DULUTH – Duluthians made history in several ways Tuesday with their election of Azrin Awal to the City Council: she is the first elected Asian American Muslim. Her inclusion means Duluth will have its most racially diverse council to oversee a mostly white city, and it is only the second time having a female majority.

Awal, 25, joins Renee Van Nett and Terese Tomanek — both re-elected Tuesday — Janet Kennedy and Roz Randorf on the nine-member council.

"I'm very cognizant of what my win means, what it means to be the first Muslim Asian American on the City Council," Awal said Wednesday. "It's an honor and a privilege.

"It means Duluth is becoming more aware of the different stories it holds."

The last time five women were seated on Duluth's City Council was in 1998, a group that included former Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon.

"We are here again in part because of the paths that have been built by women and the leaders who have come before us," said Mayor Emily Larson, who was the first female mayor elected in Duluth in 2015. "I'm thrilled we have representation that is broad and I think fully represents different pockets of our community that have for a long time either felt or experienced marginalization. To have that voice in policymaking is really, really important."

Azrin Awal

While Duluth is more progressive than many cities, "it took a long time for even this city to get there," said Cynthia Rugeley, a political science associate professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

"I don't want to diminish what Duluth is doing here because it's very important, but it's overdue," she said, noting Duluth's current council is unusual in that it works respectfully together despite varying backgrounds and points of view.

Council president Van Nett is a member of the Leech Lake and Red Lake bands of Ojibwe. The council's diversity is a good thing, she said, but it's tempered by the reality of what that means.

It's difficult for people of color to become elected in a predominantly white population, she said, and winning carries a burden of its own.

"Paving the way for others is hard … it's a hard path," she said.

Awal, whose family immigrated from Bangladesh when she was 3, came to Duluth to attend UMD and study public health, and she now works with homeless and at-risk youth at Life House. She's been thinking about the added weight she feels to advocate for voices that aren't often heard.

"Sometimes there might be expectations individuals place on you because of that, or expectations you place on yourself," she said, adding that it's very empowering for young girls to see elected officials in their image. "I'm recognizing how I can be a role model for future generations, how to keep myself grounded and learn from those who came before me."

Kennedy was the first African American elected to the council in 2019.

The new council makeup is historic and important, she said, and it's a story she'll tell young African American girls in the right setting, for example.

"But we are all councilors who come with our heritage and cultures, and we are all stepping into that space to make our city better," she said.

Jana Hollingsworth • 218-508-2450