Stacey Abrams prevails as a successful example of female leadership

by Hannah Bernstein

As Joe Biden has started his presidency with a Democrat-controlled Congress, let’s reflect on how we got here. With historical voter turnouts and the Georgia senate election ensuring a Democrat majority in the Senate, all eyes have turned towards Stacey Abrams.

Abrams has a long list of achievements to mention, but I will focus on her success as a voting rights activist as a model for successful female leadership.

After Abrams lost the gubernatorial election, she launched Fair Fight, a nonprofit organization designed to train voter protection teams in states across the country and educate young voters of color on the issues at hand.

You would think that voting would be easier in 2021 with all the technological innovations we currently have. However, Fair Fight’s work is still relevant especially after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in 2013, which was enacted to protect minority’s voting rights, in Shelby County v. Holder.

The decision has had monumental effects across the country, including Georgia where nearly 10 percent of polling places in Georgia were cut. Black voters were disproportionately affected as they are more likely than white voters to vote in person.

Now you may also be wondering why Black voters would be disproportionately affected because theoretically, if people really want to vote, then they would be properly prepared for it through voter registration, ID, etc.

However, Abrams rightly argues, in an interview with Vox, that voting should not be an individual’s responsibility, rather it should be the system’s.

I would also add to Abrams’s argument and ask how can we guarantee equal protection of the laws if not all constituents can vote for a person to represent their ideas, values, needs, etc. when writing the laws?

This brings us to her relevance in the 2020 elections and her latest success as she and other grassroots organizations across Georgia have helped to register more than 800,000 new voters, turning Georgia blue.

The biggest lesson we can learn from Abrams is it is appropriate for women to want more and failure should not stop us; humiliation is not a scar.

Her tremendous success has also definitely made me reconsider the roles of nonprofit organizations in communities and the importance of nonprofit work.

Abrams even says in her interview with Ted Radio Hour, “working in nonprofits is not a step-down.” Something I would also advocate women to additionally consider when they consider where their leadership can exist. Abrams proves that we, as women and girls, can make a change anywhere as long as we remain ambitious and determined.

“Be aggressive about your ambition. Do not allow setbacks to set you back”- Stacey Abrams, Ted Talk