Monday, February 22, 2016
Celebrating Black Women in Politics
As Black History Month comes to a
close and election season rages on, we are reminded of a powerful political
force at all levels of local, state and national influence: Black women. Fighting for racial and gender equity, Black
women have maintained the highest rates of voter turnout in the past two
presidential elections. With 74% of
Black women voting in 2012, they voted in higher quantities than any other
group, the next closest being White women at 64%. 2015 marked a record-breaking year for Black
women in politics, who make up 21.4% of female members and 4.1% of all members
in the House of Representatives. While
these numbers clearly have a long way to go in order to accurately reflect the
population, significant gains since 2014 show glimmers of increasing
representation.
2016 is already shaping up to be
another landmark year for women of color in politics. African
American Women for Hillary has been an influential organizing force behind
Hillary Clinton’s campaign for democratic presidential nominee. Additionally, the Black Lives Matter
Movement, founded and headed by Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors,
has helped to shape the conversation around economic inequality, police
brutality, mass incarceration in each presidential candidates’ platform. And many speculate that there is more good
news to come. Loretta Lynch, the first
Black woman appointed to U.S. Attorney General is rumored to be a likely
candidate for the open position on the Supreme Court due to the death of former
Justice Scalia. She would be the first
Black woman ever nominated for the coveted position.
While progress has been made,
Black women are nowhere to be found in the Senate and they make up just 1% of
state elected executive officials. Much
work is to be done. The more that Black
women get elected however, the more likely Black women are to vote and to run
for office. As we enter into Women’s
History month, the MWPC would like to recognize and highlight of the amazing
Black women paving the road to political, social and economic justice for all
disenfranchised groups.
--Kathleen Melendy, MWPC Intern
