Firsts in History
In Georgia, Stacey Abrams was the first African American woman to represent a major party in a gubernatorial election. Abrams ran against Brian Kemp in 2018 in an election that was fraught with accusations of voter suppression. When she lost, Abrams refused to concede.
Although she was courted by the Democratic party to run for national office, she stayed in Georgia and established Fair Fight – an organization that worked to address voter suppression. By the 2020 election, Abrams’ and other voting rights advocates’ efforts paid off. Not only did Georgia turn blue, but in doing so, the balance of power in Congress shifted to the Democrats.
On August 11, 2020, presidential hopeful Joe Biden invited California senator Kamala Harris to be his running mate. In January of 2021, Harris became the first woman, first African American and first Indian American to be sworn in as Vice President.
