The Book: This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman (2020), by Ilhan Omar. 288 pages
Free event!
What if I have not finished reading this book, or have not read it at all?
That's okay! We hope you will come to this book club meeting, no matter how much of the book you have read. This book features many compelling themes and ideas that will be fascinating to discuss. Everybody who comes to this book club meeting will be able to participate and enjoy the discussion.
This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman "is the origin story of a leader who, finding no set path that would take a person like her to the places she wanted to go, was forced, and free, to chart her own." (New York Times Book Review). The publisher describes the book as "an intimate and rousing memoir by progressive trailblazer Ilhan Omar—the first African refugee, the first Somali-American, and one of the first Muslim women, elected to Congress."
Congresswoman Omar is one of the most famous members of congress, particularly in the wake of new reporting that came out of Minnesota i 2025, led by Nick Shirley.
What to Bring? You do not need to bring anything. Simply read the book OR listen to the audio book. It can be useful if you bring your physical or digital copy of the book.
Who? This is a fun book club event that men and women from the neighborhood potluck list are invited to, along with everybody else who is interested.
Fun Book Club: This will be the 49th monthly meeting of this book club. We had so much fun at the all of the meetings so far, with wonderful, fascinating discussions with great neighbors and new friends. If you like books or interesting discussions... or simply want to have fun meeting new people, I highly recommend RSVP-ing for this event.
More about the author: Ilhan Omar was only eight years old when war broke out in Somalia. The youngest of seven children, her mother had died while Ilhan was still a little girl. She was being raised by her father and grandfather when armed gunmen attacked their compound and the family decided to flee Mogadishu. They ended up in a refugee camp in Kenya, where Ilhan says she came to understand the deep meaning of hunger and death. Four years later, after a painstaking vetting process, her family achieved refugee status and arrived in Arlington, Virginia.
Aged twelve, penniless, speaking only Somali and having missed out on years of schooling, Ilhan rolled up her sleeves, determined to find her American dream. Faced with the many challenges of being an immigrant and a refugee, she questioned stereotypes and built bridges with her classmates and in her community. In under two decades she became a grassroots organizer, graduated from college and was elected to congress with a record-breaking turnout by the people of Minnesota—ready to keep pushing boundaries and restore moral clarity in Washington D.C.
To RSVP, use your standard PotluckDinner.org RSVP buttons, or use the form at the top of this page, or email: rsvp@potluckdinner.org [or] text: 480-269-5823