The election of Barack Obama proved that just about anything is possible when it comes to American politics. And the election of Donald Trump reinforced that. But while Obama’s election ushered in a sense of optimism and determination, Trump’s election has done just the opposite. It’s clear that Democrats need to do something different in this new era—it’s just that there are lots of different ideas about what exactly the “something different” is. Some of the older and more traditional members of the party have suggested that Democrats need to become more centrist and middle of the road in order to win back white, working class votes. Others have championed a more progressive vision of the party and future—one that includes building up multiracial coalitions as a base.
Time will tell, after the 2018 midterms and the presidential election in 2020, which camp is right.
But in the meantime, the post-Obama era of Democratic politics has offered an opportunity for young black politicians, activists and strategists to envision a new future that is bold and unlike the traditional ways of the Democratic Party.
Across the country, a wave of black candidates, strategists and grass-roots activists are making bold moves. This new cohort of black politicians is fiercely progressive and isn’t asking anyone’s permission to make their case before voters. By and large, they don’t come from privilege, with deep-pocketed donors at the ready or with their own millions to finance a run. It’s their humble beginnings, many say, that help them connect with voters, and not solely black ones. But they don’t duck race, either, opting for authenticity rather than kid gloves: Alongside their impatience with an ever-widening wealth gap and the shrinking of opportunity for all Americans, they are unapologetic about insisting on police accountability or rejecting a glorified history of the Confederacy.
It’s not a secret that the Democratic Party has long ignored black voters—assuming that the black vote was all but assured most of the time. But it has proven a losing strategy, in terms of turnout, in certain races. There are many reasons for this: restrictive voter ID laws, felon disenfranchisement, voter apathy to name a few. But to many black voters, it feels as if the Democratic Party hasn’t done much to focus on them and to mobilize them. People are skeptical of politicians and they haven’t been inspired or motivated by the vision for America that the party has laid out. And that is exactly what the newer generation of strategists and activists hope to change.
The party has come to depend on black voters — with black women its most reliable demographic. Advocates are demanding more respect, more representation and more resources to mobilize voters. And to counter those who say that the Democratic Party is black voters’ only choice, activists, strategists and candidates point to 2016, when black turnout plummeted: Demoralized voters, it was clear, can and will simply choose to stay home. [...]
“President Obama eliminated the idea that you have to do things like they’ve always been done,” says Quentin James, who co-founded the Collective PAC with his wife, Stefanie Brown James. “He made a level playing field for newer folks, smaller organizations and groups, and disruption. Disruption can be a great thing.”
So what does disruption look like? Well, lots of ways. First, there is a cadre of young, progressive black politicians that are running who don’t believe that politics as usual is the way forward. Black women are running at record rates and in historic races where they have the chance to be the first black female mayors and members of Congress in their districts. Stacey Abrams, a Daily Kos endorsed Democrat, is running to be the first black female governor in the state and the country. There are some important races happening involving black men as well—such as Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum running for governor in Florida; Ben Jealous, former head of the NAACP, who is running for governor in Maryland; and Antonio Delgado (who identifies as black and Latino) who is running for Congress to represent upstate New York.
For their part, black strategists and organizers are thinking strategically about what is needed to mobilize black voters around the country and to help them harness their political power. According to DeJuana Thompson, an Obama administration alumni and the founder of Woke Vote—a group that sought to mobilize black millennials to vote in Alabama’s special Senate election, black political power needs to focus on building the power of the people. In an interview with The Washington Post, she said:
“Black people are in a place right now where they are very much into building independent black political structure that allows black people, black voters, black communities to really rally around the power of their voice.”
As is often the case, the long legacy of black organizing and political mobilization rests outside of the gaze of the mainstream media and culture. Racism and white supremacy has done all it can (and still does) to marginalize black people and their votes and leads us to think that blacks aren’t invested in politics. So, of course, many people believe this wave of investment by black people and for black people in political life is new. It isn’t. The personal has always been political for us and, as a result, we’ve always worked tirelessly—whether it’s been with our children, in our communities, churches, cities and/or states.
What is new is that the game has changed. And black progressives are committed to changing with it. And that means doing the hard work to create and maintain structures that work for black people, regardless of political party. As Jessica Byrd, founder of Three Point Strategies and former staff member at Emily’s List says, “Black people deserve a self-determined political home. We are building one. We want to do work for our people on our terms.”