8 Years After Stacey Abrams Dared to Dream, Black Women Made History

Like many people, after seeing the news of Keisha Lance Bottoms’ historic victory, I couldn’t help but think about Stacey Abrams and her 2018 campaign for governor. Eight Black women took center stage eight years after Abrams built a campaign Georgia never imagined possible. Denied victory by Jim Crow’s protege, Abrams’ historic run set the stage for an entire slate of Black women elected to state leadership. The conversations and think pieces that blasted people for failing to support a Black woman at the highest levels of politics forced deep conversations about who we elect and why. 

Tuesday night’s wins reflect the grit and effort of each campaign and the voters who showed up to make a difference. It belongs to the organizers who never gave up hope that Georgia could once again return to the people. And in many ways, Tuesday’s wins wouldn’t have been possible without the foundation Abrams built and the ecosystem that grew around her 2018 campaign. The 2018 landscape set the tone for 2026’s wins. It sharpened our analysis of authoritarian threats and made us aware of the false god of bipartisanship. 

The obstacles Georgia voters faced in 2018 and the fierce determination in her 2018 election acknowledgment speech focused our attention on the conditions we needed to win. It also made it clear that we didn’t have to accept bad-faith actions and rules of decorum just to uphold failed institutions. In acknowledging the end of the election while also refusing to concede, Abrams stirred the collective conscience of not just the state but the entire country. 

“I implore each of you to not give in to that anger or apathy but instead turn to action. Because the antidote to injustice is progress,” she said. “The cure to this malpractice is a fight for fairness in every election held – in every law passed – in every decision made.”

She challenged all of us not to look away and simply accept the outcome of years of disenfranchisement and disinvestment. Her words were a soothing balm on an open wound raw from stark injustice. Well before Donald Trump threw his tantrum about rigging Georgia’s election, Brian Kemp stacked the deck in his favor at the expense of voters and process. 

The focused pro-democracy message delivered after 2018 drove the work many of us carried into 2019. It gave us the language and watchful eye we needed in 2020 and 2021, as election denialism rose. She gave us a roadmap for what it means to keep building beyond single electoral wins. For this journalist, it lit a fire and determination to understand how we show up for the people we need to serve and what shifts we need to make to build better. Like many people, the 2018 race and the fight to protect voting rights and democracy opened my eyes to the intersections between various issues and the franchise itself. 

But aside from her work as a candidate and strategist, it was the moments when she showed up as a person that endeared her to many. When she was attacked for having *gasp* debt and painted as irresponsible, I felt seen. Many of the things the opposition tried to make into a flaw were relatable human experiences. We understood the burden and the struggle, and it made us want her even more as our leader. 

Stacey inspired an entire ecosystem and network of people to action. Her candidacy and vision helped bring forth a new wave of organizing and engagement that shifted how we talked about building electoral power. As much as her candidacy and election set the stage for this moment, they also cleared a lane for many of us fighting to build a better way forward. Leaders like Ms. Helen Butler, the executive director of the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, came to the forefront in a way never seen before. 

The journey to 2018 brought us into community with phenomenal people like Cliff Alibright, Latosha Brown, and Nse Ufot. In 2019, it made space for reproductive justice advocates to take center stage amid an atrocious near-total abortion ban that led to the deaths of Amber. 

“We honor the Black women who broke barriers and helped make this moment possible, including Stacey Abrams, whose historic gubernatorial campaigns in 2018 and 2022 helped pave the way for this milestone,” said Sister Song Executive Director Monica Rae Simpson. “The path to Reproductive Justice and collective liberation runs through the South, with Black women at the helm. Trust Black Women.” 

The work of Sister Song and other Black women-led groups led to the Trust Black Women partnership and provided language that empowered many to step into their leadership. It became the rallying cry for many of us gathered in 2017 at the progressive conference Netroots Nation. And it gave people like this journalist a space and a lane to share their voice and join the chorus sounding the alarm on our democracy. 

Georgia organizers weathered countless storms in the last eight years; our infrastructure frayed. But the determination and desire for a better tomorrow pushed forward a real demand for change. Stacey and the wave of organizing that has flowed over nearly the last decade gave us a vehicle for pushing our collective imagination. 

Her candidacy opened up a platform and a new analysis for accurately diagnosing the needs of the moment and the way forward. 

“Our work to secure our human rights does not begin or end at the ballot box,” Simpson said. “From protecting our reproductive freedoms to expanding access to affordable health care and addressing the maternal health crisis, we can create the conditions where Black women, families, and communities can thrive. We will demand accountability from every elected official, regardless of political affiliation.”

SEE ALSO:

Black Women Seize Historic Election Wins Across the US

Georgia’s Keisha Lance Bottoms Becomes First Black Female US Governor