Atima Omara
Atima Omara is a nationally recognized, award-winning political strategist, leader, writer, speaker, and advocate. She is the founder and principal strategist for Omara Strategy Group—an award-winning progressive political and advocacy consulting firm. Previously, she has worked for a governor, members of Congress, and various Democratic candidates at federal, state, and local levels across the country, as well as on issue campaigns for various progressive causes, including reproductive rights and justice, disability rights and justice, labor, and criminal justice reform. A former candidate for public office and nonprofit executive, Atima has also been elected to serve in multiple Democratic Party leadership roles at the national, state, and local levels, including president of the Young Democrats of America, the first Black person and fifth woman to do so; statewide-elected Virginia member of the Democratic National Committee from 2016 to 2024; and vice chair of the DNC Women's Caucus, 2017–2024. Atima is a sought-after commentator and speaker on national politics, candidates, policy, race, gender, and culture. She has been quoted in national outlets, including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and The Atlantic; written for The Washington Post, The American Prospect, The Nation, The Root, Teen Vogue, and other national outlets; and appeared on CNN, PBS, Fox News, BBC, CBC, NPR, and MSNBC. The Instigators: How Black Women Are Essential to Democracy (and What We Can Learn from Them) is her first book.
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Atima Omara
The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Essential To American Democracy (And What We Can Learn From Them)
"How can we build a truly inclusive multi-racial democracy?" For Atima Omara, the answer is The Instigators--a name she has given to a demographic of Black women between the ages of 18 and 45. These women are uniquely equipped to save American democracy. They didn't ask for this ability, she argues. It was forced on them because racism and sexism have made them the most marginalized group in American politics. We can all benefit from their strategic know-how as we rebuild our society.
Black women have always been the most relentless instigators for change--building a democracy for all. Omara draws on her political knowledge and expertise, as well as history, to examine how they have responded to failed strategic decisions by movement leaders and the modern Democratic Party in previous elections as a context for the present. She also provides actionable recommendations to organizers, donors, candidates, strategists, political party leaders, that everyday people can use in their communities to build an inclusive democracy that endures beyond one election cycle.
The Instigators is at once an urgent political guide, historical exploration, and a poignant memoir that pulls from Omara's two decades of work in Democratic politics and the progressive movement as an elected Democratic Party leader, movement organizer, former candidate, gubernatorial aide, campaign staff to candidates at the national, state, and local level; and now political strategist. Powerful, insightful, and practical, it is imperative reading for everyone eager to protect and rebuild our democracy and create a better tomorrow for all.
