Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) shares Teen Vogue's November 2020 cover with her 17-year-old daughter, activist Isra Hirsi. Writer Safy-Hallan Farah interviewed Omar at her office in Minneapolis, joined mother and daughter for a photo shoot, and spoke to Isra during a lengthy Zoom call. But we couldn't possibly fit all of the best quotes from their conversations into one cover story. Below are some more of Omar's comments on topics like being the first Black Muslim woman in Congress and the strangeness of being part of “the Squad.”
On being the first Black Muslim woman in Congress:
“There's a celebratory thing that happens when you are a first, right? .…Congress has never had, I think, a single member who is a first in five to 10 boxes, depending on how you want to slice it. But I think often people just want to celebrate that, and for your diversity to be celebrated without celebrating your ability to bring your full self to a space. They don't want to celebrate your lived experience.... They don't want to celebrate your perspective. And they obviously do not want to celebrate your fight and your courage and your desire to speak up for those who live on the margins of society.... Just your journey from a refugee camp to Congress, without the acknowledgement, right, of what that journey actually represents, and how that journey, how the stories of that journey, are now supposed to transform the place I occupy in Congress. So the need to want to validate my experience as a worker, as a mother, as someone who has a concrete and intimate understanding of the challenges of our immigration system, as someone who's dealt with the trifecta of hate — in being an immigrant, Black, and Muslim — none of those things are welcomed. You're just supposed to be the first.”
On being thrust into the spotlight:
“It's something you never really adjust to. It's challenging on a personal level. It's challenging on a family level. It's challenging on a staff level. But it's fascinating to see so many people triggered by your presence, triggered by your fight for justice.… And triggered by your inability, really, to conform.”
On defunding the police:
“The need to disband and dismantle — get rid of — the Minneapolis Police Department comes out of a place of understanding that they don't have credibility within our community. They continue to function with impunity. They are not doing the core function of solving half of the homicides in our city. So if you are not functioning in the ways in which you are supposed to function, protecting and serving, and your function has become to brutalize and cause harm to our community, then you shouldn't exist.”
On the role gender plays in Congress:
“You don't see another male member in Congress being compared to another man and saying, 'He was able to do this, why don't you do that?' Right? Like, that kind of thing doesn't happen. But they do that a lot with the female members. And women of color — that's even more prevalent. So, for us, we actively practice shine theory, where we believe it is necessary for us to live that way and model it for the women and girls around the world who follow our leadership and are inspired by our leadership to believe that each and every woman shines. It's a reflection on the next woman. We don't have to live in a world where we internalize that competition.”
On being part of “the Squad”:
“It's a cliché, right? Something borne out of a hashtag, [but] in reality it's transformed into a real sisterhood. We are friends.… We do have a group chat. Our staff are very close. We do work together very closely.... All of us, obviously, come from working-class [backgrounds], almost did everything, like cleaning offices to working assembly lines, being a security guard, cashier, and everything. And we all have this background. Legislatively, we do collaborate quite often. We co-lead, mostly on each other's legislation, because we are trying to address a set of societal ills in the unique lens that we all have.
"Alex said something the other day where she was like, 'I wouldn't survive Congress without these four'.… I think for all of us individually that statement is very true. Because we came to Congress with [a] severe spotlight, and without having each other to share the challenges of what that means for our daily lives, to share the challenges of being new representation for our districts who aren't used to being represented by people like us, and to share the challenges of existing in Congress.... I don't know if we would have individually not just survived, but thrived, in the ways in which we have.
"It is a spectacle. It is insane. But our sisterhood and friendship is real.”
Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: Ilhan Omar's Primary Election Win Means the Whole Squad Is Likely Headed Back to Congress
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