Happy Black History Month, everyone! As a young Black woman myself, I’m always finding inspiration from my people – from my family to celebrities to those serving in politics. Their dedication, accomplishments, resilience, and strength despite criticism or unfairness make me realize that nothing is impossible and to keep going even when things get rough.
There is, however, one woman who has inspired me these past few months. She is the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial candidate, political leader, activist, and author Stacey Abrams. Born on December 9, 1973, to Robert and Carolyn Abrams, she grew up with five other siblings in Mississippi before moving to Georgia at a young age. After graduating from Avondale High School in DeKalb County, Georgia – she attended and earned degrees from Spelman, Yale Law School, and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. Several years later, Abrams would then serve as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives for eleven years. For seven of those years – she was the Democrat Minority Leader.
In 2018, she ran in the race for Georgia’s governor. After Abrams secured the nomination from her party, she became the first Black woman in the country to have a major party’s nomination for governor. She ran against the Georgia Secretary of State (at the time) Brian Kemp, in which she lost by 50,000 votes. After several investigations determined Brian Kemp and his administration unfairly affected many Georgia voters – she created Fair Fight Action, an organization that “promotes fair elections in Georgia and around the country, encourages voter participation in elections, and educates voters about elections and their voting rights.” Her most recent accomplishment is being credited with turning the state of Georgia blue during the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, getting two Democrat senators into the 117th Congress, and helping 800,000 people become first-time voters. Because of her hard work and accomplishments, Abrams was recently nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.
Abrams inspires me because even though she suffered defeat, she chose to turn any negative feelings or notions into helping fellow Georgians. From the time she conceded to the 2021 Georgia U.S. Senate races, she came up with plans to make sure no one else would face voter suppression and could exercise their right to vote without any problems. Abrams inspires me with her love for the community. After she lost the 2018 governor’s race, she did not focus on herself. Abrams focused on making her community a better place for everyone, which I think we can learn from her. She also inspires me by standing up for what you believe in and never letting anyone sway you into thinking differently. She has shown this by defending her views in the 2018 election, despite the criticism she received. Lastly, Abrams inspires me by staying true to who you are and focusing on your goals. Even though she was asked several times to run in the most recent Georgia U.S. Senate race and was even offered the chance to be the first female vice president in the country – she refused. She did this because she was determined to focus on her current goal – decreasing voter suppression and making sure elections were fair and square.
Abrams shows us that if we want to make a change, we have to be the change.
References
https://fairfight.com/about-stacey-abrams/
https://fairfight.com/about-fair-fight/
https://staceyabrams.com/meet-stacey/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/us/politics/stacey-abrams-georgia.html
https://www.ajc.com/news/state–regional-govt–politics/voter-purge-begs…
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/22/politics/georgia-governor-race-stacey-abr…