She Grows It™ would like to highlight Stacey Abrams as one of the most influential leaders in the US right now, who for years said the country could go blue [1][2]. The American people will continue to be heard as votes are still being counted, and as of this morning, Joe Biden is leading in Georgia. And, Stacey Abrams deserves the credit and praise for her work in making this happen. She showed us all how to lose with grace and still show up and contribute in meaningful ways [5].

Democracy has been Stacey Abrams' inspirational mission since 2013 when she founded a voter-registration non-profit organization called the New Georgia Project, which registered 86,000 new voters [2][6]. In 2018, she lost by only 1.5% to Republican Brian Kemp in the Georgia gubernatorial race because of the racially-motivated voter suppression [1][6]. The same year she founded the Fair Fight non-profit organization, through which she confronts voter suppression by raising awareness and advocating for an increase in voter registration in Black communities [4][6]. She emphasizes her position by stating “When I decided not to concede the election, I acknowledged the legal sufficiency of the numbers. I challenged the system that permitted those numbers to be the tote board, and I challenged the legitimacy of a system that could permit voters to be denied millions, much of which is directed towards the Democratic parties, which lobbied for voting rights expanding legislation.” By October 2020, the Fair Fight raised over $32 million, much of which was directed towards the Democratic Party, which lobbied for expanding voting rights legislation [1][6].

Abrams’ main goal was ensuring that Georgia was made to be a competitive state in the 2020 presidential election. With commitment in her heart and tenacity on her mind, her message broke through, and the results of this are evident in today’s count. [3][6].  Since 1992, Georgia has not given its 16 electoral votes to a Democratic presidential candidate, but today there is hope that it could eventually turn from red to blue [5]. Regardless of the elections’ outcome, she will go down in history as a leader and one of the truest advocates of human rights. 

Authors: Dr. Ashley Milton, Marina Tsoumpa

Editors: Alyssa Kalac, SGI Communications Team

References:

1. Brown, M. (2020, November 05). Georgia solidifies its swing-state status thanks, in part, to Stacey Abrams. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/05/stacey-abrams-gets-credit-close-race-trump-biden-georgia/6171489002/ 

2. Klein, E. (2020, November 02). Stacey Abrams on minority rule, voting rights, and the future of democracy. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://www.vox.com/ezra-klein-show-podcast/21540804/stacey-abrams-2020-biden-trump-election-voter-suppression-laws-republicans 

3. Lizza, R. (2020, November 02). How Stacey Abrams convinced Biden to take Georgia - and her - seriously. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/01/stacey-abrams-biden-georgia-433799 

4. Macaya, M. (2020, November 06). Why Stacey Abrams deserves credit for Biden's performance in Georgia. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-biden-election-results-11-06-20/h_970189ccac898eef0490d2ad98718320

5. Palmer, E. (2020, November 06). As Biden surpasses Trump in Georgia, Democrats thank Stacey Abrams, Remember John Lewis. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-georgia-stacey-abrams-john-lewis-1545419 

6. Ruiz, M. (2020, November 06). How Stacey Abrams Is Turning the Tide in Georgia. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/stacey-abrams