To celebrate Black History Month, the California Democratic Party and the CADEM Black Caucus hosted the virtual conversation “Women In Lead.”
On Feb. 25, 2021, political figures sat down to discuss the support that Black women need in order to run for elected offices and what it means to be a Black woman in politics.
Kafi Blumenfield, Alisyo founder, helped moderate the meeting and lead the conversation with Black women leaders. She presented the three elected leaders who would share their leadership journey.
Blumenfield started the conversation by emphasizing the importance of diversity in the workplace.
“Researchers have concluded over and over again that diversity leads to excellence,” Blumenfield said. “When we have different genders, sexual orientations and ethnicities in our workplace, diverse thought, the outcomes are just better than this remains true in governance.”
The first leader to join the conversation was Assembly member Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who represents the 54th Assembly District. Kamlager-Dove is part of the chair of the select committee on incarcerated women and focuses on reforming policies to support the health, dignity and rehabilitation of women in prison.
Blumenfield asked how important background experience and Kamlager-Dove’s perspective as a Black women are in shaping the decisions she makes in the legislature.
“Inherently, I’m thinking about all of the types of Black women that I know and how would this particular bill or this particular budget line item impact their livelihood,” Kamlager-Dove responded. “And I just fundamentally believe that if that woman is going to do better because of a particular bill, then every single other Californian, by default is going to do better at least because of that bill.”
Another one of the topics that was talked about was the Black Lives Matter movement.
Blumenfield asked Representative of the 13th Congressional District in California, Barbara Lee, to share any advice to today’s Black women who have found their voices during the movement.
“Continue to lead, continue to be yourselves. Remember that Black Lives Matter and we’re Black women and still we rise,” Lee said.
The month of February is known as Black history month.
Taisha Brown, Chair of the California Democratic Party Black Caucus, talked about the importance of Black history month.
For Brown, it means that everyone is blessed to have a month which celebrates the achievement of Black Americans.
“And yet, I also believe that every single month is Black history month, for me,” said Brown.
Brown also encouraged everyone to educate themselves and expressed her disappointment for the Democratic Party because there is still a lot to be done when it comes to Black individuals in politics.
“I must say California and the Democratic Party has not lived up to the fullest potential when it comes to Black people. We can and we must do better,” said Brown. “Further, I ask that each one of us commits to educating ourselves more about the Black experience by reading about Black history.”
For more information about the California Democratic Party African-American Caucus visit their website.
