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Mayor Vivian Covington, State Rep. Porter, Mayor Harp at the Omni.
Inspired by a stunning election victory in Alabama propelled by the black vote, African-American female politicians gathering in New Haven said they’re ready to lead in making America that “more perfect union” in these divisive times.
That message was delivered not in big speeches, but in side conversations at the opening reception a first-ever women’s retreat being held by the African American Mayors Association (AAMA) at the Omni Hotel. New Haven Mayor Toni Harp is the group’s current president.
Talking amongst each other, elected leaders Wednesday night said they bring a perspective that’s been missing from our nation’s politics. And they said they hope that, in this moment of reckoning with President Trump’s backwards-looking agenda, more women of color get the support they need to run for office.
The welcome on Wednesday night kicked off AAMA’s two-day conference at the Omni. On Thursday, black female mayors from Flint, Michigan; Gary, Indiana; University Park, Illinois; and, of course, New Haven will converge for a roundtable conversation on barriers black women face to leadership in government and business. Then, on Friday, they’ll join in AAMA’s leadership summit, headlined by Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor and Barack Obama’s supposed pick as a 2020 presidential contender.
Conventioneers at the Omni.
As champagne flowed and platters of crab cakes circled the room, the guests at the Omni grooved to salsa beats. They took selfies and recorded video clips, as mayoral staffers from Georgia to Connecticut exchanged numbers.
The mood felt buoyant, coming just a day after Democrats claimed a stunning upset in the Alabama U.S. Senate election. Driven by high turnout from black voters and crossover from college-educated whites, Doug Jones, a former prosecutor who locked up Klu Klux Klan members for a decades-old black church bombing, defeated Roy Moore, a twice-disbarred state chief justice accused of preying on teenage girls.
New Haven Mayor Harp said the election signaled that women are demanding a higher standard from their politicians.
“I believe that what you’re going to see as more women take on leadership is really holding this country to the values it’s espoused for hundreds of years that still seem to skew in the wrong direction. I think you’re going to see women insist that the values we know are strong guide our policy and resources,” she said. “We’ve gone down a bit of the wrong road, and it’s time we turn around and be the country we know ourselves to be.”
Black women have gained a foothold in politics, but they’re still underrepresented in elected office. Currently, in Washington, D.C., there’s one mixed-race senator, 20 Congresswomen (including one Republican) and two delegates. In state capitals, only two hold statewide office, one of whom is Connecticut Treasurer Denise Nappier. No state has ever elected a black female governor, though one’s making a bid in Georgia. In city halls, four black women run major American cities — San Antonio, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and San Francisco — and hundreds of others work in medium cities and small towns.
Vivian Covington, the mayor of University Park, Ill., a small town an hour south of Chicago, said that elevating black women to leadership roles creates generational change.
Covington grew up in the era of the “brown-bag test,” when only those with skin lighter than a paper bag gained certain privileges. Now, as an IT specialist for the federal government and elected official, she said, she hopes other black girls see there’s nothing to hold them back.
“I felt an obligation to represent our black women, to let them know that can be accomplished. Don’t just sit back and accept rejection,” she said. “We know that we have that strength. We’re not limited anymore. The chains are not, physically or mentally, on us. The doors are open, and we need to understand how important that is.”
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Harp addressing retreat: Women will hold this country to its values.
Harp said she is particularly excited about the prospect of more black female mayors, a goal of some of the scheduled sessions planned for the New Haven retreat. That’s because mayor’s offices are the place “where the rubber meets the road,” she said, where policy matters so much to constituents’ daily lives. In those debates, black women often advocate for communities that have been “overlooked” historically, she said.
“You’re seeing more women take on those tough issues that have evaded us in the past, as cities and certainly as a country,” Harp said.
State Rep. Robyn Porter, who also attended opening night, said advocacy on those fundamental issues isn’t new for black women. What’s different is that their voices are finally being heard.
As an example, she pointed to a speech she gave on the for of the Connecticut House of Representatives in April 2016, when her testimony about surviving domestic violence convinced Republicans to back a law forcing abusers to turn in their guns if a partner gets a temporary restraining order.
“They couldn’t believe it: ‘You experienced that?’” she recalled. “When you can bring your perspective to it, the way you deliver that has the power to actually change others’ viewpoints.” The bill passed by a 104-to-42 vote.
“We see what happened in Alabama. We did that for a conservative Democrat,” she went on. “We need to do that for our own folks. Then you don’t have to worry about: ‘Is he going to be progressive on the issues? Is he going to represent your concerns?’ You’ve got somebody that’s lived it, that’s a given. People don’t have to question what I’m up there standing for.”
Still, Porter added, other communities need to fight for what matters to black women, not just see them as votes on their own issues.
“Personally, I would say a big challenge is that we go to bat for everybody. We embrace all issues. It’s part of our history. But who goes to bat for us?” she asked. “When I step out on racial issues like police brutality, I don’t get the support I think I should have. My plea, my ask to progressives, is that we bring all these issues under one umbrella, where we’re not selecting and choosing what we want to be progressive on.”
She added, “I don’t want to be nobody’s pawn.”