Black Women's Politics Research Spotlight
Black women have already and will continue to play critical roles in Election 2024 as candidates, practitioners, activists, and voters. As we anticipate and interpret political events and outcomes in the remaining weeks of this year’s campaigns, it is important to take stock of what we already know about Black women’s political behavior, experiences, and impact in U.S. politics.
Dr. Nadia E. Brown, Professor of Government and Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Georgetown University, identified the need to highlight scholarship on Black women’s politics to inform both the dialogue around and understanding of Black women in the 2024 elections. She invited other scholars working in this area to share brief summaries of and links to their research findings. Those who accepted that invitation are included here.
While not an exhaustive review of all of the important scholarship done on Black women’s politics, the information provided here offers both an important glimpse into the robust research already done on Black women’s politics and key findings that should inform our understanding of current political dynamics.
Introduction
By Nadia E. Brown
Professor of Government and Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Georgetown University
Kamala Harris’ nomination for president of the United States on the Democratic Party ticket represents an historic first. She is the first multi-ethnic Black woman to run as a major party nominee for president in the history of the country. To be sure, other Black women have sought this seat in the past, but Harris is the only candidate with resources and institutional support necessary to achieve this office.
Scholarship on Black women’s politics help to contextualize this historic moment in American history. Dr. Jewel Prestage was the first political scientist to center Black women’s politics as a standalone inquiry in American politics. Her research examined Black women’s role in the political process because at the time of her studies, Black women elected officials were few and far in between. Today, with the rise of Black women political elites and Black women in the mass electorate who are a tour de force in American politics, the work that Dr. Prestage began is more important than ever. Black women are achieving new heights that were previously unimaginable for this group that was previously denied voting rights, access to civic skills, and had limited opportunities to formally challenge oppressive systems that dictated their social, political, and economic livelihoods.
This spotlight on Black women's research in partnership with the Center for American Women and Politics showcases two mutually intertwined and distinguished feats: the rise of Black women as political actors, which has allowed for the proliferation of scholarship on this previously undertheorized group; and second, the growing number of Black women political scientists who are following in Dr. Prestage’s footsteps who are producing knowledge on Black women’s politics.
Brown, Nadia E. 2014. Sisters in the Statehouse: Black Women and Legislative Decision Making. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Brown, Nadia E., & Danielle Casarez Lemi. 2021. Sister Style: The Politics of Appearance for Black Women Political Elites. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Navigate spotlight contributions by research theme using the links below.
- Historical Context of Black Women's Political Participation
- Influence of Race and/or Gender on Public Opinion and Non-Elite Political Behavior
- Race and/or Gender Effects in Evaluating Black Candidates and Officeholders
- Race, Gender, and Intersectional Identities, Representation, and Impact among Black Candidates and Officeholders
- Influence and Impact of Unelected Black Women Political Leaders
Historical Context of Black Women's Political Participation
Sharon D. Wright Austin
Professor, Political Science, University of Florida
In the Say It to My Face: Black Women, Social Justice, and the Presidency manuscript in progress, I explore the experiences of Black women who have either sought to become president or vice president of the United States. Vice President and former U.S. Senator Kamala Harris’ historic 2020 victory as well as her very strong 2024 presidential bid are historic because of the widespread support she is receiving from a broad array of voters. Yet, this has not been the experience of most of the Black female presidential and vice-presidential candidates who ran as independents. Charlotta Bass, an African American journalist and political activist from California, ran for vice president in 1952 with the Progressive Party. In 1968, Charlene Mitchell became the first Black woman to run for president as a member of the Communist Party. Although she only received a little over 1,000 votes, her campaign reinforced the need for a continued commitment to civil rights and fighting poverty. Other independent Black female presidential candidates ran for office in 1976, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016. Black women, like Shirley Chisholm in 1972 and Carol Moseley Braun in 2008, have also previously competed for the Democratic nomination, and Angel Joy Charvis sought the Republican nomination in 1999. In most cases, their candidacies failed because of inabilities to have their names included on ballots, a lack of funds, a lack of positive media attention, and a lack of votes.
More Information
Sharon D. Wright Austin. 2023. Political Black Girl Magic: The Elections and Governance of Black Female Mayors. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Niambi Carter
Associate Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland
The political uses of sexualized, racial violence has been well-documented. I look at the practice of lynching as a form of gendered and racialized violence. I understand lynching as a way to “check” Black masculinity in an attempt to terrorize, and extort Black claims to full citizenship. Likewise, redress of the harm done to Black men are attempts to reinforce the racial status quo rather than upend the racial order. The organizing efforts of Black women, however, are integral to making lynching not just a southern issue but a national issue. This is significant in the 2024 election cycle where political differences between Black men and women have received renewed attention. While these differences are real, it is clear that Black men and women have historically been political allies, even if they are not in lock step on every issue. My research suggests Black men’s needs are not the same as Black women’s. This is particularly true around masculinity and how it is used as a proxy for political standing in American politics. Some Black men do not feel incorporated into the body politic and masculinity becomes a way to access the public sphere. Yet, Black women are integral to any forward movement in the Black community, to include Black men.
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Carter, Niambi M. 2013. "The Curious Case of Judge Aaron: the Race, the Law, and the Protection of White Supremacy." Politics, Groups, and Identities 1(3): 370-379.
Carter, Niambi M. 2012. "Intimacy Without Consent: Lynching as Sexual Violence." Politics & Gender 8(3): 414-421.
Zinga Fraser
Assistant Professor, Africana Studies and Women’s & Gender Studies, and Director, Shirley Chisholm Project, Brooklyn College, CUNY
Since the entrance of Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan along with the first cadre of Black congresswomen in the 1970s, they have been transformative figures – both symbolically and substantively – within American politics. My forthcoming book, Sister Insider/ Sister Outsider: A Comparative Study of Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisholm: Black Women’s Politics in the Post-Civil Rights Era rethinks black political leadership during the Civil Rights, Black Power, and Women’s movements by examining their legislative and political lives. In examining the complex racial and gendered electoral battles in the U.S. North and South during the 1960s and 1970s, Black congresswomen redefined feminism and democracy during the Black Power and Women’s movements through their work within the Congressional Black Caucus and women’s organizations. Unlike their male colleagues, Black congresswomen are the leading force in promoting a Black “feminist” policy agenda that advocates for marginalized communities. Black congresswomen helped to meaningfully shape the Black Power and Women’s movements by focusing on an agenda that did not privilege race or gender but acted upon the intersections of oppressions that spoke to a broad marginalized constituency. Despite the sexism and racism of their times, Chisholm and Jordan were able to create political coalitions that crossed racial, gender, and class lines. Although Jordan and Chisholm have been excluded from much of American and Black intellectual histories, their writings and speeches enumerate the strategic ways they used their political rhetoric to help a nation reimagine an American democracy that is centered around a radical humanism and unwavering ethics.
