July 28, 2026
Immigrants have been part of this country’s leadership since its revolution, through its founding as a constitutional republic, and throughout history. And we will continue to be so for the next 250 years—and beyond.
Celebrate this legacy with Atima Omara, was a trainer for New American Leaders in 2018. She released her memoir, “The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Essential to American Democracy (And What We Can Learn from Them).”
Omara pulls from her two decades of work in Democratic politics and the progressive movement as an elected Democratic Party leader, movement organizer, former candidate, gubernatorial aide, campaign staffer to candidates at the national, state, and local level, and now political strategist.
1. What prompted you to train with New American Leaders?
I wish New American Leaders and this program had been around when I started in politics, and that is why I wanted to train for this program when I was a trainer back in 2018. As a Black person, I was definitely one of a few on many political campaigns, but as the daughter of immigrants? Virtually the only one most of the time. (Thankfully, that is changing more.)
I wanted to be part of the community and pay it forward with what I had learned, oftentimes the hard way. Despite being a democracy, the political process itself is still not very transparent for people not raised around US politics. It’s not always clear how to get jobs in politics or how to get the best support you need when running for office. For me, it was an isolating and sometimes unfriendly experience, and I want to make that easier and more transparent for folks to get involved, particularly from intentionally marginalized communities.
2. Can you tell us a little bit about your New American story and how it fits into your political journey?
I write about this more in detail in my book The Instigators. But as the daughter of immigrants, my father impressed upon me the importance of a free press and democracy since he had to leave his country because those crumbled. My mother was a major part in encouraging my acts of service and always thinking of the “underdog,” and it’s from both of those that I was encouraged to think of ways to make a positive impact in my community. Additionally, my family was met with racism, xenophobia, and classism as many people like them experience, and it was a reminder to me of the importance of being politically engaged, having a voice, especially in a country where we can, because otherwise you’d be marginalized intentionally in the political process.
3. You reclaim the word “instigator,” a term that’s often been used to dismiss or discredit politically active Black women. What made you decide to build the entire book, and its central argument, around reclaiming that label?
I wanted something that described how these women are at the vanguard of movements, whether or not they are recognized for their contributions. And “instigator” described them perfectly, because despite it being weaponized against Black women for being “troublemakers,” as a noun, it simply means a person who initiates a course of action. And that is the throughline of all these folks throughout the book, from generation to generation. They all looked around, saw injustice and inequity and stepped up to initiate action to change things for the better.
4. What parallels do you see between the strategies Black women have used to navigate exclusion in American politics and the challenges that New Americans (first- and second-generation Americans) face today?
I see New Americans applying the tactics of mutual aid to support each other with clothes and food, and to help them get settled in the US.
I see New Americans who have documented status use that privilege to advocate for the safety of those who are undocumented.
I see New Americans finding ways to use social media and to build news outlets (e.g., radio or online/print newspapers) to educate and communicate with their communities about the news of the day and the politics and policies that affect them.
5. What was your “why” for running for office? And how did that experience help make you a more effective strategist?
I ran for office because I believed I would be the best representative for my community at the time. And I had dedicated my community service and advocacy to the things that I wanted to lead on if I was elected to public office, such as improving the health care and long-term care services for disabled and elders; and being an advocate in the state legislature for the growing New American community, and protecting reproductive rights.
Having this experience made me a better strategist for candidates because when I say “I can understand how you feel”… it carries a lot more weight than for other strategists who have NEVER put themselves out there to run for public office.
6. I saw in an interview that you said you received some advice from a Black woman legislator: “Always care about what the grassroots are saying.” What does this mean to you, and why is this particularly important advice for New Americans running for office or working on campaigns?
Caring about the grassroots means caring about what the people want. More often than not, what political parties or government leadership want is in conflict with what the people want.
An example of that is advocating for better wages and affordable housing, things that people want and need, but the attitudes from a lot of political and government leadership are to talk a lot about it, but not necessarily do anything substantive about it. Those who address the material needs and wants are successful candidates and elected officials who win elections or get re-elected.
I believe caring about what the grassroots are saying is particularly important for New Americans, because we are often told to minimize the things about us that are foreign, which may make us more prone to assimilate and go along with the status quo. What sets us apart is that we bring a different perspective by virtue of being New Americans, and that should empower us to lift up the voices of those not being heard in the grassroots.
7. Also saw that you say “Black women in the 18-45 demographic who come to life with organizing and activism.” Can you say more about that?
I go into more detail in my book, but Black women come into their activism earlier than they would probably like to (if at all) because how our society treats them in the US does not give them a choice.
Whether as mothers who have to advocate for their children in school to prevent them from being tracked into the wrong classes or overdisciplined; or protecting them against gun violence and/or police brutality; as young adults protesting for clean water, or fighting to be heard in the foster system or as survivors of abuse; or as workers getting paid less than most of their counterparts simply for being Black women.
All of these issues disproportionately affect Black women, and what is worse is that because they are Black and women, they are dismissed in the system, leading them to become instigators out of the need to survive.
8. Things can be uncertain and frankly a bit uncertain now for our New American communities. For those who may be questioning, is this the right time to run for office or to work on a campaign? What advice would you give them? What’s the first concrete step they should take?
These times are very precarious for New Americans. But because it’s so precarious, those of us who have the ability to run for office or use our talents to work on campaigns should. Our perspectives are needed because the only way we can be a truly inclusive, multi-racial democracy that serves everyone in the US is by having our voices in government and in campaigns.
If you are just getting started and interested in running for office, take a candidate training like the ones New American Leaders offer, volunteer in your community, look for campaigns by candidates you like, and offer your skill set in service to the campaign.
9. For those New Americans starting their civic engagement journey, if you could do it all again, where would you start? Is there something you’d do differently?
I honestly don’t think I’d do anything differently than I had. I have had a great, rounded experience. For me, I started off in politics working in state government and then volunteering for the Young Democrats. I took a lot of trainings to learn more about the process. These experiences further opened the door to my career in politics as a political party leader, candidate, and campaign staff member.