Congresswoman Nikema Williams has always known she represents an important district. Georgia's 5th encompasses the majority of Atlanta, the state's most populous city. It was the congressional home of civil rights icon John Lewis, whose seat Williams now occupies. And it was key to flipping the White House—and then the Senate—during the 2020 election cycle.

Then this past week, all eyes were on Atlanta again. After months of rising anti-Asian hate in response to the pandemic, there were shootings at three spas in the area; eight people, including six Asian women, were killed.

This Wednesday, Williams went live on ELLE's Facebook for a round of 20 Questions to discuss how we can stand in solidarity with the AAPI community, how we can continue to support Black female organizers in Georgia, and what it's been like to be part of the 117th Congress. She was joined by A'shanti Gholar, the founder of The Brown Girls Guide to Politics, as part of a special Women's History Month collaboration between ELLE and The BGG. Find an abridged version of the Q&A below, or watch the full video here:

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I'd love to take a minute for us to reflect on the horrific shooting in Atlanta, how you're doing, how the community is doing, and also your advice on how we stand in solidarity with the Asian American community during this time.

What we saw last week, and even the gun violence we saw this week in Boulder, Colorado, just shows us how much more work we have to do to make sure that when people are going about their everyday lives, they're not met by people with guns who are intentionally trying to inflict harm on them. I've been talking with my friends in the AAPI community and giving them the voice and the space to lead, so that I can stand in solidarity with them, either beside them or behind them, because oftentimes, we talk about what we think should be done and not giving people who are experiencing the pain the platform to express what their needs are.

We're uplifting a local organization here, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, who have been on the frontlines of so much of our democracy work, so much of our social justice work, and now they need us to stand up for them. Thank you for acknowledging the tragedy that hit home this week, but equally, we have to address the white supremacy that still plagues our nation, that allows things like this to continue to happen in our communities.

Like most Americans, I was excited to see the certification of the presidential election in January. Georgia gave us that victory. We also won those two Senate seats. Then we saw, again, the awful violence wrapped in white supremacy [at the U.S. Capitol]. Tell us what that day was like and how you and other members of Congress are moving forward.

The moment I'll never forget is that the race for Jon Ossoff was called during the insurrection. It had already been called for Reverend Warnock. Then I saw pictures of someone parading a Confederate flag through the rotunda of the Capitol. It was just the intersection of those moments. We had just elected the first Black man and the first Jewish man from the state of Georgia to the U.S. Senate, and it was like this white supremacist, this insurrectionist was parading this flag to remind us to stay in our place, trying to tell us we didn't belong there. That moment will never be lost upon me. It gives me the drive to continue to work, to continue to represent my community because I'm not going anywhere. I'm not easily scared away. But now I have 24-hour security, right now outside my house, because we received threats, and we were told that Democratic members and Black members of Congress had additional levels of threat just being members of this body.

I know you're not going anywhere. One thing I loved was seeing you, Stacey Abrams, LaTosha Brown, Nse Ufot getting the praise and recognition that Black women deserve for all the organizing they did in 2020, but also the organizing we've been doing since the beginning of time. What's your advice to someone who wants to support Black women in their organizing?

Organizing takes time, it takes talent, and it takes treasure. LaTosha, the work she's been able to do with a brand-new organization in Black Voters Matter, I remember her very first bus trip, and she was trying to get money to pay for the wrapper for the bus, and now look at what she's doing. Continue to support these organizations, but also supporting candidates. If you say you truly support Black women being in the office, y'all, it costs a lot of money to run campaigns, and in the U.S. House of Representatives, we're up for election every two years. I feel like I just got here, but my election is one year away. [It's] making sure we continue to not just say we support Black women and women of color, but really supporting them with your time, your talent, and your treasure.

You're also a co-founder of Emerge Georgia. I'm also the president of Emerge, so we worked together to set up the affiliate, which focuses on recruiting and training women to run for office. What advice would you have for women, particularly in the South, who are thinking about running but still think there are too many barriers?

Number one, there are barriers. We need to name that. But know there are organizations like Emerge that are willing to break down those barriers. You're never going to be a perfect candidate. There's no such thing. I have learned that you don't often choose the moment, the moment chooses you. When your community needs you to step up to represent them, you're already ready. You're enough.

We have our first woman of color vice president, who's a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, of which you're also a member. What experience has being in a sorority given you? A lot of people might not equate a sorority with politics and civic engagement.

I had the privilege of meeting with Vice President Harris in her ceremonial room at the White House for Black History Month. That's one of the things she and I talked about, how 113 years ago, our organization was founded for college educated women, to give us a support system navigating our careers. The fact that we were able to sit there together, what our founders must be feeling now. We're exactly what they were planning for. To know that now [Harris] has this network of people there, ready to support her, ready to help her, was exactly what our founders intended. We've not only put our Black Greek letter organizations on everybody's radar, but also historically Black colleges. Oftentimes people were told, if you really want to "make it" in the real world, you shouldn't go to an HBCU. And here I am, as a member of Congress, a graduate of Talladega College, an HBCU in Alabama, and Kamala Harris, our vice president, is an HBCU alum. It continues to show us that our lived experiences are just as valid as everyone else's.

What's the most shocking thing you've heard someone say to you while you've been in Congress?

I've been guarded with my time and my circle since I've been in Congress, so I really interact with people who I know are going to bring me good energy. But I have been talking with some people on the other side of the aisle, and someone actually came up to me, another Black member of Congress who happens to be a Republican, and said, why do I want the federal government involved in our elections? I looked at him, and I was like, "Dude, they wouldn't have wanted you to vote either." That's why we need the federal government involved in our elections, because neither one of us would have the right to vote in this country if it weren't for the federal government. It was kind of shocking that he did not see it through that vein.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed. Listen to the entire conversation here.