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Fraser, Zinga A. 2024. Shirley Chisholm: In Her Own Words: Speeches and Writings. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
Fraser, Zinga. A. 2020. “Dreaming of Democracy: Shirley Chisholm's Political Life." In The Right to Be Elected – 100 Years Since Suffrage. Boston Review/MIT Press.
Fraser, Zinga A. 2011. “The Politics of Trauma: The Political Lives of Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisholm.” PHILLIS: The Journal for Research on African American Women 1: 53-62.
Christina M. Greer
Associate Professor, Political Science, Fordham University
From the toils of Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan emerges a twenty-first-century leader, Stacey Abrams. How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams looks at the political machinations and political successes of three Black American women of the U.S. South. The political savvy and strategic organizing acumen of Fannie Lou Hamer in Mississippi and across the South, as well as the rise of Barbara Jordan, the second Black woman elected to the House of Representatives and the first Black woman from the U.S. South to head to Congress. The leadership skills and collective political efforts of these two women paved the way for the emergence of Stacey Abrams, minority leader in the Georgia statehouse, candidate for governor of Georgia in 2018 and 2022, and organizer of an electoral movement that helped deliver the 2020 presidential victory and U.S. Senate majority to the Democratic Party. How to Build a Democracy adds to the existing literature by framing Black women as integral to the expansion of new voters into the Democratic Party, the expansion of American democracy, and the political development of Black people in the U.S. South. It is my hope that this work will inspire future generations of Black female patriots to continue to build upon the structure built by the likes of Fannie Lou Hamer, Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisholm, Ella Baker, Rosa Parks, and so many other Black women in the U.S. South.
More Information
Christina M. Greer. Forthcoming 2024. How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Ange-Marie Hancock
Executive Director, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity and ENGIE-Axium Endowed Professor, Political Science, Ohio State University
A globally recognized scholar of intersectionality theory, I have written numerous articles and three books on the intersections of categories of difference like race, gender, class, sexuality and citizenship and their impact on policy: the award-winning The Politics of Disgust and the Public Identity of the “Welfare Queen,” (2004), Solidarity Politics for Millennials: A Guide to Ending the Oppression Olympics (2011), and Intersectionality: An Intellectual History (2016). Each book has focused on Black women as central subjects and producers of knowledge in policy debates. In 1993, under the mentorship of NBA Hall of Famer Tom “Satch” Sanders, I conducted the original survey research and designed the business model for the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The only women’s professional basketball league to succeed in the United States, the WNBA has been in existence for over 25 years. I also serve as founder (2021) and curator of The Kamala Harris Project, a nonpartisan collective of scholars dedicated to tracking all aspects of the first woman of color vice president in U.S. history.
Evelyn M. Simien
Director, Africana Studies Institute and Professor, Political Science, University of Connecticut
Black women have long challenged the valuation of stereotypically masculine credentials for officeholding with values-laden appeals since Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 presidential bid. This year’s presidential election has the potential to expand the theoretical capacity of intersectionality research by linking it to the campaigns of historic firsts – namely, Vice President Kamala Harris. My research on the mobilization of American voters across multiple axes of identity is important for understanding the effect of historic first candidates and the future of democratic leadership in the United States. An array of similarities and differences are evident in the experiences and accomplishments of path-breaking candidates. However, it seems that mounting a “movement campaign” to expand the electoral base is the best strategy for historic first candidates. The major takeaways are clear: the representation of those who are marginalized is inextricably tied to the fate of historic first candidates. As I have argued elsewhere, historic first candidates help to restore faith in fair elections, inspire robust civic engagement, and cultivate trust in government with their moral vision. My scholarship using an intersectional lens on women voters is especially noteworthy, as it has shown feminists and women of color within the Democratic Party – especially Black women – to be a powerful force in electoral politics. My theory of symbolic empowerment argues that historic first candidates are key to strengthening democratic institutions. Whether they win or lose, historic first candidates have long-standing effects, and their campaigns have implications for a growing number of historic firsts and for mass participation.
More Information
Simien, Evelyn M. 2022. Historic Firsts in U.S. Elections: Trailblazing Candidates in Gubernatorial, Congressional, and Mayoral Campaigns. New York, NY: Routledge.
Simien, Evelyn M. 2015. Historic Firsts: How Symbolic Empowerment Changes U.S. Politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Influence of Race and/or Gender on Public Opinion and Non-Elite Political Behavior
Ayana Best
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Howard University
Due to Black women’s positionality within American institutional hierarchies, they often experience high levels of violence and discrimination. How do these experiences affect their political behaviors and attitudes? My forthcoming book, Saving Ourselves: Black Women’s Fight Against Police Violence, finds that Black women’s experiences with police violence matter for their politics. While Black women who experience personal or direct contact with police are less likely to engage in politics, Black women whose family members are victims of police violence are more likely to be politically active. Indirect encounters with police violence have a galvanizing effect for Black women who practice an ethic of care for their loved ones and their community. Black women’s attitudes towards the police also vary based on their positionality and experiences. For instance, Black mothers have an increased desire to protect their families and communities from not only police violence but also communal violence. These political interests influence not only their views and opinions on police but also the way in which they engage in the political process as Black mothers are more likely than non-mothers to engage in community-oriented politics and take an active role in overseeing police involvement in their neighborhoods.
More Information
Best, Ayana. Forthcoming. “Saving Ourselves: Black Women’s Fight Against Police Violence.”
Best, Ayana. Forthcoming. “Mothers and Monsters: How Perspectives on Police Affect Black Mother’s Political Behaviors and Attitudes.” Working paper.
