Ilhan Omar, 33, is a Somali-American refugee and politician, and this week she became the first Somali-American Muslim woman to be elected to public office.
Omar is running to be a state representative in Minnesota. On Tuesday, she beat incumbent Phyllis Kahn and another Somali-American, Mohamud Noor, to become the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s candidate for Minneapolis House District 60B. It’s likely she’ll continue her historic streak and win the seat in the general election this fall.
She was 14 years old when she began taking her Somali grandfather to state caucuses, acting as his translator. After earning her degree in political science and international studies at North Dakota State University, she’s worked in local politics for the past 10 years.
Omar spoke to us in March on the eve of Super Tuesday about being a woman of color in politics, about what she wants to do for her community, and returning to politics after being attacked. The following has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Being attacked wasn’t a deterrent for me. I don’t think I looked at it as a thing where I needed to step back or distance myself from this process. Every single election cycle I make a request of people who have dealt with this system that has been oppressive for a lot of minority communities for over 100 years: I ask them to believe in the system and to work and make the effort in changing it, because things are changeable in this country. Our democracy allows us to be active and to be full participants and to make the process work for us. And so for me to say that because this one thing happened to me that I am going to step back is sort of doing disservice and being hypocritical. And that wasn’t something I was interested in.
My daughter [who was 11 years old at the time] said to me, “Mommy it’s really important that you go back to work tomorrow morning, and that you actually arrive super early, with all your scars and everything, and people get to see you, and that they don’t get to win. They don’t get to have control over you—know what you’re capable of.”
And so I started sobbing and I knew that no matter how much pain I was in and that fact that I suffered a concussion and could barely remember my name that I needed to go to work the next day—for the people who were involved in this process, who worked with me at city hall. I was very adamant that I went to work and I sat in the committees and made sure that they saw me and that they knew that they couldn’t silence me, and that I was stronger than they think I am.
Ilhan Omar Ilhan Omar with her sister Sahra and father Nur.
My family came from Somalia and left when I was eight because of civil war and I grew up in a refugee camp in Mombassa, Kenya, for about four years. We arrived in the United States when I was 12.
Ilhan Omar Ilhan Omar with her grandfather, Baba Abukar, at her college graduation.