Election 2024: The Silver Lining
Hey Sis (& the Brothers who love us)!
Whewwwww OK, now that we’ve paused to hydrate and breathe a little bit …
Back to this election news.
For your analytical pleasure, Black Women Unmuted convened a trio of sister experts to talk about the election, its disappointments and its silver linings. Our panelists were Wesleyan University professor Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean, Higher Heights for America President Glynda Carr and veteran political strategist Stephanie J. Jones. They explained just how fed-up Black women are feeling post-election, and addressed the question that is on many of our minds:
Are Black women “done” trying to save democracy?
The answer is yes, and of course not.
If you want to know why, if you’re in the mood for candid, illuminating political analysis, if you’re tuning out the navel-gazing on mainstream media, or if you simply prefer getting your sista-friendly political news from us, you want to watch the video above. So grab your popcorn and take in what these ladies have to say.
Janelle Bynum Makes History in Oregon
What a difference six years have made for Janelle Bynum.
In 2018, somebody called the cops on Bynum as she canvassed door-to-door asking her constituents to support her bid for a second term in Oregon’s House of Representatives. She handled that situation with finesse, extending grace to the person who made the call to get an understanding of why, then continued to serve state House District 51 for the next five years.
Today Bynum is the first Black person elected to Congress from Oregon.
She defeated first-term Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the Nov. 5 election, taking back a seat that had long been held by Democrats. “Today, we chart a new path forward for Oregon,” Bynum told a post-election news conference last week while claiming victory as “the first, but not the last, Black member of Congress from Oregon. I’m proud to be a groundbreaker.”
Rep. Erica Lee Carter Succeeds Late Mom Sheila Jackson Lee
Erica Lee Carter recently took the oath of office to represent Texas for the remainder of the current 118th Congress, filling the unexpired term of her late mother, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.
Rep. Lee Carter, a Democrat, won a Nov. 5 special election to succeed her mother, who had represented Texas’ 18th Congressional District from 1995 until her death this past July. She will serve until the new Congress convenes Jan. 3, 2025. Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, also a Democrat, was elected to the seat in the Nov. 5 general election.
Siela Bynoe Wins NY Senate Seat; First Black Woman Senator From Long Island
Democrat Siela Bynoe won New York’s 6th Senate District race in the Nov. 5 election, became the first Black woman to represent Long Island in the state Senate. Bynoe, a Nassau County Assemblywoman, defeated Republican attorney Thomas Philip Montefinise with 55% of the vote. Her victory helped Democrats to preserve majority control over the legislature’s upper chamber.
Bynoe, of Westbury, was first elected to the legislature in 2014 and is now in her fifth term.
Sister Senators Screenshot (Say That 3 Times Fast)!
On Nov. 10, our sister friends at Win With Black Women gathered on Zoom to mull the outcome of the election five days earlier — and to celebrate a truly historic achievement.
That session brought together (for what very well might have been the first time since the election) three Black women U.S. senators — one currently serving and two who take office in January.
WWBW Founder Jotaka Eaddy declared the moment historic and encouraged the audience of roughly 10,000 to grab screenshots of Sen. Laphonza Butler with incoming senators Angela Alsobrooks and Lisa Blunt Rochester to share on social media with the hashtag #Victorious. You can see WWBW’s IG post about it here.
CONFESSION: We were in the Zoom room and got our screenshot too. But WWBW’s screenshot looks waaaaay better than ours so we’re sharing it here for those of you who don’t do social media.
Before We Go …
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