Germany gets 1st Black member of state government

BERLIN (AP) — The daughter of two Malian refugees has become the first Black member of a state government in Germany. Aminata Touré was named Wednesday to the Cabinet of Governor Daniel Günther in Germany’s state of Schleswig-Holstein. The 29-year-old member of the environmentalist Green party will oversee the Social Affairs Ministry in the coalition government led by Günther, a Christian Democrat. Touré became a state lawmaker in 2017. Two years later she was elected deputy speaker, the first Black person to hold such a position in any of Germany’s 16 states. Touré said in 2019 that she was inspired to run for office by Barack Obama’s successful U.S. presidential campaign. Germany has never had a Black minister in the federal government.