Team,

A year ago today, Donald Trump stoked hatred and division against me at his rally, inciting his supporters to chant, “Send her back!” This was not just an attack against me, but against immigrants, people of color, and religious minorities who have been told to “go back where you came from” their whole lives.

Of course, the attacks and smears have not slowed since then. Trump and his GOP allies and donors have only poured more time and effort into launching attack ads, spreading conspiracy theories, and flooding money into my primary opponents’ campaigns.

Last week when I met with members of my community and Minnesota lawmakers to push for more change in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, I was immediately smeared by the right-wing media machine when I told reporters that, “As long as our economic and political systems prioritize profit, without considering who is profiting and who is being shut out, we will perpetuate this inequality. So we cannot stop at the criminal justice system. We must begin the work of dismantling the whole system of oppression wherever we find it.”

My cries for ending oppression in our systems were deceitfully twisted into calls to get rid of the U.S. government and economy altogether. I was met with a level of xenophobia and hatred that would shock some but is all too familiar to me. My social media feeds were flooded with hate speech, calls for deportation and — not for the first time — death threats. It’s in the moments when the threats and vitriol are the loudest that I am reminded that they wouldn’t try so hard to silence me and our movement if we weren’t so close to transforming our country.

So we will not “go back.” We will not stand down. And we will certainly not let up — not even a little bit — in our fight to dismantle all oppressive laws and systems so that everyone — no matter their income or their Zip code or where they were born — has a real shot at the American dream.

One year later, we’re still fighting. And I have faith that one year from now, I’ll still be bringing each and every one of our voices to Congress as we work to build an America that leaves no one behind.

Thank you for standing with this movement through every attack and smear — our unity will always carry us through stronger to the other side.

In radical solidarity,

Ilhan Omar