Minnesota’s first Black women senators reflect on ‘transformative’ first legislative session

By Panashe Matemba-Mutasa Mshale

It’s been six months since Zaynab Mohamed, Clare Oumou Verbeten, and Erin Maye Quade sailed to victory in Minnesota’s state senatorial elections, jointly making history as the first Black women to do so in the state’s 165-year existence. Having concluded their first legislative session in May, Mshale asked the senators to reflect on their experiences as new lawmakers.

“We came out of those chambers [after the swearings-in at the Capitol] and saw hundreds of people who had been waiting many years for that moment,” Verbeten said.

The three senators all agreed that the new senate “looks more like Minnesota.” The state is home to around 400,000 residents who identify as Black or African American, 125,000 of whom were born in Africa, according to a study the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development published in 2020. As their population grows, more Minnesotans of African descent are increasingly venturing into politics, many of them successfully. Mohamed and Verbeten, who are respectively descended from Somali and Senegalese immigrants, are the only women senators in this legislative term with recent ties to Africa. Quade, while not from a family of immigrants, doubly made history as one of the first Black women, and the first openly lesbian senator in the state’s history.

Before they could even process the magnitude of their victories, the three senators had to hit the ground running, working on some of the most transformative pieces of legislation the state has ever seen. Notably, Mohamed, who represents District 63, was the chief sponsor of the “Driver’s License for All” bill, which allowed immigrants in Minnesota to obtain stateissued driver’s licenses. It was signed into law in March. In a session she described as “exciting, hopeful, and transformational,” the Somali American legislator said she has enjoyed watching the fruits of her labor manifest so far.

“Watching all the ideas I was able to present change lives has been one of my proudest moments [in the senate] thus far,” she said.

And Verbeten supported and advocated for Minnesota’s largest-ever infrastructure bill, which allocated $2.6 billion for the repair of roads and bridges across the state. The bill will funnel millions of dollars into her dis- trict, she said.

“It’s high time Minneapolis and St. Paul get the resources to build their communi- ties,” Verbeten said.

As her colleagues pushed for their respective bills, Quade was making strides in education. One of the laws she fiercely defended was the “Minnesota Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act” (READ Act), which Gov. Tim Walz signed in May to ensure grade-level reading for all Minnesota students. She also pushed for reproductive rights and rights for pregnant and nursing mothers. As a mother, Quade said issues pertaining to children and families resonate with her. In the next legislative session, she said she would like to see a bill that guarantees insurance coverage for fertility services.

“It’s a huge family equity issue that I would like to address in my remaining time in office,” Quade said.

But walking the halls of power hasn’t spared the three lawmakers from challenges. Being the first Black women in their positions has left them feeling like “the guinea pigs” and heaped on them the burden of representing their race. Minnesota’s senate has historically been predominantly white, so the senators said they must remember to advocate for themselves as they advocate for the people in their respective

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