I can remember when I knew that I wanted
to be involved in politics it was my
first job as a community organizer and
the organization that I was working for
sent us up to Tallahassee to lobby on
local legislators our ask was simple
increase the amount of healthy food and
predominantly communities of color by
insuring folks can get fresh produce and
fresh meat for more grocery stores while
I was up in Tallahassee I was keenly
aware of the lack of diversity in the
halls of our Capitol it felt like a few
chocolate chips in a mostly vanilla
cookie and what could possibly go wrong
with that recipe I watched as laws were
being passed and stalled and most laws
were failed including our healthy food
bill and I saw just how easy it was to
make laws that can subjugate certain
sets of people but that’s what happens
when we allow a very specific small
group of people to make laws for
millions of people that don’t look love
believe or behave anything like them so
the answer to me was clear I needed to
invest in way more business casual and
get more black women up to the Capitol
so why black women well obviously my
phenotype is black and woman at the same
time and I know that since we’ve been
given the right to vote and especially
when we could vote more freely in this
country we’ve consistently showed up as
the most progressive voting people we’re
the most reliable voters and we vote at
the highest rate of any demographic
group in this country but the power that
we need and the power that we’re seeking
is not just at the polls or supporting
these progressive candidates they really
don’t care about the very specific needs
of black women needs that include
disproportionate maternal mortality a
housing crisis inequity and pay and
wealth and yet in still the most
educated group of people in this country
I knew that we needed something
different we needed some type of change
even though we’ve existed through
thousands of iterations of good ol boys
and we still find ourselves lagging
behind as black women but the power that
we need the power that will Garen
see more equity for more people lies in
the hands of black women and girls so we
should probably let more black women and
girls lead I want to talk about miss
peaches miss peaches is a local
community hero she’s lived in this
community for all of her life and
generations before her have lived here
through racial violence through
integration and so much more and miss
peaches is not wavering in her
commitment to this community made the
brave choice to run for office as a city
commissioner
while at the same time living in public
housing raising her children and
managing her nonprofit where she mentors
hundreds of youth imagine having the
expertise the vision the boldness to run
for office and not enough money to
compete with the other candidates
imagine being qualified and not having
enough yard signs to win imagine having
the history and knowing the ins and outs
of your community and still being denied
access to the political power that’s
what it is to be a black woman in
politics we have the vision the history
the qualifications the expertise and no
access but it’s not just about money
it’s a flooded field of candidates it’s
constantly working twice as hard to make
it half as far in a race it’s the
patriarchy the fact that people and jobs
that are seen as remotely feminine are
pushed to the outskirts in this society
because we’re emotional and we shouldn’t
be trusted with power but I dare you to
find more emotional group of people than
a room full of white representatives
that would try to control what would
happen in my womb and failed but this
talk is about black woman’s power and is
a power not just to enter the voting
booth and cast a ballot although we
should never underestimate the power of
our ballet especially given here in the
state of Florida where millions of
people are disenfranchised the power we
need is the power of being in close
proximity to decision-makers in close
proximity to our state Congress in close
proximity to our city and County
Commissioners in close proximity to
school boards hell we even need
power in our homeowners association in
PTAs according to the Chism effect black
women in American politics 2018 written
by the higher heights leadership fund
despite being 7.3 percent of the
population in the u.s. black women make
up 3.7 percent of the 7,000 383 state
legislators that’s three point seven
percent of seven thousand three hundred
and eighty-three state legislators no
black woman has ever been elected
governor in this country and in Florida
there are only nine black women
legislators in a legislature of a
hundred and sixty people in some states
like Alaska Hawaii Montana North and
South Dakota Nebraska and Hawaii there
are absolutely no black women
represented in their state legislatures
and it’s not because there’s no black
women living in those days despite where
people may think and who knows the needs
of black women all across this country
better than a congress full of white men
lots of things aren’t adding up for
black women and every day they try to
keep us from the decision-making table
but like shirley Chisholm said if they
don’t give you a seat at the table bring
a folding chair black women exist
precariously at the intersections of
racism and sexism and because of that
there have been and are currently so
many barriers to entry into the
political process where normally the
rich the white and the men can enter and
win public financing laws in this
country allow for an almost infinite
amount of money to be given to some
candidates by rich people which shuts
out poor people the lack of concern in
regard for reproductive justice ensures
that mothers or parents with children
would not be able to enter a race raise
their children
balance their home and family life and
still win an election very easily and
the abysmal salary of some local
political offices ensures that people
that I know would not be able to survive
and be in office and to be clear I’m
well aware that political power is not
the end-all be-all for black women
fannie lou hamer
the founder of the Mississippi freedom
Democratic Party and challenge of the
all-white Mississippi Democratic
delegation said while politics will not
cure all of our ills it is the first
step towards erecting a representative
and responsive government that will deal
with the basic needs so let’s dig a
