”For truth, justice and the American way” – The Adventures of Superman 1942

By Glen Reaux

The 116^th U.S. Congress consists of a freshmen class of 101 new Representatives.  It is the most racially diverse ever and includes a class of 42 women.  Among this group of women, there appears to be a cadre of bright and shining stars with a promising political future.  This young group of lawmakers brings a lot of optimism, many fresh ideas, a ton of energy and as expected some naivety.  But, rest assured, this new face of democracy is in good hands.  This posse is representative of the ethnic makeup of America.  We will refer to these new rising stars of the Democratic Party as the Justice League.  They are being groomed by Democratic Party leaders Sheriff Nancy Pelosi and Deputy Chuck Schumer, also known as Ma and Pa Kent, the adopted parents of Superman, America’s first superhero. This new class of freshman lawmakers constitute “The New Face of Democracy America’s Justice League.”

In comic book lore, the Justice League consists of a team of heroes that embody principles of honesty, courage, teamwork and determination, the very core of American values.  They have united to protect the people from villains, disasters and evil masterminds with their hordes of minions, that are determined to enslave, destroy or do harm to the American people.   This particular Justice League consists of a very ethnically diverse group of women from a very broad spectrum of occupations and cultures.  While in fact, the Justice League is based upon a DC graphic novel, for our Congressional Justice League, we will draft some of the most recognizable female characters from across the superhero universe.  Congress’s Justice League members are Wonder Woman, Black Widow, Elektra, Storm and Captain Marvel.  And, unlike their sexy superhero counterparts of the comics, these beloved women are not to be objectified.

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap small buildings in a single bound, look up in the sky, it’s a bird, a plane, it’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez…not Superman!  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is a Latina who we will refer to as Wonder Woman because of her super strength and a fearless ability to, against all odds give a beat-down to the opposition.  At 29, this New York Representative for the 14^th Congressional District will be the youngest woman to ever hold a congressional seat.  And, like Wonder Woman, she is ready to go to war and defeat evil for the greater good.

Unlike her alter ego Wonder Woman, she is not a wealthy Amazon Princess that works at a museum under her secret identity.  After graduating from college, she worked as a bartender in Manhattan and as a waitress in a Mexican taco restaurant while her mother cleaned houses and drove school buses.  After her father’s death, AOC and her mom struggled to save their home from foreclosure.   Her educational work experience includes serving as an educational director for the 2017 Northeast Collegiate World Series for the National Hispanic Institute.  She traveled by car across America while serving as an organizer for the 2016 Presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders.

AOC is from the Bronx, a cum laude graduate of Boston University with a major in international relations and economics.  She is of Puerto Rican heritage and a member of the Democratic Socialist of America.  She is fighting for free college for all, guaranteed family leave, a 70% marginal tax rate for incomes above $10 million and Medicare for all.  This Wonder Woman of the Democratic Party is of the people, raised by the people and is using all of her superpowers to fight for the people.

Rashida Tlaib is one of two Muslim women elected in the 2018 midterm election.  Tlaib is 42 years old and a lawyer.   Much like the Black Widow, a member of the Avengers, Tlaib’s heritage is not one of the United States.  Because of her legal background, like Black Widow she probably posses the superpower of being able to mesmerize people with her interrogations which will allow her to get down to the truth.  Like Black Widow, she is very crafty, committed to a life of service and she is brave when fighting to protect the public.

Tlaib’s parents were Palestinian immigrants that moved to Detroit.  Her father worked as an assemblyman in a Ford Motor Company plant and from time to time had to rely on welfare to support his family. Being the eldest child, she was responsible for helping her mother raise her siblings before leaving for college.  She graduated college from Wayne State University and later received her Juris Doctorate from Western Michigan University’s Cooley Law School in 2004.

Ms. Tlaib is serving as the U.S. Representative for Michigan’s 13th congressional district which includes the western half of Detroit, along with several of its western suburbs.  Prior to being elected to Congress, she represented the 6th and 12th districts of the Michigan House of Representatives and was the first Muslim woman to serve in the Michigan legislature.  Tlaib is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.  She is a proponent of Medicare for all and a $15 minimum wage.  She is a vocal advocate for the impeachment of Donald Trump and contrary to the Democratic leadership, does not want to wait till the end of the Mueller investigation.  She believes it maybe an abdication of the Congress’s constitutional oversight mandate and rights to pursue impeachment as outlined in the constitution.

