If an Arkansas state senator, Joyce Elliott seeking a U.S. congressional seat is elected in November, she will be the first Black lawmaker in Congress from Arkansas, ever.
On the campaign trail in June, Elliott attended a demonstration against racism in White County, which is more than 90% white, and spoke to attendees in the shadow of a Confederate monument.
The November election is a “chance to change our history,” she told Reuters afterward. “I really decided I needed to run because I could see a pathway to winning.”
Elliott is one of at least 122 Black or multi-racial Black women who filed to run for congressional seats in this year’s election; this figure has increased steadily since 2012, when it was 48, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP).
Black women are nearly 8% of the U.S. population, but 4.3% of Congress, according to a report by the Center of Women and Politics and Higher Heights for America, a political action committee that seeks to elect more progressive Black women to elected office.
Related posts:
Viola Davis Breaks record, becomes first black woman to ever win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony, a Golden Globe, a SAG, and a BAFTA award
Mo Farah wins record sixth straight Great North Run
Ogun APC Congress Committee announces modalities for Ward Congress
Black Women History Month: Osun Royal Queens hold conference in Ile-Ife
Super Falcons’defender, Onome Ebi set for record fifth women’s World Cup appearance
Analysts predict more women will win seats in US Congress
First two Muslim women elected to US Congress
2019 Lagos Women Run: Careen Cheptoek of Kenya emerges winner
