The Black Ballot: Breaking Down The Political Power Of Black Women

NewsOne’s ongoing conversation about the intersection of politics and race — The Black Ballot — returned this week to join the discussion about the need for Black Woman Power and the critical role Black women are playing heading into Election Day and beyond.

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Myisha Hill, a mental health advocate based in California, and Lettie Shumate, anti-racism educator, advocate, and historian based in North Carolina, joined NewsOne’s managing editor Bruce C.T. Wright to talk all-things Black woman power, and then some.

Both women were happy to share their knowledge on the myriad topics discussed, including Black maternal health. Hill, a mother who has “a lived experience of prepartum and postpartum depression,” addressed the lack of diversity in American medicine and its consequences that often fall along racial lines.

“When a Black woman says that she is in pain, believe her,” Hill implored. “That same care that you give to a white woman, give it to a Black woman. Because when a white woman suffers, a Black woman suffers disproportionately.”

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Shumate, ever the historian, drew on the past when discussing how to seize on the racial, social, and political momentum being gained from movements that are largely led by Black women. She said it was important to remember the roles that Black women played in helping to pave the road to even get to this pivotal pit in American history.

“All these Black women who were doing the groundwork,” she said after rattling off names like Fannie Lou Hamer and June Johnson and others. Shumate said you can’t see “substantial change without organizing” like they did.

Watch the full discussion below.

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