Ilhan Omar Won’t Be Quiet

MINNEAPOLIS ― Shortly after Ilhan Omar, the freshman congresswoman from the 5th District of Minnesota, arrived, she started to talk about Oprah ― specifically, something the media mogul once said on TV that had stuck with her.

Asked how she remained confident in traditionally unwelcoming spaces for women of color, Oprah answered that she envisioned herself entering alongside the many women who didn’t have the same opportunity before her.

“And so, people ask me, ‘Ilhan, do you feel afraid? Do you feel marginalized?’ And I don’t,” Omar said. “Because I know hundreds of my sisters are constantly walking with me in every single space I’m in.”

“So thank you for the hugs,” she continued. “But know that I’m OK ― I got this.”

The newly elected 37-year-old had returned to her home district to speak to and hear from community leaders and constituents. That Wednesday afternoon, Omar was sitting in a circle with Minnesota activists, many of them Muslim and all of them women.