I talk all the time about the eight-year-old me and all the eight-year-olds who are living in their camps.

I was always made aware of inequality in society, that there was a class system. In Somalia, we have clan structures. My mother's family is ethnically not Somali, and so we spoke often about what it meant to be 'other' in that way.

My kids are part of the rest of my community and my wider family.

I come from people who dreamed of a free democratic system. I believe so strongly in the process and equal access.

My family called me the 'why kid' growing up. I always needed to know why something is happening, why I had to do something, why whatever.

It's our time to fight for the America we know we can have.

In just my own neighborhood, you can't go one block without seeing a sign that says, you know, 'Everyone's welcome here,' 'Refugees are welcome here.' I love my Muslim neighbors, and so there is truly this spirit of generosity and compassion and openness that still exists.

Somalis in Minnesota have worked so hard to get their voices heard in the political process.

We can all agree that we need to be helping small businesses. All of us can agree that the cost of higher education is too high, and college debt is too big of a burden for young people.

My kids are the reason I continue to strive for something better. They know - as kids who are Muslim, Somali, black Americans - that they've always been part of a struggle and that change isn't easy.

Our immigration policy should be based in compassion and a desire to help the other.

We can walk and chew gum at the same time. Yes, the American people want us to legislate, they want us to insist on furthering their set of values, but they also want us to resist and exercise our oversight powers.

I'm not easily scared; from the age of 8, I learned what it means to have everything you know taken away and what it means to persevere. I approach politics the same way.

Since 2011, I am happy to say that I have reconciled with Ahmed Hirsi; we have married in our faith tradition and are raising our family together. Like all families, we have had our ups and downs, but we are proud to have come through it together.

We have people who will take votes that they can't defend. They'll say they stand for a policy, but when it comes to vote for it, they won't take the vote.

I am not a Somali representative. I am not a Muslim representative. I am not a millennial representative. I am not a woman representative. I am a representative who happens to have all of these marginalized identities and can understand the intersectionality of all of them in a very unique way.

Learning is not limited to the classroom, and Minnesota shouldn't limit its education resources there, either.

I know what it feels like to be a young family looking for opportunity in the United States.

I think it is really important when we're talking about fiscal responsibility that we are balancing the budget in ways that really benefit the working people and Americans.

Truly, this is a nation that sees itself as one that instills hope and is really about allowing people to pursue their dreams.

I want my children to attend inclusive schools where diversity is respected and acknowledged as a sign of strength.

We didn't really grow up in a gendered environment. We didn't have a hierarchy. My family is fearless. They truly believe that they have something to contribute to society and that it is an obligation as humans. I try to embed in my children that they have something to contribute. And that you give because you have to, not to be appreciated.

Fighting gerrymandering is one thing. The other thing is insuring we have the right candidates for the people and not the right candidates for the Party.

This is a land of immigrants, and most come here for opportunity, a second chance.