Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and her daughter, Isra Hirsi, embody the powerful imagery of a powerful mother-daughter duo on the cover of Teen Vogue’s November issue. The pair spoke about how they can affect change on a large scale because, according to the magazine, they are “the voices this moment needs” backed with the cover headline, Our Time Is Now.
Safy-Hallan Farah wrote the cover story which explores Omar’s thoughts on voting and its importance, being the first Black Muslim woman in Congress and her thoughts on community.
“There are people every single day who are showing up to care for the site of George Floyd’s murder,” Omar said of the site in Minneapolis at 38th and Chicago.
According to her, this is not the time to relax and take a passive stance with her position as a lawmaker when there is so much going on in the world especially in America that needs action.
“There are people showing up every single day protesting decades and centuries of brutality. And there are people burying not just one but multiple members in their family that have died because of the complications of COVID, so I don’t have the luxury to think about getting, you know, an extra hour of sleep because people are experiencing severe unrest in their lives,” she added.
17-year-old Isra is an activist and social media influencer with over 90,000 followers on Instagram who uses her platform to educate her followers about the climate. She told Teen Vogue that social media is a fertile ground that can help bring the needed change the world needs.
“Young people have a very unique ability when it comes to organizing, especially digitally, that a lot of older folks do not understand,” she said. “Understand that you are important, and your voice is too, and don’t let adults especially tell you otherwise.”