Tlaib and her family are living proof, that welfare is a stepping stone that leads to becoming middle-class and that, Muslim immigrants are not the devil’s spawn determined to destroy the great Satan, America.

Lauren Underwood, the youngest Black Woman ever to serve in Congress is a former nurse and Senior Advisor at the Department of Health and Human Service under the Obama administration.  She’s as caring, intelligent and as electrifying as Storm, a member of the X-Men and protégé of Professor X.  She is 32 years old and represents Illinois’s 14^th congressional district.

Underwood graduated from the University of Michigan in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing.  She has received two Masters Degrees from John’s Hopkins University.  They are a Master’s of Science in Nursing and a Masters of Public Health.  She has also served as an adjunct instructor at the Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies.

The Republican initiative to repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act was one of the motivating factors that caused Underwood to run for the House of Representatives.  She has a preexisting health condition and she believed that the Affordable Care Act needed to be tweaked not ended.  Underwood believes that healthcare is a human right.  She was endorsed by both President Obama and Vice President Biden.

Sharice Davids is one of the first two Native American Women elected to the Congress and because of her Mixed Martial Arts background, is probably best represented by Marvel’s Electra.  Like Electra, she is a hard-hitting martial artist with a no-nonsense approach to dealing with problems.  She represents Kansas’s 3^rd congressional district which encompasses a portion of the Kansas City metropolitan area, including Overland Park, Lenexa and Olathe.  She is a member of the LGBT community and the first Native American to represent Kansas in 90 years.

Representative Davids grandfather and mother served in the U.S. Army.  She is a member of the Ho-Chuck people.  Davids attended the University of Kansas, and the University of Missouri–Kansas City, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2007. In 201 Davids earned her Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School.  Davids is a lesbian and proud supporter of the LGBTQ community.  She is the first openly Native American LGBTQ member elected to Congress.  The Congress Woman is a former mixed martial arts fighter with a combined amateur and professional record of 6 wins and 2 losses.  Professionally, Davids has worked for the Multi-national law firm SNR Denton, which is one of the world’s largest.  She has traveled across the country and worked with many Native American communities on community and economic development.  In2018 she defeated incumbent Republican Kevin Yoder.  Polls show that voters selected her over Yoder because she was more credible in dealing with issues of the economy and immigration.  She supports Medicare for all and lower drug prices.

Mikie Sherrill, like Captain Marvel who will save the universe in the upcoming sequel to Marvel’s Avengers Infinity Wars, is a veteran of the U.S. military and a former pilot.  As a young girl, she was inspired by her grandfather who was a pilot in World War II.  She is married to her Naval Academy classmate. Jason Hedberg, a former Navy Intelligence officer and Mikie have 4 children.  She is a native of Alexandria Virginia and in 2018 was elected Representative of New Jersey’s 11^th congressional district.

Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Michelle Sherrill graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science Degree, an MS in Economics History and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.   She studied Arabic at American University in Cairo Egypt.  Lieutenant Commander Sherrill was a Navy helicopter pilot and has also served as a Russian Policy Officer when she worked at the Commander-in-Chief office of the U.S. Navy in Europe. In 2015, she became an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

In 2018, Congress Woman Sherrill ran for the seat of 12 term Republican incumbent and powerful Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rodney Frelinghuysen.   She is pro-choice, a strong proponent of criminal justice reform and an environmental activist.  She is the Freshman Whip for the New Democrat Coalition, a member of the moderate Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues and has kept a promise made to her constituents by voting against Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House.  She currently serves on 4 subcommittees which include the Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Sea-power and Projection Forces, and the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces.  She Chairs the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Investigation and Oversight and is a member of the Subcommittee on Research and Technology.

These brave American women are from diverse ethnic backgrounds, some from military families, from poor families and middle-class families, have all committed to a life of service to their country and communities.  They are young and do not represent the old guard.  Coming out of the gate, they have challenged the leadership of both parties and are courageous in the face of established Washington political traditions.  In their brief time in office, they have spoken for their constituents, kept their promises, fought for them and continue to rally them for the difficult fights ahead. Their diversity, strong will, energy and anti-establishment attitudes represent a new face of democracy and may be what is needed to affect positive change in Washington.  Perhaps, in the tradition of their superhero counterparts, this Justice League, against all odds, will save the day and serve as role models for future generation of Americans, women and men alike.

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