Black congresswomen made political history. Democrats need to give them more support

At the beginning of Women’s History Month, Essence ran this story about the five new black Democratic women in Congress, titled “People, Get Ready. Changes Are Coming To Capitol Hill”:

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Happy Women’s History Month! https://t.co/XrbCVM5nLJ

— Jahana Hayes (@RepJahanaHayes) March 1, 2019

With natural twists pulled back into her signature chignon, a chic suit and just enough swagger to show that she means business, Ayanna Pressley cuts an impressive figure as she strides through halls of neoclassical architecture, marble columns and sweeping, ornate ceilings. Pressley, who is married and the mother of a 10-year-old stepdaughter, fits in among the bronze statues and busts of sheroes such as Rosa Parks and Sojourner Truth, which now share space with likenesses of former presidents and leaders. Indeed, when one considers the history of the Capitol building, erected in the 1800’s largely through the labor of enslaved African-Americans, there’s something truly momentous yet completely right about a twenty-first-century Black woman owning her place in these chambers. And she’s not alone.

“Fifty years to the day that Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, five new Black women won seats in the House of Representatives,” notes Glynda Carr, cofounder of Higher Heights for America, which works to elect Black women nationwide. “They’re all the first Black women to serve their respective states’ or congressional districts.”

Representatives Jahana Hayes of Connecticut, Lucy McBath of Georgia, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Pressley of Massachusetts and Lauren Underwood of Illinois were sworn into the 116th Congress on January 3, a day filled with pomp and circumstance, official class photos and plenty of jubilant selfies... The lawmakers are among the so-called blue wave of Democrats elected during a record voter turnout in the November 2018 midterms. The group is also part of a Black wave—sisters who defied the odds to run for office, ultimately disrupting the establishment with their victories.

Today is the last day of this special month, and unless we wake up and smell the coffee, that history may backslide. 

from Daily Kos https://ift.tt/2U9UXlF