Today In Black History: Stacey Abrams
Today In Black History: Stacey Abrams
Politician, Attorney, Voting Rights Activist, and Author
Issue #744 Today In Black History, Thursday, October 10, 2024
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Born on December 9, 1973, in Madison, Wisconsin, Stacey Yvonne Abrams grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi, before moving to Atlanta, Georgia, where she graduated as valedictorian of her high school class. Abrams excelled academically, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from HBCU Spelman College, a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin as a Harry S. Truman Scholar, and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.
A member of the Democratic Party, Abrams founded Fair Fight Action, an organization to address voter suppression, in 2018. Her efforts have been widely credited with boosting voter turnout in Georgia, including in the 2020 presidential election, when Joe Biden narrowly won the state, and in Georgia's 2020–21 regularly scheduled and special U.S. Senate elections, which gave Democrats control of the Senate.
Abrams began her political career in the Georgia House of Representatives in 2007, serving as the Minority Leader from 2011 to 2017. Her tenure was marked by her focus on education, economic development, and voting rights.
Stacey Abrams gained national prominence during the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race. As the first Black woman to be a major party nominee for governor in the United States, her campaign centered on expanding Medicaid, improving education, and ensuring fair elections. Despite losing the election, Abrams' grassroots movement exposed systemic issues of voter suppression and sparked a national dialogue on electoral integrity.
In February 2019, Abrams became the first African-American woman to deliver a response to the State of the Union address. She was the Democratic nominee in the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election and lost again to Brian Kemp. She conceded on Election night.
Abrams is CEO of Sage Works, a legal consulting firm representing clients, including the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association.
Abrams is an author of fiction and nonfiction. Her nonfiction books, Our Time Is Now and Lead from the Outside, were New York Times best sellers. Before 2021, Abrams wrote eight fiction books under the pen name Selena Montgomery. Justice Sleeps was released on May 11, 2021, under her real name. Abrams also wrote a children's book, Stacey's Extraordinary Words, which was released in December 2021.
Stacey Abrams has won numerous awards for her political and nonpolitical work. In 2012, she received the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award from the Kennedy Library and Harvard University's Institute of Politics, which honors an elected official under 40 whose work demonstrates the impact of elective public service in addressing public challenges. In 2014, Governing Magazine named her a Public Official of the Year, an award recognizing state and local officials for outstanding accomplishments.
Abrams has completed seven international fellowships and traveled to "more than a dozen foreign countries" for policy work.
Abrams appeared as the President of United Earth in "Coming Home," the Season 4 finale of Star Trek: Discovery,
On April 5, 2023, Howard University announced the appointment of Abrams to the inaugural Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics. The chair is housed in the Ronald W. Walters Leadership and Public Policy Center at Howard University.
Today In Black History
In 1788, the African Free School opened in New York.
In 1899, Black inventor Isaac R. Johnson patented the bicycle frame.
In 1935, “Porgy & Bess” by George Gershwin opened on Broadway.
In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologized to the Finance Minister of Ghana, Komal Agbeli Gbdemah, after he was refused service at a restaurant in Dover, Delaware.
In 1966, Dr. Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party in Oakland, CA.
In 1991, the U.S. cut all foreign aid to Haiti.
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