THE POWER OF THE SISTER VOTE!

Hello Ladies (and the men who love us!)

The 2022 midterm election is here! Black women spent this Election Day — and the early voting window before it — going to the polls in big numbers to make our feelings known. Front and center among our priorities: Abortion rights, the balance of power in Congress, and Stacey Abrams’ bid to become governor of Georgia, and the United States’ first Black woman governor.

Black Women Unmuted student reporter Leah Kincaid hit the streets in and around Atlanta up until Election Day to talk to Black women voters, grassroots organizers and activists about this very important election. While we wait for the official election returns to come in, check out what the sisters had to say:

Nse Ufot, former CEO of the New Georgia Voter Project: “Listen, Black people are doing what they’re supposed to do. … We’re going to have to normalize Election Day as just that, Election Day, and not necessarily Results Day. We owe it to ourselves to make sure every vote gets counted, and every voice is heard.”

DeKalb County, Ga. voter Nichole Phillips: “Black Women Lead! We have, on more than one occasion, ‘saved the democracy.’“

Fulton County, Ga. voter Melinda Weekes-Laidlow: “We defied the odds, we saved the democracy, they are looking to us to do it again,”

Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of The Advancement Project: “Black women bring the experience of being Black, being women, being mothers, being involved in their communities,”

Beatrice Polk, a member of political action committee Higher Heights for America: “Currently a woman’s right to choose is most important to me. I feel like (if) men can take away my rights for my body, they will attempt to take away other rights.”

“We are sitting at what we consider the Chisholm effect, “- Glynda C. Carr, President and Co-Founder of Higher Heights for America, describes how Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 historic run for President has impacted the role Black women play in U.S. politics today. Carr describes Higher Heights’ efforts to mobilize Georgia voters this election and support Black women on the ballot.”