Black women in American politics

[6][7][8] The most widely-circulated version of her speech, titled "Ain't I a Woman," and was transcribed by Frances Dana Barker Gage, a feminist writer and attendee of the convention.

[9] This version contained stereotypical speech of Southern Slaves, though Truth was from New York and Jersey Dutch was her first language, and other details that are suspected to be highly exaggerated.

[citation needed] Shortly after being elected, Braun took a one-woman stand against the United Daughters of the Confederacy's renewal of patent for the Confederate flag as their insignia.

[53] On October 1, 2023, labor union official Laphonza Butler was chosen to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Dianne Feinstein's death.

Patricia Roberts Harris was the first Black woman to serve in the Cabinet; she was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter.

Lynch succeeded Eric Holder and had previously served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York under both Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Rice served as National Security Advisor in the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017, and helped with U.S. efforts on the Iran nuclear deal of 2015 and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

[70] Democratic Congresswoman Marcia Fudge was selected by President Joe Biden to serve as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the first Black woman since Patricia Roberts Harris.

[71] Fudge initially lobbied for agriculture secretary, noting her legislative background in food and nutrition programs would make her a "natural fit."

[90][91][92] The claim that Vice President Harris was not born in the United States, therefore not a natural citizen, was made by far-right conspiracy theorist, fraudster, and internet troll[104] Jacob Wohl on January 22, 2019 on Twitter.

[106] Numerous fact-check articles evaluated the claim as false and stated that Harris was a natural-born citizen as required by the Constitution in order for her to serve.

[110] After receiving a strong backlash to the article, Newsweek added a preceding editor's note and published an opposing argument, authored by Eugene Volokh, a legal scholar at the UCLA School of Law.

The op-ed was never intended to spark or to take part in the racist lie of Birtherism, the conspiracy theory aimed at delegitimizing Barack Obama, but we should have recognized the potential, even probability, that that could happen.

[124][125] Goldie Taylor, a commentator for the news site The Grio, characterized the demand that Obama provide his birth certificate as an equivalent of making him "show his papers", as Black people were once required to do under Jim Crow laws.

[126] Taylor also commented on the renewed birtherism targeted against Harris:Today, black women are the dominant force—if not the deciding factor—in national Democratic politics.

In an article published by Reuters, the matter was addressed through fact check on August 21, 2020:Throughout her political career, the media has used many terms, including Black, South Asian, and African American, to describe Harris.

[128]Reuters also fact-checked rumors circulating on Facebook that an image of Harris's birth certificate identified her as "Caucasian", which was ruled as false by the news agency.

[133] Constituents began protest in support of Cannon[134] and her arrest was cited by some media outlets to be unconstitutional based on the Georgian state constitution.

[135] The state constitution reads that legislators are “free from arrest during sessions of the General Assembly” except for charges of treason, felonies or breach of the peace.

I’d love to say I’m the last, but we know that isn’t true.”[136] Senator Raphael Warnock visited Cannon's home and commented on the incident, “We are witnessing right now, a kind of wrestling in the soul of Georgia.

[133][138] Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, declined to prosecute Cannon, stating:[139]While some of Representative Cannon’s colleagues and the police officers involved may have found her behavior annoying, such sentiment does not justify a presentment to a grand jury of the allegations in the arrest warrants or any other felony charges.The arresting officer stated that he was concerned about an insurrection similar to the one on January 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol and felt that if he hadn't taken action, “other protesters would have been emboldened to commit similar acts.”[139] A number of organizations supporting Black women have historically played an important role in politics.

[146] In 2014, political activist and women's rights leader Leslie Wimes founded the Democratic African-American Woman's Caucus (DAAWC) in Florida.

[150] Assata's Daughters has worked to speak out against police militarization, immigrant deportation, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and President Donald Trump.

[158][159] Height started working as a caseworker with the New York City Welfare Department, and at the age of 25, she began a career as a civil rights activist and joined the National Council of Negro Women.

During the Civil Rights Movement, Height organized "Wednesdays in Mississippi,"[160] which brought together both Black and white women from the North and South to create a dialogue of understanding.

Teaching reading literacy helped countless Black southerners push for the right to vote and developed future leaders across the country.

[171] It wasn't until October 2017 during the midst of widespread exposure of accusations of predatory behavior by Harvey Weinstein, that awareness rose after actress Alyssa Milano encouraged the use of the phrase as a hashtag.

[172] The day after Milano tweeted the hashtag, she wrote: "I was just made aware of an earlier #MeToo movement, and the origin story is equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring", crediting and linking to Burke.

[177][178] The movement began with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media platform Twitter after frustration over George Zimmerman's acquittal in the shooting of 17-year-old African-American Trayvon Martin in 2013.

[180] In particular, the movement was borne and Garza's post became popularized after protests emerged in Ferguson, Missouri, where an unarmed Black teenager was shot and killed by a white police officer.