little bit deeper should the question be
why are black women not running for
political office or should we be asking
ourselves why are black women constantly
denied access to power in the halls of
government why are we seldom seen there
do most black women know what it even
takes to run a campaign how can we
possibly contend with white generational
influence lightness peaches can we
afford to run for office but can we
afford not to
what I do know very clearly is we cannot
keep electing and reelecting the same
politicians that have no proximity to
our issues while they’re simultaneously
creating a political system that will
constantly keep black women and other
people outside of the arena Keylong
Bishop president of a local political
club and a black woman said we aren’t
considered universally strong candidates
especially here in South Florida
we’re relegated to certain neighborhoods
districts municipalities basically
wherever black people live is where we
as black women are expected to run and
as black women we also have very little
room for imperfection in these spaces
we’re not privileged to commit any
little impropriety or without risking
our seat at the table politics is the
game of access and resources we need to
establish what we want when we want it
and hold people to that she went on to
say that most black women do to
lived-experience
can and should be the moral compass in a
moral void we can and should raise the
black girls of today to be the free
black women of tomorrow unapologetically
leveraging our political
power to improve our condition and the
condition of others black women have
been beaten and cast out and killed for
our right to vote in this country and
yet we’re still fighting through every
glass ceiling we’re demanding to have
our stories heard and represented we
built this and folks still refuse to
follow our leadership the labor of black
women like Fannie Lou Hamer with the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 not only
secured the right to vote for black
women but indicative of so much of the
work of black women throughout history
when we win everybody wins
there have been blogs and think pieces
books and report that had been written
recently about black women in their
political power
Kristen Clark contributor to the black
womens roundtable 2018 report so
pointedly say black women continued to
shape democracy today and history has
proven that through our engagement at
all levels of civic engagement social
justice spiritual practice reproductive
justice and more we shift this country’s
moral compass towards more equity and
justice for more people from
emancipation and abolition anti lynching
radical journalism civil rights black
power black lives matter again brick by
brick family by family community by
community we built this and you think by
now they would have understood that
black women on the starting lineup are a
key to a winning season yet here we are
so what should you do now or when you
leave this place feeling all inspired
you should research black women
candidates and understand who’s going to
be on your ballot in August and November
you should understand their politics
reach out to them and talk to them make
them a visible and viable part of your
electoral conversations talk to your
friends about them support their
campaigns by phone banking canvassing
and giving money when you can from your
places of privilege make sure you are
elevating and supporting the black women
around you and if there are any black
women around you that have any type of
political inclination support them work
on their campaigns
you should not do is tell them to wait
behind a long list of rich or Wyatt or
men candidates what you should not do is
immediately count them out of any
political race make a decision today to
resign from the old ways of thinking and
support the folks that have constantly
held this country together black women
and to my fellow black women sometimes
we’re all we got so we need to keep
showing up and supporting each other and
making ourselves a political force to be
reckoned with folks like Miss peaches
and other resilient black women deserve
to represent their communities and this
country and political parties that are
just and fair and conscientious to the
specific needs of black women we are
making gains and miss peaches will win
her seed like she told me I promise that
I won’t give up but how long are we
going to force her to fight and I’m
hopeful for the trajectory of black
women because here in Florida we have
some really awesome black women
representatives that have chosen to
stand unapologetically with other black
women at the inaugural black girls day
at the Capitol representative Patricia
Williams said enough is enough we’ve
been misled mistreated and misunderstood
but I stand tall because I stand on the
ancestors that came before me and I’m
hoping that I’m paving the way so that
you can have the opportunity to walk the
floors of the Capitol representative
Kamiya Brown said as I stand before you
today as a black girl in the Florida
Legislature I feel that we as black
women have a duty to make sure our
voices are heard we have proven that our
voices matter and our vote as well since
we’ve been the deciding population and
several elections she said our political
influence continues to grow however our
needs continue to be ignored it is
important for us to have representation
in this legislative body and lawmaking
process because we are
disproportionately affected by some of
America’s most systemic crises it’s one
thing for them to acknowledge
and women as the wheels of our political
movement but it’s another thing when we
put each other in the driver’s seat
so let’s take control of the wheel and
start driving
finally the Combahee River collective
and black women before and after said if
black women were free it would mean that
everyone else would have to be free
since our freedom would necessitate the
destruction of all systems of oppression
and I would add that when black trans
women are free we will all feel freedom
the freedom to vote the freedom to move
to love to raise and not raise children
and the freedom to represent and make
decisions in the highest offices of this
land in our hands and our unfettered
unshackled vote is freedom so you may
try to deny us seats at the table but
don’t worry we brought our own chairs thank you
