SRP Unerased joins the chorus singing praises to the power, imagination and vision of Black women. Our contributions in 2020 shall continue to be a marker in the unbroken march to equity. This Down Ballot Downlow is our toast to Black women making political change.
BRINGING THE HOUSE HOME
The largest class of Black women in our nation’s history will call the 117th Congress home. Joining the ranks will be Marilyn Strickland (D-WA 10), the first Black woman to win a seat in Congress from Washington State, and Cori Bush (D-MO 1), a Black Lives Matter activist who is the first Black woman chosen to represent Missouri. Nikema Williams (D-GA 5) won the seat held by civil rights icon John Lewis, and Michele Rayner-Goolsby (D-FL 70) is the first openly queer Black woman to be elected to any seat in the state of Florida. Their elevation will boost the ranks of Black women in Congress to 26.
RAISING THE STATES
Mauree Turner is the first non-binary person and the first Muslim to win election to the Oklahoma legislature. Kim Jackson won her race to become Georgia’s first-ever openly LGBTQ State Senator.
SEX AND THE CITIES: Sisters-In-Law
Kim Gardner and Kim Foxx made history once when elected as the first Black women prosecutors in St. Louis, Missouri, and Cook County, Illinois.
The pair triumphed again on Election Night 2020 despite having to navigate a rocky political terrain. Gardner roused President Trump’s ire when she filed charges against a white St. Louis couple who pointed guns at Black Lives protesters. And Foxx’s critique of abusive policing in Chicago’s Black community has led political opponents to brand her as ‘soft on crime.’
Madam Mayor
The ranks of Black women mayors swelled when voters chose Beverly H. Burks and Michelle Davis-Younger to lead the cities of Clarkston, Georgia and Manassas, Virginia.
This brings the number to 26 of Black women city chief executives across the nation.
Cori Bush will be the first Black woman to represent Missouri in the United States Congress.
Mauree Turner is the first Muslim to win election to the Oklahoma State Legislature, and first non-binary state legislator is U.S. history.
Kim Foxx rose to electoral victory despite opponents accusing her of being soft on crime for daring to police Black people fairly. Kim Gardner triumphed in St. Louis even after filing charges against the white couple that threatened the lives of Black protestors.
Hear more about Black women’s political power on our podcast episode “Likable Enough.”
