ilhan omar
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Taking the Seat and the Table, Too: What Valuing Black Women in Politics Looks Like
In a posh ballroom overlooking Central Park on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a hushed roomful of state and local elected officials from across the country gathered for a 9 a.m. Sunday session. It was the sort of weekend conference that routinely fills banquet rooms across the country, but it was remarkable for one simple fact:…
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Rep. Ilhan Omar Claps Back at the Bigot In Chief: 'You Have Trafficked in Hate Your Whole Life'
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) had time Wednesday morning when she clapped back at President Trump’s call for her to resign, noting that the president has trafficked in hate his whole life. In a tweet, the president’s preferred mode of communication because he’s basically a 13-year-old 7th grader, Omar tweeted: You know that Omar’s initial tweet…
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Trump Forgets He's Racist and Vile, Calls on Rep. Ilhan Omar to Resign Over Anti-Semitic Remarks
In the alternate universe where Trump lives—a universe that strangely resembles a trailer park on the side of a barely used freeway—the president can be one of the most vile, racist, xenophobic, hot-tempered, bullying, making fun of the disabled, Russian-elected officials to ever steal the White House and call for an actual American elected official…
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Fashioning a New Congress: What This Freshman Class Wears to Work Matters More Than Ever
When Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Mn.) was sworn into the 116th Congress today, the Somali-American became the first woman to serve wearing hijab. Fellow freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mi.) chose to wear a traditional Palestinian dress called a thobe to the confirmation, as a nod to her heritage. Both made history in November as the first…
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Ilhan Omar Compels Democrats to Amend Ban on Head Coverings in the House of Representatives
For 181 years, the U.S. House of Representatives has imposed a ban on its members wearing head coverings. With Ilhan Omar, one of the first Muslim women to be elected to Congress, set to take her oath of office in January, that rule—which would have prohibited her wearing her customary headscarves or the hijab—is slated…
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Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar Catches Heat for Support of Israel Boycott
Minnesota Congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar is catching heat for saying she supports BDS, a movement to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel, which some critics say is a reversal to earlier statements she made while campaigning. For those unfamiliar with BDS, the movement says it aims to end “international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure…
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‘The Pink Wave’: The Dems Took Back the House—Thanks to a Record Number of Women Candidates
There might’ve been a blue surge during the 2018 midterm elections, but the “wave” Democrats were predicting turned out to be, in the words of some, decidedly pink. A record-breaking number of women ran for elected office this term and made history when at least 100 of them (at last count) won the congressional seats…
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Somali American Set to Become First in U.S. Congress
Ilhan Omar is a woman of many firsts. A former refugee, she became the first Somali-American state legislator in Minnesota in 2016. Now, she is set to become the nation’s first Somali American in Congress after winning the Democratic U.S. House primary for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District. She may also be one of the first…