Creating space and increasing agency for Black women in politics and elected office
How Higher Heights for America is mobilizing and electing Black women to expand their political power from the voting booth to elected office
“Black women voters are the building blocks to a winning coalition, particularly for Democrats. (She’s) an informed voter who not only votes herself, but brings her community, her family, and her friends to the polls.” – Glynda C. Carr, President and CEO of Higher Heights for America
Black Women in Democracy
Despite recent strides towards equality and equity for people of color and women across all sectors, Black women specifically still lack representation, support, and resources to advance socially and economically. These problems are worsened by Black women’s invisibility in elected office.
Black women make up 7.6% of the U.S. population, but are just 4.3% of the House of Representatives and 4.3% of state legislative seats. No Black woman has ever been elected governor of any state, only two Black women have ever been elected to the Senate, and Senator Kamala Harris (the second senator) is the first Black woman and Indian-American vice presidential candidate.
“Black women are not only severely underrepresented in our American democracy, but we are also severely underserved. We put more into this democracy than we get back,” Founder Glynda C. Carr stated.
“If Black women are the building blocks…we should not at the same time not have seats at decision-making tables as elected leaders and disproportionately be affected by many of the policies made at those tables.”
Higher Heights for America is demanding representation and claiming seats at these tables.
Higher Heights for America’s Approach
Higher Heights for America (Higher Heights) was founded in 2011 as founders Glynda C. Carr and Kimberly Peeler-Allen’s reaction to their experiences in predominantly white, male spaces along with the 2010 election cycle. The membership-based organization and its accompanying political action committee and leadership fund work to harness Black women’s political power to increase elected representation and voter participation.
Coming from a career in nonprofit management and the world of New York progressive politics, Carr was all too familiar with the lack of diversity in these spaces and set out to build a network to “unleash the collective organizing power of Black women” by focusing exclusively on mobilizing and electing Black women in our democracy.
Higher Heights for America’s Strategies
The evidence shows that Black women hold significant power as both voters and policy leaders, and Higher Heights is supporting Black women to create policies that will help them not only survive, but thrive and create economically stable, educated, healthy and safe communities.
#BlackWomenLead: Higher Heights offers training for Black women considering running for office through its #BlackWomenLead toolkit and political leadership webinar series. Black women can use this platform to connect with fellow members, sharpen their skills, access resources, and tap into advocacy and community. This initiative includes the now virtual Sunday Brunch Series for members to discuss current politics.
#BlackWomenVote: The #BlackWomenVote initiative is a nonpartisan vote-activism campaign providing voters with the tools to be informed, engaged, and take action. The main goal is to encourage Black women to create a safe voting plan; the website and social media pages have information on COVID-19 changes, registration and absentee ballot status, registration deadlines and key dates.
Political Action Committee: The only PAC dedicated to electing progressive Black women to federal, state, and mayoral offices, the Higher Heights for America PAC endorses and directly supports female candidates. The committee has helped to elect the largest number of Black women to serve in Congress and has worked with Stacey Abrams, Letitia James and Kamala Harris.
Member engagement and empowerment: The annual Chisholm List, named after Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to Congress, features 50 “Sisters to Watch,” female elected officials doing great work. The organization also releases a Chisholm 50 #BlackWomenLead reading list featuring curated titles from its staff and member recommendations.
Challenges Faced
Access to early money: Carr recognizes the opportunity moment of America’s heightened awareness of Black women’s political power and interest in candidates, but also recognizes funding as a barrier to Black-led campaigns and organizations.
Higher Heights for America’s Best Practices
Making donating accessible: Beyond traditional funding sources, Higher Heights engages its members as allies in its mission to build a network of Black women. Making an investment in Black women as political donors, Higher Heights asks leadership circle members to invest a thousand dollars or more. To make this structure sustainable, members can make monthly contributions toward this goal rather than writing a single check.
Emphasis on Research: Higher Heights partners with The Center for American Women in Politics and other researchers to report annually on the status of Black women in politics and leadership. Download the 2019 report here.
Lesson for Others & Vision for the Future
According to Carr, “many hands make light work,” and the only way to move past the current politically toxic environment and towards innovation is collaboration, within and beyond existing networks.
“My wish for this country is that everyone lives in an economically thriving, educated, healthy and safe community, and to look at our elected leadership and truly see the diversity of America,” Carr said.
Glynda C. Carr is the Founder and President of Higher Heights for America.
To learn more about Higher Heights for America please visit: higherheightsforamerica.org