to be involved in politics it was my
first job as a community organizer and
the organization that I was working for
sent us up to Tallahassee to lobby on
local legislators our ask was simple
increase the amount of healthy food and
predominantly communities of color by
insuring folks can get fresh produce and
fresh meat for more grocery stores while
I was up in Tallahassee I was keenly
aware of the lack of diversity in the
halls of our Capitol it felt like a few
chocolate chips in a mostly vanilla
cookie and what could possibly go wrong
with that recipe I watched as laws were
being passed and stalled and most laws
were failed including our healthy food
bill and I saw just how easy it was to
make laws that can subjugate certain
sets of people but that’s what happens
when we allow a very specific small
group of people to make laws for
millions of people that don’t look love
believe or behave anything like them so
the answer to me was clear I needed to
invest in way more business casual and
get more black women up to the Capitol
so why black women well obviously my
phenotype is black and woman at the same
time and I know that since we’ve been
given the right to vote and especially
when we could vote more freely in this
country we’ve consistently showed up as
the most progressive voting people we’re
the most reliable voters and we vote at
the highest rate of any demographic
group in this country but the power that
we need and the power that we’re seeking
is not just at the polls or supporting
these progressive candidates they really
don’t care about the very specific needs
of black women needs that include
disproportionate maternal mortality a
housing crisis inequity and pay and
wealth and yet in still the most
educated group of people in this country
I knew that we needed something
different we needed some type of change
even though we’ve existed through
thousands of iterations of good ol boys
and we still find ourselves lagging
behind as black women but the power that
we need the power that will Garen
see more equity for more people lies in
the hands of black women and girls so we
should probably let more black women and
girls lead I want to talk about miss
peaches miss peaches is a local
community hero she’s lived in this
community for all of her life and
generations before her have lived here
through racial violence through
integration and so much more and miss
peaches is not wavering in her
commitment to this community made the
brave choice to run for office as a city
commissioner
while at the same time living in public
housing raising her children and
managing her nonprofit where she mentors
hundreds of youth imagine having the
expertise the vision the boldness to run
for office and not enough money to
compete with the other candidates
imagine being qualified and not having
enough yard signs to win imagine having
the history and knowing the ins and outs
of your community and still being denied
access to the political power that’s
what it is to be a black woman in
politics we have the vision the history
the qualifications the expertise and no
access but it’s not just about money
it’s a flooded field of candidates it’s
constantly working twice as hard to make
it half as far in a race it’s the
patriarchy the fact that people and jobs
that are seen as remotely feminine are
pushed to the outskirts in this society
because we’re emotional and we shouldn’t
be trusted with power but I dare you to
find more emotional group of people than
a room full of white representatives
that would try to control what would
happen in my womb and failed but this
talk is about black woman’s power and is
a power not just to enter the voting
booth and cast a ballot although we
should never underestimate the power of
our ballet especially given here in the
state of Florida where millions of
people are disenfranchised the power we
need is the power of being in close
proximity to decision-makers in close
proximity to our state Congress in close
proximity to our city and County
Commissioners in close proximity to
school boards hell we even need
power in our homeowners association in
PTAs according to the Chism effect black
women in American politics 2018 written
by the higher heights leadership fund
despite being 7.3 percent of the
population in the u.s. black women make
up 3.7 percent of the 7,000 383 state
legislators that’s three point seven
percent of seven thousand three hundred
and eighty-three state legislators no
black woman has ever been elected
governor in this country and in Florida
there are only nine black women
legislators in a legislature of a
hundred and sixty people in some states
like Alaska Hawaii Montana North and
South Dakota Nebraska and Hawaii there
are absolutely no black women
represented in their state legislatures
and it’s not because there’s no black
women living in those days despite where
people may think and who knows the needs
of black women all across this country
better than a congress full of white men
lots of things aren’t adding up for
black women and every day they try to
keep us from the decision-making table
but like shirley Chisholm said if they
don’t give you a seat at the table bring
a folding chair black women exist
precariously at the intersections of
racism and sexism and because of that
there have been and are currently so
many barriers to entry into the
political process where normally the
rich the white and the men can enter and
win public financing laws in this
country allow for an almost infinite
amount of money to be given to some
candidates by rich people which shuts
out poor people the lack of concern in
regard for reproductive justice ensures
that mothers or parents with children
would not be able to enter a race raise
their children
balance their home and family life and
still win an election very easily and
the abysmal salary of some local
political offices ensures that people
that I know would not be able to survive
and be in office and to be clear I’m
well aware that political power is not
the end-all be-all for black women
fannie lou hamer
the founder of the Mississippi freedom
Democratic Party and challenge of the
all-white Mississippi Democratic
delegation said while politics will not
cure all of our ills it is the first
step towards erecting a representative
and responsive government that will deal
with the basic needs so let’s dig a
little bit deeper should the question be
