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As the US presidential elections enter uncharted territory with a suspense alongside a divided Democratic House and a Republican Senate, two Americans with roots in Ethiopia have become City Councilors and State Senators, achieving a political milestone. Ethiopian-American.
Oballa Oballa, a former Ethiopian refugee, was elected to a council position in Austin, Minnesota, becoming the second Ethiopian elected to such a position in the history of the Ethiopian-American political journey. The first was Tsegaye “Mike” Mekonnen, an Ethiopian-American union activist, who was elected councilor for Chelsea, Massachusetts. He died in 2011.
Oballa, 27, a native of Gambella, grew up in a UNHCR refugee camp in Kenya’s Dadaab Refugee Complex, where the Somalia-born, now Congressman Ilham Omer, also spent her youth. He became the first person of color elected to the Austin City Council. He became a US citizen and moved to his adopted city in 2015.
Samra Brouk, another native of Ethiopia, was declared the winner in New York as a State Senator, becoming the first native of Ethiopia elected to that position. He received 53 percent of the votes against a Republican candidate, winning the seat previously held by a Republican.
“The outpouring of enthusiastic support from voters in the 55th Senate District has been overwhelming and humiliating. With 98% of constituencies reported and a 2-to-1 Democratic lead on absentee ballots returned, I can now declare victory in this state Senate, ”he said the morning after the election on Twitter.
He joined the Peace Corps and traveled to Guatemala becoming an activist upon his return, working with and empowering young people to be “advocates for social change” and also to fight in areas of inequality in public schools.
