Strong Woman #9: Ilhan Omar

The Camel and the Scorpion is a book inspired by true events. It is the story of #StrongWomen - Caroline, Lydia, Anna - who spoke out for a good world despite the personal and professional risks to themselves in doing so.

This post is the ninth in my Strong Women Series. The series honors women and girls of courage.

Ilhan Omar. Credit: Ms. Omar's twitter account.

Ilhan Omar is my ninth #StrongWoman. 

Ms. Omar is the first Somali-American to be elected to political office in the United States. She is also Muslim, a woman, and a first-generation refugee to the United States from Somalia by way of Kenya. 

"When we came to the United States, we had this extensive orientation. I remember it was this picturesque environment—people were happy, everybody had what they needed, shiny houses. And when we arrived, we were driving through Manhattan, and I remember seeing panhandlers and homeless people sleeping on the street and graffiti and trash everywhere. I remember turning to my father and saying, 'This isn't the America you promised.' And my father said, 'Well, you just wait. We haven't gotten to our America yet.'

"At the time, I was in middle school, and it was really rough for me. I didn't speak English. I was dealing with being an extreme "other" for the first time. I'm Muslim and black and was coming from a Muslim-majority country where everyone was black. I had never had a conversation with my family about my identity. I remember the only words I knew were "hello" and "shut up." But when I'd come home and complain to my father that this wasn't what he promised me, he would tell me I had an opportunity to change my reality, that I needed to work harder to learn English, that I had to work harder to build relationships so that students could see me beyond my otherness. I needed to be better so that my environment would be better.

"...  ]My father] and my grandfather both believed that this country has gotten better because people have believed they had a stake in it. They taught me that I had an obligation to act and to be part of that progress."

Source: Interview, Elle Magazine

Ms. Omar came to the United States as a refugee. She was a child. She practices Islam. She was born in Somalia - one of the countries that President Trump singled out in his visa ban.

This woman has courage. In a societal climate in which there are so many vicious verbal, political, and physical assaults against Americans who are Muslims, Ms. Omar speaks out:

"I think when you ... demonise and dehumanise, it is easy for people to commit acts of violence against those individuals because they no longer see them as a person, as someone who has feelings, who's worthy of respect." Source: AlJazeera News.


In this video, Ms. Omar talks about how racism threatens the United States and her hope for the country:

".. what I represent is an America that still allows people to fulfill that American dream that you can come here at the age of twelve only knowing two phrases in English, have the opportunity to put yourself through school, and ultimately defeat a forty-four year incumbent to win a seat at the table."

More from Ms. Omar, from an interview with the Minnesota Monthly:

"One thing I’m proud of is using the attention around my election to reshape our ideas of patriotism and democracy: who should be at the table, who these tables are designed for, and how we change that. I’m making sure everybody who shares any of the six marginalized identities that I carry can now see themselves and say, 'Yes, young people can serve. Yes, somebody who has multiple children, young children, can serve. Someone who is an immigrant, someone who doesn’t have a majority religious background can serve.' All of these things now allow people to see that, yes, if I am a reflection of my community, then I can serve."

"... it's at times really hard, when you are personally affected by policies, to sort of step out of that and to think about how everyone else is also affected, and to be there for them, and to continue to fight and shift the narrative and get people involved when you know you yourself just kind of want to hide under the pillow, and just really not engage. It's sort of like motherhood. No matter how sick or sad you are, if you know you need to be strong for your children, you need to show up."

Women of courage like Ilhan Omar? They are who kept me writing The Camel and the Scorpion for 20 years, so I could share the stories of women like The Camel and the Scorpion protagonists, Caroline, Lydia, and Anna.

Honorable, imperfect, brave, vulnerable champions, all of them. Risking their personal and professional lives to stand up for their ideals.