Chaya Y. Crowder
Assistant Professor, Political Science and International Relations, Loyola Marymount University
I use survey methods and experimental research design to explore support and opposition for political issues that affect Black women. Black women have been credited for Democratic wins in a number of recent consequential elections. Yet outside of the post-election glow, Black women’s interests tend not to attract a great deal of attention from politicians, media, or the public more broadly. In my forthcoming book, Intersectional Solidarity: Black Women and the Politics of Group Consciousness, I look at the question of what prompts people to prioritize issues that affect Black women, and when. In particular, I challenge the notion that racial or gender consciousness alone shape political preferences and instead argue that intersectional group consciousness shapes political behavior. I contend that a combination of race, gender, sexuality, and class-based consciousness influences political behavior, particularly when it comes to issues that affect individuals at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities. Further, I introduce an “intersectional solidarity index” (ISI), informed by work in social psychology, political science, and Black feminist theory. I apply a four-item scale to capture group consciousness at the intersection of race, gender, class and sexuality, but I use it particularly to explore what groups demonstrate solidarity with Black women and why. By measuring intersectional solidarity, the book provides insight into the possibilities for intersectional politics and demonstrates that in order to fully understand how people come to care about issues that affect Black women, scholars are required to ask new questions.
More Information
Crowder, Chaya. Forthcoming 2025. Intersectional Solidarity: Black Women and the Politics of Group Consciousness. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Slaughter, Christine, Chaya Crowder, and Christina Greer. 2024. “Black Women: Keepers of Democracy, the Democratic Process, and the Democratic Party.” Politics & Gender 20(1): 162-181.
Crowder, Chaya. 2021. “When #BlackLivesMatter at the Women’s March: A Study of the Emotional Influence of Racial Appeals on Instagram.” Politics, Groups, and Identities 11(1): 55-73.
Ashley C.J. Daniels
Project Director of the Black Girls Vote Research Network, Black Girls Vote
As a scholar-practitioner who studies and strategizes ways to empower the political voices of young Black women, a few things are on my mind during this election cycle.
Young Black girls are thinking about key political issues that directly impact their lives. In a June 2024 collaborative study with Chryl Laird at Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland and Gabrielle Martinez and the Black Girls Tribe, we surveyed 90 Black girls between the ages of 11-20 on their political perspectives. Some key findings include:
- A third of Black girls (31.6%) reported violence/gun violence as the most important issue facing their communities.
- 9 out of 10 Black girls believe that the CROWN Act is necessary to protect people with afro-textured hair. Over 40% reported experiencing hair discrimination at their school or workplace.
The presence of Black women political candidates in Black women’s civic spaces matters. In a 2020 survey study with 5,711 Black women, 42% said it was very important for Black women candidates to be present in Black women-centered civic engagement conferences and meetings such as Power Rising and the Black Women’s Roundtable to gain their vote. Historically, Black women's civic spaces (i.e., sororities, church groups, and community organizations) play a critical role in helping Black women candidates connect with Black women voters. By engaging in these environments, Black women candidates can foster authentic relationships, demonstrate their commitment to issues affecting the community, and build a strong base of support. The influence of these spaces extends beyond individual votes as they help amplify candidate messages, shape political discourse, and encourage collective action.
Community-academic partnerships are important for democratic innovation and political science research. Community-academic partnerships are essential for advancing democratic innovation and political science research by enabling researchers to co-create knowledge with communities, ensuring studies are grounded in real-world experiences and needs. Black Girls Vote has a long-standing history of forming and leveraging these relationships for our creative civic engagement programs.
- In a forthcoming book with our academic partner Melissa R. Michelson at Menlo College, we highlight the impact of our voter mobilization efforts during the 2020 presidential election cycle through our Party at the Mailbox initiative (fiscally sponsored by the National Conference on Citizenship).
- For 2024, we are working with two teams of HBCU student researchers to evaluate and explore campus-based get-out-the-vote efforts through our Black Girls Vote collegiate chapters at Howard University and Louisiana State University.
More Information
Daniels, Ashley C.J. Forthcoming. “The Kamala Conversation: Unpacking the Political Bonds and Attitudes of Black Sorority Women Toward Black Women Candidates in 2020 and 2024.”
Michelson, Melissa R., Stephanie L. DeMora, and Sarah V. Hayes. Forthcoming. Voting is a Party: Black Turnout as Celebration. New York, NY: New York University Press.
Daniels, Ashley C.J. 2023. “Thinking Outside the (Ballot) Box: Analyzing the Political Creativity of Black Women-Led Organizations Mobilizing Voters In Baltimore.” In Distinct Identities: Minority Women in U.S. Politics (2nd Edition), edited by Nadia E. Brown and Sarah Allen Gershon. New York, NY: Routledge.
Jenn M. Jackson
Assistant Professor, Political Science, Syracuse University
Young Black Americans are the most at-risk for unwanted interactions with police, targeted calls by non-Black neighbors to police authorities, and frequent confrontations with anti-Black outgroup members. For young Black women and queer people, in particular, these interactions have disparate impacts not often captured by traditional political science research. How do diverse populations of young Black Americans navigate these threats in their daily lives?
In my forthcoming book, Policing Blackness: The Political Stakes of Intersectional Threat, I explore the ways that racial group threat shapes the political behaviors of this demographic group. As such, I offer the novel theory called “intersectional threat” to explain the ways that threat is experienced based on one’s social location and orientation to power.
Using 100 interviews with young Black Americans in 11 cities around the country, I identify five core findings in my book: a) that threat is experienced intersectionally, b) that threat is dualistic in nature, experienced both as being considered a threat and being threatened simultaneously, c) that threat is intragroup, and intra-racial, d) that repeated exposure to intersectional threat causes racial trauma for Black Americans, and e) that these experiences for young Black Americans have helped create a new generation of abolitionists.
Further, I find that young Black women, queer, and trans people express greater concerns about intragroup violence and threat than Black men. Meanwhile, young Black men employ coping, masking, and other performance techniques to dampen the frequency and effects of intergroup threat.
More Information
Learn more about Dr. Jackson's work.
