The United States of America waited with bated breath as key states in the election finished tallying up their ballots. Many began to lose hope because of the evident lead Trump gained on Tuesday night. But while the nation’s eyes were on states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania; Georgia stole the spotlight on Friday morning, giving Biden a substantial lead in the election; This leading to his victory on Saturday morning.
Georgia, despite a history of being a purely red state, flipped for the first time since Bill Clinton in 1992. It came as a shock to the country as a whole; And it was all thanks to Yale Law School graduate, political leader, and former Georgia state representative Stacey Abrams.
Due to racially-motivated voter suppression, Abrams lost against Brian Kemp in the 2018 gubernatorial race for Georgia governor. The Associated Press underwent an investigation, which revealed that since 2012, Kemp had mass-canceled over a million voter registrations. Leading up to the election, the former Georgian secretary of state froze roughly 53,000 voter registrations with a majority of them coming from the African American community.
“Voting will not save us from harm, but silence will surely damn us all.”
Stacey Abrams, NY Times
Abrams Never Gave Up On Democracy
Abrams lost the 2018 race by a paper-thin margin amidst evident voter suppression in the state. However, this was only the beginning of Abrams’ political career.
In the same year as her loss, Abrams founded Fair Fight Action. This organization promotes fair elections, encourages voter participation, and educates voters about their voting rights along with local and national elections.
Overall, Abrams’ activism empowered voters to yearn for a change in Georgia, turning the tides of the state. Through her organization, she was able to register about 500,000 voters, a majority of them being young and people of color.
Since Georgia’s flip to a blue state, many on social media have shown praise for Abrams and her political work. The public has been crediting her for the democratic win of the state and expressed their wish of her becoming the head of the Democratic National Committee under Biden’s presidency.
The nation believed that our democracy was failing in the midst of the 2020 election. But Abrams gave us this sign that exemplified that the United States of America’s democracy is officially making a comeback.
Read also:
Our Voter Suppression Crisis
A Historic Election In More Ways Than One
Children’s Books That Teach About Elections and Voting
