‘It’s mindblowing’: historic wins for two Somali-Americans amid ugly smears

When 23-year-old Safiya Khalid was elected to the city council of Lewiston, Maine last week she nabbed a collection of “firsts” – youngest person ever elected to the council, and its first Somali-American – but the race for her had always been about making sure everyone in the city felt the sense of community her family experienced when they moved there from war-torn Somalia.

“What I received here in Lewiston, my family and I in 2006, I want to open that to all people in Lewiston and to encourage young people to live and work in Lewiston and that means building a vibrant community for all of us,”

Khalid was one of dozens to secure a historical election seat in local and statewide elections on Tuesday. Boston diversified its city council, Kentucky elected its first black attorney general, Virginia elected its first Muslim state senator, and in Tucson, Arizona, the city elected its first Latina mayor.

This deepening crack in the old traditions of political power arrived four months after Donald Trump told four female members of Congress to go back to their country – including Ilhan Omar, a former refugee from Somalia like Khalid.

Khalid has vivid memories of her first few weeks in the United States, when she lived in an apartment with her brother and mother in New Jersey. Struggling to overcome the language barrier, Khalid’s mother started to stand outside each day saying, “As-salamu alaykum” (peace be upon you) to each person who walked by, hoping to connect with somebody in this brand new country.


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