Jackson, Jenn M. 2020. “Private Selves as Public Property: Black Women’s Self-Making in the Contemporary Moment.” Public Culture 32(1): 107–131.
Sally Afia Nuamah
Associate Professor, Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University
Black women across the United States are avid participators in democracy, even as they are among those most punished by it. They vote at the highest rates in elections, second only to their white woman counterparts. But they are also imprisoned at double their rate. Nonetheless, there is little research on the impacts of punishment on Black women’s political participation. In forthcoming work, I use original and existing survey data to investigate the relationship between punishment and participation for Black women. Unlike other groups, the analysis reveals that punishment does not dampen their reported voting participation, and in some cases, increases it. My paper suggests that this paradoxical behavior is indicative of Black women’s disproportionate political labor in American democracy.
More Information
Learn more about Dr. Nuamah's work.
Nuamah, Sally. 2024. “Why Black women are ‘superlative participators in American democracy.’” The Rundown. WBEZ/NPR.
Nuamah, Sally. 2020. “Thanking Black Women for Being the ‘Backbone’ of American Democracy Isn't Enough. There Must be Policies Created With Us in Mind.” The Root.
Jamil Scott
Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Georgetown University
The number of Black women serving across all levels of office continues to increase. Further, Black women outnumber their women of color counterparts in state and congressional level offices. Previous work suggests that Black women express more ambition than other groups of women, and their actions in office show that they are thinking about policy not only for their own group but also for other communities of color. How might we understand Black women’s motivation to seek political office? In “Destined to Run: The Role of Political Participation on Black Women’s Decisions to Run for Elected Office,” we explore how Black women’s civic engagement factors into their political ambition. Black women are a group that participates more than we might expect, given conventional models’ emphasis on time and resources. What Black women do not lack, though, are skills. We find that Black women’s political participation is a significant predictor of being asked to run and thinking about their own prospects for electoral office. Our evidence emphasizes existing work that suggests that Black women’s interest in office is not self-interested but focused on improving their communities. Moreover, Black women’s engagement in political activities before seeking office likely puts them in places to be seen, noticed, and asked to run.
More Information
Scott, Jamil, Nadia Brown, Lorrie Frasure, and Dianne Pinderhughes. 2021. “Destined to Run: The Role of Political Participation on Black Women’s Decisions to Run for Elected Office.” National Review of Black Politics 2(1): 22-52.
Christine M. Slaughter
Assistant Professor, Political Science, Boston University
In 1982, Black feminist scholars Gloria Hull, Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith wrote All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave. Still today, my research examines intersectionality and Black women’s politics. Black women voters engage despite the differential resources shaping political participation. My research has demonstrated that Black women’s vote choice is motivated by their sense of civic duty and, to a lesser extent, their Democratic partisan identity. In 2016, Black women were most favorable towards Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and even the minority that did not favor Clinton were not deterred from voting in 2016. This was not the case for Black men and white women. Civic duty led Black women, especially Black women Democrats, to the ballot box. Black women’s civic duty mobilizes their voting behavior. In other work, I find that optimism about the country's future engages Black women in politics with optimism at the forefront. I find that in times of financial crisis, such as during the Great Recession, Black women who were more optimistic about the future of the country were more participatory in non-electoral political acts than their white and Black optimistic counterparts. Even more, pessimistic Black women remain committed to political acts, just to a lesser extent than optimistic Black women. These psychological resources and political predispositions – optimism, civic duty, and partisan identity – are pivotal to understanding Black women’s high levels of participation in American electoral and non-electoral politics.
More Information
Slaughter, Christine. 2022. “Black Women’s Optimism, Resilience, and Political Engagement in Times of Crisis.” PHILLIS: The Journal for Research on African American Women.
Slaughter, Christine, Chaya Crowder, and Christina Greer. 2023. “Black Women: Keepers of Democracy, the Democratic Process, and the Democratic Party.” Politics & Gender 20(1): 162-181.
Slaughter, Christine M., and Nadia E. Brown. 2022. “Intersectionality and Political Participation.” In The Oxford Handbook of Political Participation, edited by Marco Giugni and Maria Grasso. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 725–43.
Race and/or Gender Effects in Evaluating Black Candidates and Officeholders
Sydney L. Carr-Glenn
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, College of the Holy Cross
My book project, The Right to Bare Arms: Public Opinion, News Media, and Black Women in Politics, investigates the ways in which Black women's intersectional identity shapes both the public evaluations they are subject to as well as the media coverage they receive in order to examine whether they are uniquely disadvantaged relative to political leaders who come from other race-gender groups. One prominent finding from the book is that, relative to non-Black female political figures, Black women political elites are more likely to be perceived as angry and/or aggressive. The findings additionally reveal that racial resentment is a consistent measure for understanding American public attitudes toward political figures across all race-gender groups. Outside of this book project, I have several on-going projects that further my research agenda in the context(s) of American political behavior, race and gender in politics, and political communication. One example of this is a co-authored publication (2022) (with Andrea Benjamin), “Does Incumbency Matter?: Black Voter Support for New POC Democratic Candidates in the 2018 Congressional HOR Elections,” where we find that race and incumbency status were important factors in the 2018 midterm elections. We find that, for example, Black voters were significantly less likely than white voters to support white incumbent candidates during the 2018 elections.
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Learn more about Dr. Carr-Glenn’s work.
Benjamin, Andrea and Sydney L. Carr. 2022. “Does Incumbency Matter? Black Voter Support for Non-Incumbent POC Democratic Candidates in the 2018 Congressional House of Representatives Elections.” National Review of Black Politics 3(1-2): 2-16.
Sydney L. Carr-Glenn. 2024. “What Kamala Harris' Intersectional Identity Could Mean for Voter Evaluations in the 2024 Election.” The London School of Economics and Political Science.
