Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Thursday complimented a photographer for capturing her skin tone in the correct shade for her Time magazine photo shoot.
“This is a small-big thing, but shout out to TIME and Collier Schorr for getting my skin tone right in this photo,” the Latina lawmaker wrote on Twitter. “It’s the little things that make a big difference, a lot of people see + appreciate it.”
Color photography has a long history of bias toward nonwhite skin tones.
The New York Democrat appears on the April cover of Time magazine wearing what has become her signature red lip color.
{mosads}The 29-year-old, who became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in last November’s midterm elections, took to Twitter to share the cover of the magazine.
“Last year, I woke up to organize w/ my community & waitressed to make ends meet. Today, staggeringly, I woke up to this,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
“I believe in an America where all things are possible. Where a basic, dignified life isn’t a dream, but a norm,” she continued. “That’s why I got up then, & why I get up now.”
The article by Time’s Charlotte Alter covers how the progressive firebrand has risen to national prominence and gathered a massive social media following.
Aides said that U.S. Capitol Police trained them how to vet visitors at her Capitol Hill office after multiple people threatened to kill the freshman lawmaker.