10 new feminist icons you should definitely follow this year

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – NOVEMBER 06: Minnesota Democratic Congressional Candidate Ilhan Omar speaks at an election night results party on November 6, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Omar won the race for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district seat against Republican candidate Jennifer Zielinski to become one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Ilhan Omar

Ilhan Omar is serving as the U.S. Representative for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district. As a Somali-American politician, she’s faced an unfortunate share of backlash from conservatives, but she’s not letting anything stop her from speaking her word.

In November of 2018, she became the first Somali-American elected to the United States Congress, was one of two muslim women elected, and the first woman of color to serve from Minnesota. She’s overcome so much and she is absolutely a force to be reckoned with.

Omar has spent a lot of her time and effort on women’s rights. Before being elected to Congress, she worked as the Director of Policy and Initiatives for Women Organizing Women, an organization that empowers East African immigrant women to become more engaged with the current political climate.

She has previously stated that one of her top priorities in the House will be empowering women entrepreneurs. Omar understands that this journey and battle doesn’t revolve around just one woman, it revolves around all of us.

"“At some point it became more than about me– it became about changing the current narrative about women of color who run for office.” – Ilhan Omar"