SPEAK OUT: "The Right to Boycott"

For all the noise around the President's racist and dismissive tweeting, here's the point of fresh perspective and new initiatives in Congress. Here, Representative Ilhan Omar digs deep into the traditions of resistance and nonviolence, and insists that Democrats and Republicans stand up and be counted.

She could easily take her newfound celebrity and play it safe, politically. She could step back from the issues and movements that stir controversy, even among liberal supporters. But that's not her thing. That's not why she invested so much, and risks so much, to serve.

So her initiative poses key, urgent questions for other representatives: Do you, will you, can you defend the rights of citizens to organize and resist injustice, WHEREVER it shows up and WHOMEVER it diminishes? Do you, will you, can you acknowledge the role our country has played in siding with colonialists, settlers and occupiers around the world? I'm so grateful for her courage and, yes, for her patriotism. She's on the right side of history here!