Congressman keith ellison biography channel

In 2007, Keith Ellison became the first African-American lawmaker elected to Congress from Minnesota and the first Muslim to serve in either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. During his time on Capitol Hill, Ellison routinely had to combat Islamophobia and anti- Muslim sentiment and emerged as a national spokesman for progressive causes. He used his seat on the Financial Services Committee to extend protections and greater opportunity to working-class and minority Americans in the aftermath of the Great Recession. In a speech on the House Floor, Ellison explained that his progressive message was “about a lot of important things to help the quality of life for Americans, Americans of all colors, all cultures, and all faiths, Americans who serve in our Nation’s military, who serve us as public employees, Americans who are looking out for us every day to live a high quality of life, to send their kids to school and have a chance at education, to have a decent, respectable retirement, to have some health care, to be able to earn a decent living.”¹

Keith Ellison was born in Detroit, Michigan, on August 4, 1963, the middle of five boys; four, including Ellison, became lawyers and one became a doctor. His parents were Leonard, a psychiatrist,