'If not now, when?': Black women seize political spotlight

But now she had been elected the only Black woman on the Cobb County School Board, gaining office in a once conservative suburban community where people who look like her rarely held positions of power.Something had changed in this place, and something had changed in her.“I love your hair — your hair looks like my hair,” the girl squealed, calling friends over. Over the last several years and across America, Black women ran and won elections in historic numbers, from Congress to county school boards. In that election, more than 51,000 Black women in Cobb County cast ballots — 20,000 more than voted in midterm elections four year earlier. Organizations sprang up across the country to motivate Black women to organize, run and win.“We have never been at this moment,” said Aimee Allison, who in 2018 founded the network She the People, which is working to turn out a million women of color across seven battleground states. Biden has pledged to pick a woman as his running mate, and at least six of the contenders are Black — including California Rep. Karen Bass, who said, “I think what we’re looking for is representation, acknowledgement, inclusion.”Those who advocate for Black women in politics say the stakes have never been higher.They emphasize that Trump’s administration has failed to contain the coronavirus that has killed more than 154,000 Americans, a disproportionate share of them African Americans. He has responded to mass demonstrations over police violence by calling protesters thugs and encouraging law enforcement to beat them back with force.“Given how directly Black women have been impacted by the incompetence and the malfeasance of the Trump administration, Black women are going to be at the forefront, not only giving rise to voter turnout, but also shaping the conversations that we will be having in this election season,” said Abrams, whose name has also been widely circulated as a possible Biden running mate. Now she’s the president of Cobb Democratic Women and leading the charge to try to turn the county totally blue.“It’s all about knowing your worth,” she said. In Cobb County, Kellie Hill made history in June as one of two Black women elected to the Superior Court bench. “Black women have done everything that America told us was going to make us successful and we’re still at the bottom in terms of our return,” said LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. Then why does the wealth not reflect that?”As a result, said Bev Jackson, chair of the Democratic Party’s Cobb County African American caucus, Black women have a special resiliency: They have no safety net, so Black women just learn to walk the tightrope better.Jackson thought about how much she wished her parents had lived to see a Black woman come so close to the Governor’s Mansion. She grew her hair out again.Charisse Davis said that it is these young women who give her hope for a better day: They are idealistic, coming of age in a time when Black women are rising, and they can look around, see people like themselves and believe anything is possible.She knows an 18-year-old named Audrey McNeal.