Writing for Courier Newsroom, The Burton Wire‘s founder & editor-in-chief Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., discusses how Black women continue to have hope for democracy in the face of despair while living in an anti-Black and sexist country. Burton writes:
“Part of being Black and a woman in America is having hope in the face of despair and pressing on against the anti-Black and sexist establishment that actively works against our progress. There are so many examples of this type of leadership and resiliency: Sojourner Truth, Barbara Jordan, Carol Mosely Braun, Shirley Chisholm, and others.Â
As a college professor and writer, I often deconstruct topics and issues to put them back together so they make sense. Because of my areas of expertise—intersectionality (race, class, gender, sexuality) and media—I can be very cynical and often see the world through a dark lens, sometimes to the chagrin of those around me. Yet and still, it is because of my deep understanding of those issues and how they work in this country that I still have hope for democracy.Â
Part of having hope is celebrating the wins, however small they may seem. Having a presidential race that wasn’t a landslide for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is disappointing. But I also realize that in the United States, that landslide could have very well gone the other way because of all of the work around issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality we haven’t done.Â
In Georgia, there is still so much to celebrate in this election. Voters in coastal Georgia ousted District Attorney Jackie Johnson, who failed to appropriately investigate or initially charge anyone in the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery earlier this year. Independent Keith Higgins defeated Johnson, a Republican, 66%-34%. This is particularly noteworthy considering Johnson was initially running unopposed in this election…”
Read the entire article at Courier Newsroom.
Follow Nsenga on Twitter @Ntellectual.