why are black women not running for
political office or should we be asking
ourselves why are black women constantly
denied access to power in the halls of
government why are we seldom seen there
do most black women know what it even
takes to run a campaign how can we
possibly contend with white generational
influence lightness peaches can we
afford to run for office but can we
afford not to
what I do know very clearly is we cannot
keep electing and reelecting the same
politicians that have no proximity to
our issues while they’re simultaneously
creating a political system that will
constantly keep black women and other
people outside of the arena Keylong
Bishop president of a local political
club and a black woman said we aren’t
considered universally strong candidates
especially here in South Florida
we’re relegated to certain neighborhoods
districts municipalities basically
wherever black people live is where we
as black women are expected to run and
as black women we also have very little
room for imperfection in these spaces
we’re not privileged to commit any
little impropriety or without risking
our seat at the table politics is the
game of access and resources we need to
establish what we want when we want it
and hold people to that she went on to
say that most black women do to
lived-experience
can and should be the moral compass in a
moral void we can and should raise the
black girls of today to be the free
black women of tomorrow unapologetically
leveraging our political
power to improve our condition and the
condition of others black women have
been beaten and cast out and killed for
our right to vote in this country and
yet we’re still fighting through every
glass ceiling we’re demanding to have
our stories heard and represented we
built this and folks still refuse to
follow our leadership the labor of black
women like Fannie Lou Hamer with the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 not only
secured the right to vote for black
women but indicative of so much of the
work of black women throughout history
when we win everybody wins
there have been blogs and think pieces
books and report that had been written
recently about black women in their
political power
Kristen Clark contributor to the black
womens roundtable 2018 report so
pointedly say black women continued to
shape democracy today and history has
proven that through our engagement at
all levels of civic engagement social
justice spiritual practice reproductive
justice and more we shift this country’s
moral compass towards more equity and
justice for more people from
emancipation and abolition anti lynching
radical journalism civil rights black
power black lives matter again brick by
brick family by family community by
community we built this and you think by
now they would have understood that
black women on the starting lineup are a
key to a winning season yet here we are
so what should you do now or when you
leave this place feeling all inspired
you should research black women
candidates and understand who’s going to
be on your ballot in August and November
you should understand their politics
reach out to them and talk to them make
them a visible and viable part of your
electoral conversations talk to your
friends about them support their
campaigns by phone banking canvassing
and giving money when you can from your
places of privilege make sure you are
elevating and supporting the black women
around you and if there are any black
women around you that have any type of
political inclination support them work
on their campaigns
you should not do is tell them to wait
behind a long list of rich or Wyatt or
men candidates what you should not do is
immediately count them out of any
political race make a decision today to
resign from the old ways of thinking and
support the folks that have constantly
held this country together black women
and to my fellow black women sometimes
we’re all we got so we need to keep
showing up and supporting each other and
making ourselves a political force to be
reckoned with folks like Miss peaches
and other resilient black women deserve
to represent their communities and this
country and political parties that are
just and fair and conscientious to the
specific needs of black women we are
making gains and miss peaches will win
her seed like she told me I promise that
I won’t give up but how long are we
going to force her to fight and I’m
hopeful for the trajectory of black
women because here in Florida we have
some really awesome black women
representatives that have chosen to
stand unapologetically with other black
women at the inaugural black girls day
at the Capitol representative Patricia
Williams said enough is enough we’ve
been misled mistreated and misunderstood
but I stand tall because I stand on the
ancestors that came before me and I’m
hoping that I’m paving the way so that
you can have the opportunity to walk the
floors of the Capitol representative
Kamiya Brown said as I stand before you
today as a black girl in the Florida
Legislature I feel that we as black
women have a duty to make sure our
voices are heard we have proven that our
voices matter and our vote as well since
we’ve been the deciding population and
several elections she said our political
influence continues to grow however our
needs continue to be ignored it is
important for us to have representation
in this legislative body and lawmaking
process because we are
disproportionately affected by some of
America’s most systemic crises it’s one
thing for them to acknowledge
and women as the wheels of our political
movement but it’s another thing when we
put each other in the driver’s seat
so let’s take control of the wheel and
start driving
finally the Combahee River collective
and black women before and after said if
black women were free it would mean that
everyone else would have to be free
since our freedom would necessitate the
destruction of all systems of oppression
and I would add that when black trans
women are free we will all feel freedom
the freedom to vote the freedom to move
to love to raise and not raise children
and the freedom to represent and make
decisions in the highest offices of this
land in our hands and our unfettered
unshackled vote is freedom so you may
try to deny us seats at the table but
don’t worry we brought our own chairs thank you
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