black women in politics
-
No, Symone Sanders Won't Shut Up—and She Doesn't Think We Should, Either
Later this summer, Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden will announce his running mate—and it’s widely presumed he will choose one of the many dynamic Black women who have risen to the top of the political sphere (and its adjacent headlines) in recent years. But as anyone watching the Biden camp knows, he already has a…
-
Thanks to Black Women, There's More Political Interest in Fixing Black Maternal Care Than Ever Before
Racial disparities in maternal care have been an issue for decades—and for decades, many politicians were content with ignoring the issue or made decisions that actively exacerbated inequality. But in recent years, there has been a sea change nationwide as more elected officials at every level of government have committed themselves to addressing black maternal…
-
At the 2020 State of the Union Address, Democratic Congresswomen Once Again Made a Statement With Style
As Trump continued his whitewashing of America on Tuesday night’s State of the Union, many of the Democratic women of the House of Representatives (including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi) once again donned white in protest. While many of our most famous congressional faces—including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Frederica Wilson (Fla.),…
-
Media Outlets, Politicians Get Roasted by Twitter for Treatment of Black Women in Parliament: ‘This Is Due to Institutional Racism’
As black folks throughout the world can attest, white people far too often have an extreme degree of difficulty telling us apart. Footage of LeBron James was somehow included in broadcasts covering the death of Kobe Bryant and, not too long ago, both Fox News and CBS were forced to apologize after mistaking the late…
-
A Black Woman President by 2040? Stacey Abrams Says That's Her Plan
For many news cycles now, Stacey Abrams has told us one thing: No, I don’t want the presidency, not now. But that doesn’t mean “not later.” I know, I know. Let Abrams live a non-presidential life! And that’s exactly what she’s been doing, making the 2020 elections the fulcrum of her organizing work to ensure…
-
No More ‘Great White Hopes’: Study Reports Women and Men of Color Are Just as Electable as White Men
It’s a word that trails women and people of color like a stray dog: “electability”—a word that’s become a catch-all code for nebulous concerns that certain candidates just don’t (or can’t) inspire voters to turn out at the polls as much as others. But, as a new study suggests, if those concerns are tethered to…
-
The Democratic Party Does a Lousy Job Protecting Black Women
“Why are you wearing all black?” I asked my friend, noticing her wearing a long sleeve black shirt, black jeans and black sneakers in the 1,000-degree Arizona heat despite being in an air-conditioned convention hall. She leaned over to me and said: “I just want to warn you, we’re about to do some real disruptive…
-
Unita Blackwell, Civil Rights Activist and the 1st Black Woman to Be Elected a Mayor in Mississippi, Dies at 86
Unita Blackwell, a veteran of the civil rights movement and winner of a MacArthur “genius” grant who was the first black woman to be elected a mayor in the state of Mississippi, has died. She was 86. Blackwell’s son confirmed that she died Monday, according to the Associated Press. Blackwell was born in the impoverished…
-
Finding My Voice: With Her New Memoir, Valerie Jarrett Shares the Wisdom of Life's Many Chapters
On a sunny Saturday morning in one of Chicago’s trendiest neighborhoods (Fulton Market in the West Loop), passersby may have assumed the long line of mostly millennial-aged women winding out of one of the area’s newly refurbished warehouses were awaiting entrance to the latest brunch destination—or perhaps a sample sale at an exclusive boutique. But…