Abrams, who announced his candidacy Wednesday on Twitter, easily the highest-ranking Black female political leader in the country currently not holding an elected office. Abrams’ excellence as a service-oriented leader, former elected official, and voting rights advocate ranks her among a long line of black women’s activists and organizations that have seek to reimagine American democracy.
While she may not become the first black woman governor in America, as a public figure and candidate, Abrams embodies a long tradition of radical democratic political activism. of black women. It is something that has the potential to disrupt the centuries-old structure of exclusion and violence that has not only marginalized Black women and the Black community, but also stifled American democratic progress. Ky.
Since losing a close combat In the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race by a 1.4 percentage point margin for Republican Brian Kemp, Abrams has emerged as America’s most prominent voting rights organizer and activist. The words in her announcement say a lot about her experience in 2018 against the opponent’s efforts to prevent tens of thousands of Georgians, disproportionately African Americans, from voting. She tweeted that she’s running now “because opportunity in our state shouldn’t be determined by zip code, background, or access to power.”
Abrams’ rising national star found her running to be Biden’s runner-up for vice president, a position that eventually went to then-U.S. Senator Kamala Harris politically. more valuable from California. A former Georgia State legislator with diploma in law and public policy from Yale and the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs, Abrams was a tireless political organizer, one with an eye for the talent of a jeweler.
Abrams’ work puts her in a historic community with the bold work of black women’s activists, freedom fighters and elected officials that came before her. 19th-century black women, including Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Mary Church Terrell, fought racism, sexism, and white supremacy for decades to ensure civil rights and dignity for African Americans. They helped model ways to resist inter-party oppression (by race, gender, and class) and became the role model of a powerful feminist call to expand the nation’s democratic imagination to recognize and amplify the leadership role of Black women. Terrell and Harper organized civil rights organizations, clubs and networks that focused Black women’s political voices, strategic innovations, and understanding of democracy as an integral part of achieving freedom for the Black community and the nation at large.
Black women’s support for a truly inclusive democracy also resonates deeply in our time. The political and racial reckoning in 2020 heralds a long-awaited national and global recognition of Black women’s organization. From the basis of the moral and political crusade triggered by Black feminist leader was behind the Black Living Matters Movement to the organization of Abrams’ election and the election of the first Black woman vice president.
Abrams’ organization and the votes of millions of black women across the country helped secure numerous 2020 political victories for Democrats, yielding important dividends. Power-backed Democrats allowed the passage of a pandemic bill focusing on racial equity and an infrastructure package recently, the largest investment of its kind made in generations. . The bill includes $65 billion that aims to reverse racial disparities in decades of infrastructure spending, although how the rest of the money is spent depends largely on individual states. While these legislative and policy victories are still underway, they would not have been possible without grassroots Black women’s organization, service-oriented leadership in the the arenas of elections, nonprofits, religion, business, and the public sector, and their inspiring belief that America’s best days lie ahead if we are brave enough to put people first. punishment.
In Congress, the voices of progressive black women, such as Reps. Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts and Cori Bush of Missouri promoted the Democratic Party to the championship bold, creative and consists of policies on a scale appropriate to the enormous challenges of the present time. This past summer, Congressman Bush put enough pressure on House Speakers Nancy Pelosi and Biden to get the president to sign a bill. 60-day ban on deportation, an issue that has aided countless low-income communities facing housing insecurity amid the pandemic and its various relapses.
There is much more work to be done. Whether or not she’s elected in Georgia next year, Abrams is uniquely positioned to drive the progress we need.
Abrams faces severe political turbulence, especially thanks to GOP .’s Voter Suppression Efforts and so far, the Democrats’ failure to pass a vote on the right to vote before the midterms next year. Historically, the party in power has suffered significant losses in midterm elections, a byproduct of historical trends that have dampened voter enthusiasm for incumbents and energy. recreated by voters supporting the party that lost power. The inability of Democrats to pass voting protections, especially for a trending blue state like Georgia, makes it difficult for Abrams to make history by being the first black woman. first elected governor. When.
However, it is also a time of promise and generational opportunities. Abrams’ willingness to participate in democracy-building is an important example for future leaders, especially young black girls and women, who often witness a Politics devalue everything, but sometimes, their vote. An Abrams victory in Georgia, the state where the Ku Klux Klan was held is alive again 1915, would reflect a startling New South, more than a century and a half in the making, plagued by racial violence and terror after the Civil War, but no longer in denial.
Georgia is also the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights leader known for his vision of making America a “”Dear community“free from racial oppression, economic injustice, and violence that still call us today. In fact, Warnock, who became the first black senator elected from the Peach State, presiding over King’s old podium at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Abrams’ endorsement Warnock’s proved vital with his victory over Republican Kelly Loeffler, a victory that had the stratifying effect of the huge black voters that helped propel Ossoff to the top. .
Abrams reminds us that, in the words of prison abolitionist Mariame Kaba, “Hope is a discipline. “It’s the kind of discipline that illuminates a potential path beyond the Big Lie of the stolen 2020 presidential election, the theoretical law against bad and toxic racial criticism, and a political of fear to strengthen our divisions.
Her example informs even as it inspires. Abrams’ commitment to a vision of American democracy broad enough to see a progressive black woman lead the state of Georgia was a fiery call for civic engagement, democratic Strong ownership and equal citizenship will serve as a role model for a new generation of public servants.
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