Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due: Stacey Abrams, the Woman Behind Georgia's Election Results by Lauren Carrier Horton

This article was originally published on November 7, 2020.

Her. Before we get all the counts from Georgia, she deserves our recognition. Stacey Abrams deserves so much honor and credit for what we are seeing in Georgia right now. And why?

Let’s talk about it because her work needs to be highlighted and her story told.

Brian Kemp took the office of Governor of Georgia in 2018, through voter suppression of many methods like purging 1.4 million voters from polls as Secretary of State, including the largest single-day purge of voters from register’s roll in U.S. history. He closed 214 precincts in that state equally more than 50,000 people unable to cast ballots in Georgia, including roughly 70 percent African Americans.

Georgia had seen voter suppression initiatives for years following SCOTUS’ ruling in the 2013 Shelby v. Holder case that removed a provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that made states obtain approval from the federal judiciary system before changing voting laws in states, primarily states with histories of voter discrimination. And, as Stacey Abrams lost that gubernatorial election to Kemp – though is it lost when suppression and blocking the ballot occurs or is the better word stolen – she fought on.

Abrams created Fair Fight. She has worked tirelessly since then fighting voter suppression in Georgia and engaging and reengaging communities of color, that were disenfranchised, once again. Her ability to organize, to educate and empower is evident as we watch the numbers roll in right now in Georgia. She mobilized and brought Georgians into the conversation of the election by listening and engaging.

Stacey Abrams went to work. She marched on. She is the epitome of what it means to work hard to improve something not just broken, but something that harms and alienates fundamental rights from people. She did this.

Stacey Abrams, we honor you, we see you and your work, and we thank you!

Photos: Stacey Abrams

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