Nigerian-born Uzoma Asagwara has been elected to the Manitoba legislative assembly. Until Tuesday’s vote, no Black person had ever been elected to the Manitoba Legislature in the 150-year history of the province.
Asagwara is also the first Black and first openly LGBT person to serve as deputy premier since its creation in 1988. She also won the NDP seat at Union Station.
Asagwara, a first-generation Canadian whose parents are Nigerian, is a longtime community activist in Winnipeg’s core.
She also becomes one of three Black people, alongside Jamie Moses and Audrey Gordon, to have been elected to the 150-year-old parliament.
Born in Winnipeg to Igbo Nigerian parents, Uzoma Asagwara completed a Bachelor of Science in psychiatric nursing from the University of Winnipeg and Brandon University. Asagwara was the University of Winnipeg Female Athlete of the Year in 2005–06 and was a member of the Canadian women’s national basketball team for two years and was part of the team at the 2007 Pan American Games. Before their election, Asagwara worked full-time as a registered psychiatric nurse specializing in adult and youth mental health and addictions.
ALSO READ: A Profile On Uzoma Asagwara, The First Black Minister To Be Appointed In Manitoba, Canada
Asagwara served as a member of the former premier’s advisory council on education, poverty, and citizenship, and as a member of the Women’s Health Clinic board of directors. In 2014, Asagwara founded Queer People of Color Winnipeg, a Winnipeg-based project that aims to promote the rights and safety of LGBTQ people of colour in the city.
In the 2019 Manitoba general election, Asagwara was elected to represent the Union Station electoral district.