Democratic Congresswoman Deb Haaland of New Mexico went viral on Monday, October 12, after posting her own version of the popular "How it started, how it's going" meme to Twitter.
Haaland—a Laguna Pueblo tribal citizen—made history in the 2018 election alongside fellow Democrat Sharice Davids of Kansas—a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation—when they became the first Indigenous women elected to Congress.
In Haaland's post, she shows a young version of herself protesting Columbus Day alongside a more recent image of her standing as an elected Congresswoman in front of a mural depicting her people.
The choice was fitting for more reasons than one.
Representative Haaland was featured in a Full Frontal with Samantha Bee video about Columbus Day.
Twitter loved Haaland's version of the meme and it quickly accumulated nearly 100,000 likes.
In recent years, many of Christopher Columbus' atrocities lead people to suggest "Columbus Day" should not be a holiday.
Many suggested renaming the October holiday "Indigenous People's Day."
Though the march of progress is often slow—and takes unexpected turns—humanity is still moving forward bit by bit.
Several states and cities have already ditched Columbus—including removing monuments to him—and adopted Indigenous People's Day instead.
Haaland protested Columbus when she was young and turned her early activism into a life of public service today.
If you want to succeed on Twitter, you have to know how to use memes.
Congresswoman Haaland proved she can do just that.
Haaland is running for reelection this November in New Mexico. You can learn more about Haaland here.
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