The Flâneur Collective

Since I began this project my freshman year of college, the idea of The Flâneur Collective has been to highlight young voices creating change at a local and national level. After meeting Congressman Frost in Washington, DC, I was astonished to learn about his inspiring story of becoming the youngest elected Congressman in United States history, also being the first member of Generation Z in Congress. As the nation reaches its 250^th anniversary, it’s important to reflect how young voices like his are shaping the next 250 years of the United States. With the median age of the 119^th House of representatives being 57.5 years, and a Senate with a median age of 64.7 years, its crucial to highlight young voices that are advocating for the newer generations in Congress.

Frost was born in Orlando, Florida, on January 17, 1997, to a Puerto Rican mother of Lebanese descent and a Haitian father. He was adopted at birth by a Cuban immigrant and a Kansas-born music producer. Frost began his political career in high school by organizing campaigns, being active in Barack Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign. He credits his passion for policy to the Sandy Hook School shooting, actively working on gun control. Frost himself survived an incident of gun violence in 2016. Since then, he worked on nearly a dozen community organizing movements, such as working for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. He also spent some time as an organizer for March for Our Lives, founded by survivors of the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Congressman Frost represents what ought to be showcased in Congress: working-class Americans who advocate for their district. During his campaign, he worked for Uber to cover his campaign costs, until he was recognized so often he had to stop driving, switching to Uber Eats. Reaching DC, he was denied an apartment, because of his bad credit due to the campaign costs. He first ran for Congress in 2022, competing in a crowded primary of 10 Democrats for the seat, beating two former members of Congress and a state senator. In spite of the many challenges facing his primary run, financing a campaign, and starting out so young, he was able to win the seat at just age 25.

In his personal life, he’s a salsa musician. He took his high school band Seguro Que Sí to Obama’s Second Inauguration, emailing Senator Bill Nelson’s office every day for two weeks before getting his required letter of recommendation to play at the event. To raise funds to attend, he wrote letters to small businesses across Florida.

Just this year, Congressman Frost has seen political violence head on. At the Sundance Film Festival in Utah this year, a man approached him and punched him in the face, screaming racist remarks as Frost fled from the incident. Congressman Frost currently serves on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, as well as the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Frost is committed to supporting the youth, stating in a New York Times article: “What I learned in March for Our Lives is that when we invest in them, No. 1, they help end gun violence a lot quicker and it’s more effective because it’s community based,” he said, referring to young people. “And on top of that, when law enforcement isn’t involved at that early stage, you get your kids out of that school-to-prison pipeline.”

Congressman Frost represents a new wave of politics in the United States, with younger people getting involved to disrupt and transform how Congress operates and where its priorities lie. I’m excited to continue seeing my generation work in policy, at both a local and federal level, and I hope his story can inspire others to get involved.

Alejandro González-Betancourt