The first Palestinian American woman, and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, Rashida Tlaib has been blazing uncharted paths her entire life. Unlike most of her colleagues, Representative Tlaib has not focused her time in office just on being re-elected and avoiding controversy. She has continuously spoken truth to power, taking on both sides of the aisle, no matter the political cost, with a consistent record of standing up for human rights.

The most recent example of this was on 11/7/23, when Rep. Tlaib became the 27th member in the history of the USA to be censured. She was censured for speaking up against the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

She was censured by 212 Republicans and 22 fellow Democrats, with 4 Republicans and 184 voting against the punishment. The votes against the censure was what was most surprising, considering the amount of money Israeli Lobby groups like AIPAC spend on Congressional campaigns on both sides of the aisle. They spent $2.6 million alone on private trips to Israel for Democrats and Republicans in 2022 (Haaretz), and just offered Hill Harper $20 million to challenge Rashida in the coming Democratic primaries.

Meanwhile, her colleagues openly encouraging the ongoing genocide have gone unpunished. There has been no censuring of Rep. Max Miller for saying Palestine will be turned into a parking lot, or of Rep. Brian Mast for saying there are no innocent Palestinian civilians.

Rashida is more than a congresswoman. She is an impossible dream realized for a people currently being erased from this Earth. She is an uncompromising warrior amongst an army of sponsored sellouts. She is the first of so many titles, and she spends her career risking her career to ensure she is not the last of any of those titles. She is the pride of her people, and the definition of the real American dream. Thank you Rashida. They can censure you all they want, but they can’t silence the truth.

Please look at the story highlights entitled Rashida,  on my Instagram profile page,  for more information on the true meaning behind the phrase “From the River to the Sea.”

Acrylic on Canvas 18" x 24"