Ep. 59: Glynda Carr and Kimberly Peeler-Allen, Co-founders of Higher Heights For America, Are Harnessing Black Women’s Political Power
"Many of us woke up on November 9th depressed. But two things happened on Election Day when I was able to pull myself together. Black women actually voted. 94% of black women voted to move this country forward by voting for Hillary Clinton...and we elected the largest number of women of color in Congress in history. So at a time when progressives lost from the top of the ticket to the bottom of the ticket, women of color broke through."
Glynda Carr and Kimberly Peeler-Allen are the co-founders of Higher Heights For America, building a national infrastructure to harness Black women’s political power and leadership potential. Higher Heights invests in a long-term strategy to analyze, expand and support a Black women’s leadership pipeline at all levels and strengthen their civic participation beyond just Election Day. On this episode, Glynda and Kimberly share good news about black women in politics, discuss exciting candidacies, and talk about their own inspiring career paths.
"If we have all this economic power and electoral power, why is it that we live in a country where men have three times more political power than women and eight times more power than women of color?"
What you'll learn:
- HHFA was born when Glynda and Kimberly saw a need for female voices were not in the political decision making rooms, especially women of colour.
- The people in greatest need of representative voices were black women in America.
- HHFA helps get these women into politics by nurturing the full pipeline from voting to leadership and engagement.
- HHFA encourage women to register to vote, get to the polls on voting days and then use their voices to engage their elected officials.
- They have built a network of black women and allies in order to uild and harness black women's politital power.
- HHFA is active on social media as black women are some of the highest users of social media according to a recent Neilsons report.
- In 2008 and 2012 there was a record number of black female votes.
- Men have 3 times more political power than women and 8 times more than women of colour.
- 94% of black women who voted, voted for Hilary in 2016.
- The POC vote decreased but this was due to voter ID laws.
- 95% of prosecutors are white men, however now there are a record number of black female prosecutors.
- HHFS are focusing on the upcoming US mayoral elections where a black woman is running in 11 of these cities.
- Political financial donation is very important and in 2008 more women than ever gave political donations to the Obama campaign.
- Kimberley and Glynda's families were both very politically active when they were growing up.
- Kimberley minored in political science at university and worked at a lobbying firm when she graduated.
- She moved into funding when she saw how few candidates of colour there were and how difficult it was for them to find funding.
- Glynda studied music at undergrad and then worked in political engagement after graduation.
Advice:
Have faith in yourself.
Always say yes to media appearances
Learn more:
- http://www.higherheightsforamerica.org/