By Donna Owens, essence.com
At a celebration for newly elected women of color in Congress, elected officials, activists and other stakeholders emphasized the need for political representation that is more reflective of America’s diverse democracy.
About 150 people assembled on Tuesday night in the nation’s capital to honor freshmen lawmakers whose victories in 2016 brought record numbers of Black, Latina, Asian and Indian American women to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Among the newest members of Congress in attendance were Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA), who is of Jamaican and South Asian descent; Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), the first Latina ever elected to the Senate; and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the first Indian American woman in Congress.
