love. When I was unhoused, living out of my car with my two babies, it was the love of a friend and it was my family that helped us find shelter. On the frontlines of Ferguson, it was the love of the community that made sure everyone was fed and safe at the end of the night. And let me say this, it was actually Pastor Daphne's mother and my family that got me out of that unhoused situation. On the streets of St. Louis, it's the love of mutual aid groups that make sure our unhoused neighbors have what they need to survive the cold.

And as your Congresswoman -- as your Congresswoman -- it is that St. Louis love that I am bringing to our office each and every day. I promised you when I was elected that I would be packing you in my bag and bringing you with me. And that is exactly -- that is exactly what I have been doing. Because each of our experiences--and each of our community's most urgent needs--are congressional. That means that being a single mom and understanding the needs of single mothers is congressional. It means that being poor and understanding the needs of people living in poverty -- that's congressional. It means that not having enough money to pay for college and understanding the needs of every student in our community and in our country is congressional. Every time we speak in committee, every time we stand on the House Floor, every time we craft legislation -- St. Louis and I will rise together. Because this is our work. This is our office. This is our mission.

We are leading with radical love -- a love that means I can care that you have food on the table, that you have a roof over your head, that your communities are accessible no matter your ability status, that you can love who you love, and that you can feel safe in your own home and in your community. So to all of Missouri's First District -- your Congresswoman loves you. Let me say that again, to all of Missouri's First District -- I didn't remove a career, a profession, I didn't remove any titles, I said all -- to all of Missouri's First District, your Congresswoman loves you. So you go forth and you say, "Congresswoman Cori loves me." That's what you own. "Congresswoman Cori loves me." So that means that whatever it is that you need to thrive, that's what my team and I are here for. Our office is here for you. Our office is working for you. Our office is fighting for you.

Dear St. Louis, I want you to know that you will be defining a new future for our country. A future that is anti-racist, where everyone has access to quality education, health care, jobs, and housing -- in a safe community with clean air and clean water. A St. Louis that works for everyone -- where those of us with the least are prioritized.

We are going to build a St. Louis where health care, housing, education, jobs, all of that is guaranteed. One where Black lives matter, one where our social services have the funding they need, where police brutality is not tolerated, where environmental injustice is combatted, where our carceral system is dismantled, and our education system is reinforced. That's what we're building. But above all else, we are going to build a St. Louis that loves one another. Where we celebrate the beautiful diversity of our home, where organizers are supported and uplifted, where we support our local businesses -- support our local businesses -- and where we tell the truth about our history, the history of the land we live on, and repair the long-lasting consequences of generational traumas that were inflicted within our borders.

Dear St. Louis, I am grateful to call you home. I am grateful to be able to serve you. I am grateful that we get to build this new future together. St. Louis, I'll say it again, I love you. And together, we will make sure that you are the place that we need you to be.

The Congresswoman's First District Community Pledge is below:

We pledge to lead with love--and to lead in all the ways that we are able.

We pledge to be unapologetic and radical in our love for St. Louis, for our country, for our planet--and for all of us who live here.

We pledge to do the most that we can to ensure that every single person in our community thrives--starting with those among us who have the very least.

We pledge to never forget the countless community members harmed or killed by state or gun violence--and we pledge to honor their memories by achieving justice for all.

We pledge to be bold in reimagining and working towards what St. Louis, our country, and our planet can become--and to remember that the sky is not even our limit.

We pledge to educate ourselves and our community on the need to build an anti-racist, anti-hate, anti-sexist, anti-classist, anti-ableist, and anti-war society--and to work to dismantle white supremacy everywhere that it exists.

We pledge to build an equitable world that guarantees health care, education, housing, jobs, food, clean air and water, electricity, internet, public safety, and healthy environments--as fundamental rights for all.

We pledge to love and care for our community--and to extend compassion and kindness to ourselves as we do that work.

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