Rashida Tlaib
The daughter of Palestinian immigrants living in Detroit, Rashida Tlaib, an American politician and attorney, just won a Democratic primary election to represent Michigan’s 13th congressional district, where she obtained 38% of the vote.
She is currently unopposed in the general election and is expected to become the first Muslim woman in Congress and the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress. She is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Preparing to be elected to congress, she spoke to local news after winning the primary vote, “I’m going to be a woman, a mom, a Muslimah, a Palestinian, an Arab and so many of these other layers of those identities depending on who I’m talking to and what they want to identify me as.”
Her first political victory came on January 1, 2009, when Tlaib became the first Muslim American woman to serve in the Michigan Legislature, and the second Muslim woman in history to be elected to any U.S. state legislature. The position she is set to take in US Congress previously belonged to John Conyers, who resigned from the post. At present, just two Muslim men are serving in Congress, Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Andre Carson of Indiana.
Ilhan Omar
Rashida Tlaib isn’t the only one making her mark in the history of American politics. Former refugee, Somali American, Ilhan Omar became the first Muslim woman to win in Minnesota in August 2018.
Both Tlaib and Omar have been awarded commendation from the American Muslim community from across the USA.
Wardah Khalid, who is the founder and president of the Poligan Education Fund, an organsiation which aims to encourage Muslims to become more involved in local state politics, spoke about the victories of the two women, “Rashida and Ilhan’s wins are huge for the Muslim American community. As a fellow Muslim woman, I’m inspired by them and know millions across the world feel the same.”
