This past Tuesday we had some serious victories for women of color throughout this nation. Our country voted and made a statement: “we need more women of color representing us at local, state, and federal levels”.
Before Tuesday, out of 105 women serving in the 115th U.S. Congress, only 36.2% were women of color. That is only 38 members. Now, out of the full 5353 Congress members, only 7.1% were women of color (all statistics from Center for American Women and Politics).
As of Tuesday, those numbers have shifted! Here are the victorious black and brown women now representing in government:
- Andrea Jenkins, Minneapolis City Council
- Hala Ayala, Virginia House of Representatives-D
- Elizabeth Guzman, Virginia House of Representatives-D
- Kathy Tran, Virginia House of Representatives
- Vi Lyles, Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina
- Sheila Oliver, Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey
- Lydia Edwards, Boston City Council, District 1
- Kim Janey, Boston City Council, District 7
- Yvonne Spicer, Mayor of Framingham, Massachusettes
- Mary Parham Copelan, Mayor of Milledgeville, Georgia
- Ashley Bennett, Atlantic County Board of Freeholders, New Jersey-D
Our list above does not reflect the women of color who were re-elected to their positions.