Kesicia A. Dickinson
Assistant Professor, Political Science and African American Studies, University of Mississippi
Black women are significantly underrepresented in political offices, but they are taking strategic actions to combat this. One way they do this is by participating in formal training such as candidate training and political leadership programs. In my working paper titled “How She Wins: The Role of Formal Training in Evaluations of Black Women Candidates,” I argue that Black women, uniquely aware of their positionality and challenges that accompany it, participate in these activities to signal their qualifications and overcome the unique obstacles they face due to their race and gender identities. I investigate whether a signal of formal training can influence voters’ perception of a woman candidate’s quality and whether the woman’s race influences the strength of the signal. I conducted two survey experiments, which showed that respondents evaluate fictional candidates with and without formal training experience differently, particularly in relation to gender. The findings revealed that formal training experience significantly shapes whether respondents would vote for a Black or white woman candidate but matters far less in improving the chances that respondents would vote for a Black or white male candidate. For Black women specifically, the findings show that the signal of perceived candidate quality from formal training legitimizes Black women candidates and broadens their appeal among voters, helping to bridge the qualification gap they face. These findings demonstrate that Black women’s strategic participation in formal training increases their favorability, improving their overall electoral chances and helping them win public office.
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Scott, Jamil, Kesicia A. Dickinson, and Pearl K. Dowe. 2020. “Who is Stacey Abrams? An Examination of Gender and Race Dynamics in State-Level Candidacy.” In Good Reasons to Run: Women and Political Candidacy, edited by Shauna L. Shames, Rachel I. Bernhard, Mirya R. Holman, and Dawn Langan Teele. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 56-67.
Kenicia Wright
Assistant Professor, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University
Black women play critical roles in shaping American politics. Their influence motivates extensive lines of research that explore questions related to the electoral contexts and perceptions associated with Black women candidates and provides insight on Kamala Harris’ historical emergence and fundraising success as the 2024 presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.
My research on state legislatures suggests community plays a key role for candidates from marginalized backgrounds as they are more likely to win elections in states where the public is socially, civically, and politically engaged and regularly connect with others in their community (Wright 2023; Wright & Zhu 2020). Being in a sorority and community organizing appear “uniquely” important for Black women pursuing electoral office (Dowe 2020). Beyond electoral contexts, public perceptions also have significant political effects. The identities of candidates are associated with stereotypes and these stereotypes can impact the public’s political behavior. In my working paper, I find perceptions of a candidate’s race/ethnicity and gender have two significant effects: first, perceptions of these identities influence views of the candidate’s electoral viability and propensity for representation; and second, I find that the public is most willing to donate to candidates they perceive as being willing to represent their interests. Identities are also associated with stereotypes that impact voting behavior. Filindra & Fagan (2022) found stereotypes among white voters related to Kamala Harris’ identities as a Black (race/ethnicity) woman (gender) who is the daughter of immigrants (immigrant) significantly shaped their willingness to vote for President Biden in 2020.
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Learn more about Dr. Wright's work.
Dowe, Pearl K. Ford. 2020. “Resisting Marginalization: Black Women’s Political Ambition and Agency.” PS: Political Science & Politics 53(4): 697-702.
Filindra, Alexandra, and E. J. Fagan. 2022. “Black, Immigrant, or Woman? The Implicit Influence of Kamala Harris’ Vice Presidential Nomination on Support for Biden in 2020.” Social Science Quarterly 103(4): 892-906.
Wright, Kenicia. 2023. “No Money, No Problem? Exploring District-Level Determinants of the Electoral Fates of Women in U.S. Legislative Elections.” Working Paper.
Wright, Kenicia. 2024. “Who Gets the Money? How Characteristics of Candidates and Voters Influence the Decision to Donate.” Working Paper.
Wright, Kenicia and Ling Zhu. 2021. “When Social Capital Becomes Political Capital: Understanding the Social Contexts of Minority Candidates' Electoral Success in the American States.” Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics 6(2): 373-401.
Race, Gender, and Intersectional Identities, Representation, and Impact among Black Candidates and Officeholders
Natasha Altema McNeely
Associate Professor, University of North Texas
My work examines how Black female mayors use their intersectional identities to provide descriptive and substantive representation by addressing Black maternal health. The local political implication of Black maternal mortality raises questions about the extent to which city leaders, especially Black females, can influence policies to improve outcomes for Black expectant mothers. I examine the case of Mayor Muriel Bowser, the second Black female mayor of Washington, D.C., to demonstrate the connection between intersectional identities and substantive representation, investigating how she has attempted to reduce Black maternal mortality in the district. I examine data including press releases from the mayor’s office, newsletters, accountability reports and budget proposals, news reports from nonprofit organizations as well as local media to provide a comprehensive understanding of how stakeholders in the community have reacted to actions taken by the Bowser administration. I find evidence that Bowser’s racial and ethnic, gender, and partisan identities strongly align with the actions she and her administration have taken in order to address Black maternal mortality in Washington, D.C. Solutions pursued by Mayor Bowser have ranged from symbolic proclamations to substantive legislation as well as programs created through executive agencies as part of her administration. It is also worth noting that some of her actions appeared to be in response to legislation approved by the city council.
More Information
McNeely, Natasha Altema. 2022. "Death in DC: An Examination of How Mayor Muriel Bowser Has Attempted to Reduce Black Maternal Mortality." National Review of Black Politics 3(1-2): 17-32.
Nadia E. Brown
Professor of Government and Director of Women’s & Gender Studies, Georgetown University
Christopher J. Clark
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Anna M. Mahoney
Executive Director of the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences at Dartmouth College
Michael Strawbridge
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Washington University in St. Louis
What She Said… Black women have been representing constituents in Congress since 1968 and their current numbers are the highest they have ever been. How are these women making a difference in Congress? Our forthcoming work, Rhetorical Promises: Gender Diversity among Congressional Black Caucus Members' Representation on Twitter, finds that relative to Democratic Black men, Democratic Black women are more likely to discuss substantive public policy issues and to frame them as raced and gendered. While the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues (CCWI) have been around for decades, today's Black Congresswomen reject single-axis identity politics in their political communication. On Twitter, Black women are more likely to talk about political issues as intersectional – meaning they think about the race and gender impacts of potential policies – not through a singular lens. Also, Black women go beyond just signaling race or gender as important and are more likely to talk about the substantive steps they are taking in Congress on these issues. This difference in political rhetoric signals that these historic collectives, the CBC and CCWI, may be insufficient as political homes for Black women reflected in their recent creation of intersectional caucuses at the Congressional level. With their historic exclusion from leadership positions, Black Congresswomen have sought influence in alternative spaces, and their different rhetorical style suggests that their increasing numbers will have consequences for these single-axis spaces and the agendas they prioritize.
