After the interview, Pressley was asked about the role of identity politics in the race. Her reply, which she has often repeated on the campaign trail, is that it's a charge that only seems to be lobbed at women and people of color. “It’s right out of the GOP handbook,” she said. “Yes, I am black and a woman, and unapologetically proud to be both. But that is not the totality of my identity.”

– Nicole Werbeck, ‘Nothing Was Off Limits’: Intimate Photos From Ayanna Pressley’s Campaign, NPR

“Activists and agitators have brought us to this very moment,” Pressley told cheering supporters Tuesday night. “None of us ran to make history. We ran to make change … and change is on the way.”

“Can a congresswoman wear her hair in braids? Rock a black leather jacket?” she added — and the crowd roared.

From the outset, Pressley made clear that she meant serious business, telling voters before she sent Capuano packing that she viewed the race as “a fight for the soul of our party and the future of our democracy.”

– William J. Kole, Pressley officially Massachusetts’ 1st black congresswoman, AP