Press secretary hopes her rise helps kids 'dream bigger'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Karine Jean-Pierre, the new White House press secretary, hopes she can inspire young people to “dream big and dream bigger” now that she has broken a barrier by becoming the first Black and gay woman to be chief spokesperson for the president of the United States.

Jean-Pierre reflected Monday on what it means to become one of the most visible members of President Joe Biden's administration as she spoke about a letter that students at her former elementary school in New York wrote telling her how proud they are of her.

“Representation matters, and not just for girls, but also for boys," Jean-Pierre told reporters during the first of what likely will be hundreds of daily press briefings she will hold.

“And so what I hope is that young people get to dream big and dream bigger than they have before by seeing me stand here and answer all of your questions,” she said.

If Jean-Pierre's Haitian parents had had their way, their daughter would be wearing a white doctor's coat and stethoscope instead of the special lapel pin that identifies her as a Biden staffer.

Her father, a New York City cab driver, and her mother, a home health care aide who also owned a hair salon, wanted Jean-Pierre to become a doctor. But she disappointed them by failing her medical school entrance exam.

She went on to earn a master's degree in public administration from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. She parlayed her interest in the environment into a job in the early 2000s as director of legislative and budget affairs for New York City Council Member James Gennaro, who was head of the Environmental Protection Committee.

It marked her introduction to politics.

Jean-Pierre wrote in her 2019 memoir, “Moving Forward,” that Gennaro took a “huge chance”...