More Information
Brown, Nadia E., Christopher J. Clark and Anna Mitchell Mahoney. 2023. “The Black Women of the US Congress: Learning from Descriptive Data.” In Women of Color Political Elites in the U.S., edited by Nadia E. Brown, Christopher J. Clark, and Anna Mitchell Mahoney. London, UK: Routledge, 66-84.
Brown, Nadia. E., Christopher J. Clark, Anna Mitchell Mahoney and Michael Strawbridge. 2023. “Sister Space: Collective Descriptive Representation and Black Women in Legislative Caucuses.” Politics & Gender 19(4): 1234-1238.
Guillermo Caballero
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science & International Studies and the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice, Stonehill College
I ask the questions: how do Black women lawmakers experience the legislature? And how do they respond? The Black women lawmakers I interviewed in Georgia expressed frustration with the unequal legislative process. Policymaking becomes unequal due to how bills get stolen. For example, a bill on a needle exchange program was taken from a Black woman lawmaker, which surprised the interviewees because a freshman Republican lawmaker introduced the bill as his own.
Marginalization is not the only story; Black women lawmakers respond to their conditions with unexpected resilience and determination. One Black woman lawmaker shared that her chair socially sanctioned her because she asked too many questions. In response, she resisted by declaring she is doing the job and will be respected. This disruption of the discourse is not to be expected because political scientists would assume that committee members would not risk upsetting someone in a position of authority. Black women lawmakers also leverage their positionality. One Black woman lawmaker indicated that her experiences in the immigration process led her to critique early bill proposals that would have required recent naturalized citizens to have their green card number. She indicated to her peers that many naturalized citizens will likely not have access to that information. Her positionality allowed her to speak against bills that would negatively impact many individuals in Georgia. My task as a researcher is to make these narratives legible for a wider audience in and out of political science.
More Information
Caballero, Guillermo. Forthcoming. “Refining the Architect’s Plan: Illegibility, The Black Legislative Context, and a Case for Critical Institutionalism.” Working paper.
Baptist, Najja K., Guillermo Caballero, Peay Perlioux, and Michael Simrak. 2023. “The Squad Has Something to Say: Black and Latina Congressional Women, Twitter, and Representation during the Trump Era.” In Distinct Identities: Minority Women in U.S. Politics (2nd Edition), edited by Nadia E. Brown and Sarah Allen Gershon. New York, NY: Routledge.
Caballero, Guillermo. “The Politics of Call-Out: Press Releases, Representation, and Resistance.” Working paper.
Aiisha Harden Russell
Researcher in Race, Gender, and American Politics
Scholars have studied the effects of race and gender in American campaigns. Research from my dissertation Bringing Gender to the Forefront: The Campaign Strategies of Black Women and Men Candidates in American Politics examines how Black women campaign for U.S. Congress compared to their male counterparts. Using data from semi-structured interviews of Black women and men candidates for U.S Congress and their campaign managers within the 21st century, I examine how race/ethnicity, gender, and the interaction of these identities impacts the campaign strategies of Black women and men candidates, depending on campaign context and candidates’ experiences. I find that the majority of Black women and men congressional candidates run race-moderate or race-neutral campaigns and that they acknowledge race as a – but not the only – factor in campaigns (e.g. racial appeals). However, within this commonality lies gendered differences. Black women congressional candidates spoke on the need to appear strong and strike a balance between masculine and feminine traits. Additionally, Black women congressional candidates and campaign managers attest to the attention paid to Black women candidates’ physical appearance. A few Black women candidates discussed ways to work around this issue such as adjusting their wardrobe to benefit them, consistent with previous research by Brown and Lemi (2021). Some Black women congressional candidates highlight their identity to voters as both a woman and as a Black woman along with their ethnicity, qualifications, and experiences, while others acknowledge it as part of who they are.
More Information
Harden Russell, Aiisha. 2018. "Bringing Gender to the Forefront: The Campaign Strategies of Black Women and Men Candidates in American Politics." Rutgers University.
Christian Hosam
Fellow/Incoming Assistant Professor, Political Science, Wellesley College
Black women's loyalty to the Democratic Party is a well-known phenomenon in American politics. How might we understand the fruits of this loyalty? The ascent of Kamala Harris to the presidential candidacy along with the unprecedented proportion of Black lawmakers in the U.S. House sits awkwardly with the dictates of party maneuvering and strategy. As I find in recent work forthcoming in Politics, Groups, and Identities, while the proportion of party-centric bills (here meaning bills that relate to top priorities of the Democratic Party in a given Congress) that Congressional Black Caucus members sponsor has remained stable over time, the amount of bills they sponsor related to issues relevant to Black communities has dropped steadily over time. Further, Black members of Congress have not substituted this decline through a higher focus on economic issues, leading to a conclusion that increased party loyalty is related to lower focus on what could be considered Black issues. This is tricky business for Black women, because while increased descriptive representation does mean that an issue like Black maternal health is able to be kept on the congressional agenda in ways that reflect the specific perspective and advocacy of Black female legislators, the institutional structure of governing institutions like Congress is actually more and more hostile to providing the kind of legislative results that Black women on the ground so desperately need. Black women are yet again canaries in the coal mine, highlighting the nexus between the personal and institutional dynamics of American politics.
More Information
Hosam, Christian. Forthcoming. “Black Congressional Politics: Anxieties of Incorporation.” Politics, Groups, and Identities.
Yalidy Matos
Associate Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Domingo Morel
Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Service, Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University
Michelle Bueno Vásquez
Political Science Ph.D. candidate at Northwestern University
[T]he first thing you see is that I’m a woman, then you see I am a Black woman, and then you see my, my heritage, which is that I am a Dominican Black woman, right? I feel like I was already a political, a political symbol, just being who I am in my skin. I'd like to say that there was like this one moment that sparked it, but I think it was really my lived experience that sparked the fight, right? (Julissa Ferreras-Copeland. Interview. Conducted by Authors. 31 May 2023).
