Jamilah Nasheed (born Jenise Williams; October 17, 1972) is an American politician from the state of

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. Nasheed formerly represented the fifth district in the

Missouri Senate The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 174,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...

, and formerly served in the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

. She is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Early life and education

Born Jenise Williams, she was raised with her three brothers by their grandmother in a St. Louis housing project. Her father was killed in a drive-by shooting several months before she was born. She attended Roosevelt High School in St. Louis. She later took classes at

Florissant Valley Community College Florissant may refer to: * Florissant, Colorado, a census-designated place * Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, a United States National Monument, Colorado * Florissant, Missouri, a city * Florissant Township, St. Louis County, Missouri S ...

in 2012. As an adolescent, Nasheed began visiting a mosque on Grand Boulevard. After two years of studying

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, she converted to the religion.

Political career

Nasheed served as a member of the

from the 60th district from January 2007 until January 2013. She was the first Muslim woman to serve in a state legislature. Nasheed ran for the

in the 2012 elections. A St. Louis Circuit Court judge ordered she be removed from the ballot because she did not live in the boundaries of the district at the time of the election, although district boundaries were to change through

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

. She appealed the decision to the

Missouri Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...

, which allowed her to remain on the ballot. She defeated

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

Robin Wright-Jones and fellow State Representative

Jeanette Mott Oxford Jeanette Mott Oxford (born July 16, 1954) is an American activist and politician from Missouri. She is a currently the Executive Director of the Missouri Association for Social Welfare, after having served as a member of the Missouri House of Rep ...

in the

Democratic primary This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries. 1912 This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the Unit ...

, and won the general election. In December, she was chosen to chair the Missouri Black Legislative Caucus. During the

Ferguson unrest The Ferguson unrest (sometimes called the Ferguson uprising, Ferguson protests, or the Ferguson riots) were a series of protests and riots which began in Ferguson, Missouri on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Brow ...

, Nasheed was taken into police custody on October 20, 2014, in front of the

Ferguson, Missouri Ferguson is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Per the 2020 census, the population was 18,527. History What is now the city of Ferguson was founded in 1855, when William B ...

police station. News reports indicated she was in possession of a firearm and drunk at the time of her arrest. Another protester said Nasheed refused to get off the street even after police gave instructions to the protesters to do so. In September 2016, Nasheed sat while her colleagues recited the

Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used ...

in the Missouri Capitol. She said she acted in solidarity with San Francisco 49ers quarterback

Colin Kaepernick Colin Rand Kaepernick ( ; born November 3, 1987) is an American civil rights activist and football quarterback who is a free agent. He played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). In 2016, he knelt dur ...

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

of police brutality and racial oppression, although many of her colleagues saw this as unpatriotic. Nasheed was a declared candidate for Mayor of St. Louis in the 2017 election, but she dropped out of the race in January 2017. She ran in the March 2019 election to be the president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.

Personal life

On November 22, 2014, Nasheed was the victim of a carjacking attempt.State Senator Nasheed alleges armed man tried to carjack her
fox2now.com, November 25, 2014.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasheed, Jamilah Living people Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Democratic Party Missouri state senators African-American state legislators in Missouri African-American women in politics 1972 births Converts to Islam 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American Muslims 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women Women state legislators in Missouri