On Monday morning, Dunwoody resident Teresa Acosta had planned to spend the day decorating her house for Halloween. Then the email and the phone call came.
She jumped on a plane later that day, and on Tuesday night, she was speaking in front of 75,000 people in Washington DC at Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ “Closing Arguments” rally in Washington, D.C.
Acosta, a single mother of three whose 15-year-old son has Type 1 Diabetes, spoke about how, after losing her job in 2020, she was “terrified.”
“My son needs insulin in his pump every day to stay alive. I lay awake at night terrified about losing my income and my health insurance,” she told the crowd. “But the Affordable Care Act saved me from a freefall.”
She was joined by several speakers with Georgia ties, including thought leader Ryan Wilson of the Gathering Spot, and Lakeysha Hallmon, founder and CEO of the Village Market.
Other speakers included Craig Sicknick, the brother of Brian Sicknick, a United States Capitol Police officer who died after suffering two strokes while defending the U.S. Capitol in the Jan. 6 riot, and Texas couple Amanda and Josh Zurawski, who told the story of her near-death experience after being denied a timely abortion.
Acosta, who now owns her own catering business called Renzo’s Fire, is no stranger to the spotlight. She formerly worked at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, now called BreakthroughT1D, and did some advocacy work with Protect Our Care, a non-proft dedicated to making high-quality, affordable healthcare accessible for all Americans.
She also appeared with then-Democratic nominee President Joe Biden last March at a ceremony celebrating the 13th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. So when the call came on Monday, Acosta knew it was the real deal.
“I was nervous, but when they asked me to speak, I said, ‘Absolutely,’ she said. “And then I was on a plane to Washington, with my speech in hand.”
Acosta said her speech was adapted from one she did previously, with details added by the Harris campaign.
“Everything that was written I agreed with,” she said. “And the campaign made sure that I was comfortable with the message.”
As the Mill Glen resident practiced her speech, she knew it would be difficult to keep her emotions in check. Her last line was, “We will elect Kamala Harris, who will fight for us, just as hard as I fight for my son.”
“Every time I read it out loud, and I got to the last line, I would burst into tears,” she said. “But once I got out there and felt the joy and energy in the crowd, it really helped me.”
The entire rally has been posted on Harris’ YouTube Channel. Acosta’s three-minute speech starts about 40 minutes into the rally.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