The above epigraph is by Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, a former New York City council member. We interviewed Ferreras-Copeland for our forthcoming book, Politics in our Veins: the Rise of Dominican American Political Power in the United States (NYU Press), where we examine Dominican political incorporation in the United States. One chapter examines Afro- and Black self-identification among women Dominican elected officials. Our analysis of the determinants of self-identification as Black or Afro-Latina/o found that generation matters, but age does not matter. We found that skin color and hair mattered overall. Still, these features were not the only reasons Afro- and Black Latina Dominican elected officials self-identified as Afro-Latina or Black. The intersection of Blackness and gender in Dominican American politics captures our findings. Ultimately, we found gender to be the critical predictor of self-identification and a particular kind of insurgent intersectional politics. We discovered that Dominican women were more likely to identify as Afro-Latina or Black Latina. They were also more likely to indicate a politics grounded in intersectional solidarity. Their identification as Afro-Latina and/or Black cannot be divorced from their political ideology and policymaking, as it, in many – if not all – ways, informs their leadership.
Their approach to policymaking contributes to a politics of collaboration, expressed in the work of Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, who fought to keep NYC pools open for the kids in her district after a white male councilmember in the budget negotiations team from a much wealthier neighborhood thought it was a good idea to shut down city pools. Ferreras-Copeland advocated for the kids of color in her district and all of the kids in NYC when she explained, “[I]f you close the pools in my area, my kids are going to be in fire hydrants. And you know, and what happens is every summer...several kids get killed because the drivers from the pressure of the fire hydrant can't see.”
This is insurgent intersectional politics; it is the audacity to self-identify as Afrodescendant and/or Black and intersectional solidarity-in-action exemplified by advocating for people in the margins, people in need. The insurgency comes from self-identification; it comes from leading and loving from the intersection, leading from lived experience, which – for these women those who call themselves Afro-Latinas and Black Latinas – means leading from an emancipated place of futurity—a future in which the election of a Black woman is possible.
Andrene Wright-Johnson
Assistant Professor, African American Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
The 2024 presidential debate drew a blunt contrast between the way that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump framed their candidacies. Harris opened by saying, “I was raised as a middle-class kid” to invoke her proximity to middle-class Americans. She also commented, “My mother raised my sister and me, but there was a woman that helped raise us, we call her my second mother, she was a business owner,” a nod to small businesses that she considers the backbone of the economy. These sentiments are emblematic of Black women politicians leveraging their lived experience – what I call “experiential rhetoric” – more than their race and gendered counterparts while campaigning (Wright 2023) and while advocating for policy preferences (Wright, 2023; Wright & McNeely 2023). Common rhetorical themes include Black women politicians invoking their experience as mothers, couched as fueling their electoral ambitions, as well as their commitment to their constituents (Wright 2023). Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C, described her mothering experience as giving her a new perspective on public policy that informs her administration's stance on schooling, childcare, and safety (Wright 2022). More explicitly, being a Black mother often entails facing conditions of anti-Black violence in their birthing experiences and caregiving journeys, a testament to the transformational impacts Muriel Bowser implied. With the Black vote being pivotal to gaining the presidency (Channel 3000), my work exemplifies how experiential rhetoric can convey kinship with the “Black” experience, energizing voters who relate to that aspect of Vice President Kamala Harris’ multifaceted identity (Wright 2023).
More Information
Wright, Andrene Z. and Natasha Altema McNeely. 2023. “‘I’m a Mother First:’ How Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ Intersecting Identities Inform her Criminal Justice Reform Policies.” In Distinct Identities: Minority Women in U.S. Politics ˆ(2nd Edition), edited by Nadia E. Brown and Sarah Allen Gershon. New York, NY: Routledge.
Wright, Andrene Z. 2023. “Telling the Tale: Black Women Politicians and Their Use of Experiental Rhetoric.” Politics & Gender 19(4): 1007–1034.
Wright, Andrene. 2022. “Black mothers shape leadership in unique ways.” The Washington Post.
Jatia Wrighten
Assistant Professor, Political Science, Virginia Commonwealth University
Scholars who study the political behavior of Black elected officials recognize that there are differences between their political behavior and that of their peers. My work seeks to understand and explain through a novel intersectional framework, the Heavy Lifter Theory, why Black women behave the way they do once they are elected. Specifically, why do Black women bear the burden of democracy, as one of the most oppressed groups in the United States? To explore this complex research question, I use a mixed methods approach that employs a large dataset, interviews of past and present elected Black women state legislators, and a case study. State legislatures are a unique and logical site to examine the differences in Black women’s political behavior and other elected officials. State legislatures are diverse across states, offer an institution that historically excluded Black women from its ranks, and provide the ability to measure leadership attainment by Black women elected officials. This work helps to shed light on the political behavior of Black women, the institutional obstacles they face, and the lasting power of ancestral talent development. I find that even as Black women face both sexism and racism in state legislatures, they outpace both Black men and white women in leadership obtainment. Black women legislators’ ability to gain leadership provides evidence that the heavy lifter identity is a useful intersectional theory that more fully explains the behavior of Black women elected officials.
More Information
Jatia Wrighten. 2022. “Heavy Lifting: Authentic Talent Development and Leadership Obtainment for Black Women State Legislators.” European Journal of Training and Development 47(3-4): 369-386.
Influence and Impact of Unelected Black Women Political Leaders
Nikol G. Alexander-Floyd
Professor, Political Science, Rutgers University - New Brunswick
Must sisterhood always be political? How do Black women as political actors develop solidarity? What are the stakes for Black women in contemporary discussions of reproduction, sexual harassment, workplace discrimination, or public policy directed at families? My work examines these and other questions, as Black women pursued politics at various levels of scale. My research demonstrates how Black women political actors, across the political spectrum, from Condoleezza Rice to Kamala Harris and Michelle Obama and beyond, are both viewed through and mobilize stereotypical symbols, frames, and fantasies. Although pushed to the margins in organizations and some movements, Black women have been central to U.S. political development from the nation’s founding, including how we imagine the body politic and our futures, nationally and internationally. My research also highlights how Black women confront the resistance to feminism and civil rights activism through not only direct backlash but also the misappropriation of feminist and anti-racist rhetoric and tactics, or what has been called post-feminist or post-racial politics. In this context, Black women must confront the reassertion of Black male authority and fantasies of racial integration, sidestepping policy that can beneficially impact Black women and communities, in favor of performative displays of unity and diversity. Understanding Black women’s politics requires a range of tools; therefore, I utilize narrative and psycho-analysis to examine political rhetoric, popular culture, public policy, and campaigns.
