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Home • News

#DemsTakeTheHouse With Diverse Class of Legislators

The incoming class may be the most diverse, with several women, people of color and LGBTQ individuals taking office.
#DemsTakeTheHouse With Diverse Class of Legislators
Democratic congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar, MN, (3rd L, front row) poses along with others for the 116th Congress members-elect group photo on the East Front Plaza of the US Capitol in Washington, DC on November 14, 2018. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
By Breanna Edwards · Updated October 23, 2020
Today, Thursday, Jan. 3, is the day that the 116th class of Congress will assume office and incidentally when Democrats will take back the House of Representatives. The incoming class will also be the most diverse class, with several women, people of color and LGBTQ individuals taking office. Several of the groundbreaking class was featured on ESSENCE’s Chisholm List, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) who will be the youngest member of Congress at 29, Rep. Ayanna Pressley who will be the first Black congresswoman to represent Massachusetts, and Rep. Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American member of Congress. Omar has been particularly reflective on Instagram, with her dad posting about their family’s story under her handle. “Twenty-three years ago, my family and I arrived at an airport in Washington DC. We were newly arrived refugees in this country, from a refugee camp in Kenya. I had heard about the promise of America, prosperity for all and hope for a better tomorrow,” her father wrote. “I could never have dreamed that twenty-three years later I would return to the same airport with my daughter Ilhan by my side, the day before she is to be sworn in as the first Somali-American elected to the United States Congress.”
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ilhan Omar (@ilhanmn)

This is just giving context to why the hashtag #DemsTakeTheHouse (as well as #116thCongress) is trending on Twitter across the United States today, with social media reacting with joy and hope at the change that will surely come with more representation.

Congratulations to these women who will be sworn in today in House of Representatives. They are making history and they will make the future bearable. #DemsTakeTheHouse #116thCongress pic.twitter.com/m85eOkWhlb

— ናቶሊ (@Lordffarquad) January 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/hilaryr/status/1080811313125720065

Who's HOOUUUUSSSEE? Dems HOOOUUUSSSEE! #DemsTakeTheHouse pic.twitter.com/I4PXGaAcc0

— DKT (@darleneturner53) January 3, 2019

Today is the day.
America's checks and balances will be restored.
The president will be reined in and held accountable.
Sanity will prevail and compassion will be reinstalled.
Because today, the #DemsTakeTheHouse.

Bless you all. Your work is righteous. pic.twitter.com/CTFIutfk84

— Fiona Adorno🌻 (@FionaAdorno) January 3, 2019
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ilhan Omar (@ilhanmn)

 
TOPICS:  #DemsTakeTheHouse #TheChisholmList democratic majority in the house of representatives. Democratic Party