Maxwell Alejandro Frost was sworn into office earlier this year making him the first Gen-Z U.S. congressman.
Frost’s road into public service began with activism, after the Sandy Hook school mass shooting in 2012, where 26 people, including 20 children, were murdered.
“I ended up going to the memorial that was going on,” Frost told Latino USA. “What changed everything for me was seeing the students and the teenagers and the kids that had lost loved ones or survived the shooting and hearing their stories, it was a lot for me at 15.”
Gun violence became an important issue for him and he started organizing around it for several years before he decided to run for public office.
“I’m honored to be the only person from my generation in Congress,” he said. “I bring those experiences with me every time I go to a table and every time I’m speaking, but I try not to take myself too seriously in that regard because, I mean, a generation has so many different ideologies. I’m not trying to speak for everybody at all.”
In this episode, Latino USA producer Reynaldo Leaños Jr. travels to Orlando to speak with Congressman Frost about growing up in Florida, how he uses music to connect and bring his community together, and more. We also stopped by one of his community events to hear from Frost’s constituents.
Featured image AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana.
Latino USA is celebrating 30 years, 30 años, and we would love to hear from our listeners. Would you share with us your favorite Latino USA episode? Maybe it’s the one you remember the most, the one that kept you company during a road trip or the one you most shared with others. Or maybe you just have a birthday wish for us. Please leave us a voicemail at 646-571-1224 and we might feature your message in an upcoming show. Gracias.
Good Morning,
I wanted to reach out to express my concerns about what I sometimes hear in your podcasts. I am hearing disdain / hatred for members of our older generations. Entiendo que luches contra el patriarcado. But your podcast will still preach that we are one people united. I was listening to the podcast about the gen z congressman. In that podcast you interviewed a woman who was a supporter of this new congressman. Her exact words were “the older generation needed to step aside”. I felt that. It is almost 230 am here in Southern Colorado … and I cannot sleep I felt it.
Lo entiendo, nos hemos criado en un mundo diferente… pero ¡¡¡maldita sea, seguimos aquí!!!
How can you say we are one people united but then put crap like that in your podcasts. We lived in a different world I am happy to see the world change but we cannot forget Cesar Chavez, Emiliano Zapata, The Brown Berets. Stop and think what would our world look like if these men “had to step aside”.