More Information
Alexander-Floyd, Nikol G. 2021. Re-Imagining Black Women: A Critique of Postfeminist, Postracial Melodrama in Culture and Politics. New York, NY: New York University Press.
Alexander-Floyd, Nikol G. 2020. “‘I Want to be Like Michelle or Kamala’: On Becoming, Liminality, & Social Justice.” New Political Science 42(3): 418-424.
Alexander-Floyd, Nikol G. 2023. “Psychoanalysis and Reproductive Justice: Reflections on Dobbs and the Possibilities of Psychoanalytic Political Praxis.” Contemporary Psychoanalysis 59(1-2): 12-22.
Ray Block Jr.
Brown-McCourtney Career Development Professor, McCourtney Institute for Democracy and Professor, Political Science and African American Studies, Pennsylvania State University - University Park
Through our work as researchers who use surveys and interviews to understand politics, my coauthors and I have discovered that Black women’s political involvement is shaped significantly by their intersecting identities of race, class, and gender. Specifically, our work consistently shows that these intersectional identities influence not only Black women’s political behavior but also public perceptions of their leadership. From studies like those on Oprah Winfrey’s backing of political candidates and Michelle Obama’s role as First Lady, we see how Black women uniquely mobilize support within their communities, particularly among other Black women. Oprah’s endorsement of Barack Obama in 2008, for instance, revealed that while she was initially viewed as transcending race, her political activism reshaped her support base along racial and gender lines, attracting her strongest support from Black women (McClerking, Laird, and Block Jr. 2019). Similarly, Michelle Obama’s status as a role model played a key role in shaping racial attitudes, particularly as her media prominence positively influenced perceptions of Black women (Haynes and Block Jr. 2019). Moreover, the research on intersectionality underscores that the overlapping impacts of race, class, gender, sexuality, and other categories create distinct political dynamics for Black women, placing them at the center of unique social and political expectations (Block Jr., Golder, and Golder 2023). These insights reveal the critical role Black women play in fostering political engagement among their communities, underlining their unmatched but still underappreciated influence in shaping broader political attitudes and behavior.
More Information
McClerking, Harwood K., Chryl N. Laird, and Ray Block Jr. 2019. "The Fragility of Racial Transcendence: An Analysis of Oprah Winfrey’s Endorsement of the Barack Obama 2008 Presidential Campaign." American Politics Research 47(2): 304-328.
Haynes, Christina S., and Ray Block Jr. 2019. "Role-Model-In-Chief: Understanding a Michelle Obama Effect." Politics & Gender 15(3): 365-402.
Block Jr, Ray, Matt Golder, and Sona N. Golder. 2023. "Evaluating claims of intersectionality." The Journal of Politics 85(3): 795-811.
Khalilah L. Brown-Dean
Rob Rosenthal Distinguished Professor of Civic Engagement and Executive Director, Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, Wesleyan University
In the 54 years since Shirley Chisholm’s election, Americans have elected 57 Black women to Congress, including two to the U.S. Senate. Forty-nine women have been elected as governors, with no Black women breaking that barrier. In 2022, Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman U.S. Supreme Court justice while women of color have captured city halls in places as diverse as Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Haven. Behind the scenes, Black women have made gains as party leaders, strategists, and cabinet members. At the core of that progress has been a dedicated network of organizations committed to cultivating Black women’s leadership. Some, like Higher Heights for America, are explicitly designed to translate Black women’s voting strength into stronger representation at every level of government. Others, like the four historically Black sororities and a slew of civic organizations, serve as spaces of refuge to both inspire and affirm women’s leadership. Black women’s networks are critical for fortifying the social capital necessary to influence policy priorities and governing strategies. Indeed, within hours of the announcement that President Biden was stepping aside, more than 44,000 Black women joined a Zoom call that raised more than $1.5 million for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. That call was organized by a multi-generational coalition of Black women who met weekly over the last four years to create a network of support, inspiration, and engagement united by a charge to “Win With Black Women.” That mobilization inspired 53,000 Black men to gather for their own “Win With Black Men” virtual call that raised $1.3 million for Harris. The historic nature of this election – from having a Black and South Asian woman at the top of the ticket to having two Black women favored in Senate contests – provides an ideal context to interrogate how these networks flex their electoral influence into governing strength.
More Information
Brown-Dean, Khalilah L. 2024. “Why Kamala Harris’ History in Alpha Kappa Alpha Could Play a Huge Role in the Election.” MSNBC.
Brown-Dean, Khalilah L. 2019. Identity Politics in the United States. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Crystal Robertson
UC President’s Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Irvine
Public opinion is incredibly important for social movements; when motivated the public can pressure politicians to act on movements demands. My research explores public opinion of social movements led by Black women. I explore how Black women’s leadership shifts public attitudes toward the movement and the people leading it. Historically, Black social movements were led by charismatic male leaders (Morris 1986), typically undermining Black women’s leadership (Robnett 1999). Oftentimes Black women organizers would not draw attention to this exclusion, prioritizing the cause over addressing their mistreatment and lack of recognition (Ransby 2003). However, more recent movements such as the Movement for Black Lives emphasize the role of Black women as its leaders and incorporate intersectionality into their agenda (Garza, Tometi, and Cullors 2014). As Black women openly lead social movements, how might the public react? My research asks to what extent does gender shape attitudes toward Black movement leaders? Using survey experiments, I explore this question and find that Black Americans show positive attitudes toward Black women in leadership. I find Black women seem to drive this effect in particular, with Black women evaluating Black women’s organizing leadership as effective and trustworthy. These findings are consistent with other research that demonstrates Black women voters form the foundation of Black women’s political successes (Montoya et al. 2022; Philpot and Walton 2007). This research expands our understanding of Black women’s political leadership and may further empower Black women organizers to recognize the positive effect their leadership can have in recruiting and mobilizing the public.
To find additional expert voices and research to understand gender and intersectional dynamics at play in Election 2024, see:
