Opinion: Black Women Are Running for Change

By Kellie Todd Griffin | Special to California Black Media Partners Kellie Todd Griffin,& President & CEO, California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute OPINION (CBM) – This is a year of opportunity for Black women in Politics in California. Voters of all races across this state must collectively seize this moment to affect the kind of transformative change we are all hoping to see. Here’s why. We have an unprecedented number of Black Women running for office throughout the state. Whether they’re running at the local or state level, or for a congressional or U.S. Senate seat, behind the candidacy of each, one stands a powerful tale a of triumph – an inspiring story showing how determination, commitment to service and moral intelligence consistently defeat racism and sexism. Their journeys running for office take them directly through the cultural and political barbs of race and gender, which are, far too often, concealed — but no less dangerous. Without fail, Black Women running for office find their accomplishments, their public images, and their ideas in the crosshairs of scrutiny and skepticism, much more than their White male and female competitors. Nevertheless, we must continue to run because there is so much...