Lead from the Outside: on Civil Rights


Entered politics in 1992 with Rodney King riots

I can easily trace my goal of becoming mayor to my freshman year of college. In that spring of 1992, America exploded when the Rodney King verdict was announced. In downtown Atlanta, where I attended school, young black men and women smashed windows, overturned cars, and ransacked the city. For my part, I joined with fellow students in a silent march.

Yet, although I helped lead the peaceful protest, I understood what drove those angry young people to hurl bottles and shout epithets.

Source: Lead from the Outside, by Stacey Abrams, p. 15-17 Mar 26, 2019

Inspire running for office:You cannot be what you cannot see

Sometimes, we inadvertently constrict the aspirations of those who share our particular strain of otherness. We need to be in it for others like us.

The imperative of showing it can be done is only logical. When no one in a poor neighborhood owns a business, the idea of entrepreneurship scarcely takes root. Kids who have never met a college graduate tend not to pursue higher education. Groups like Emily's List and Higher Heights for America know how to convince women how to run an office, especially women of color, you must tell them about other women who have run for office in the past, even after they have actually won. The pithy saying goes, "You cannot be what you cannot see."

Source: Lead from the Outside, by Stacey Abrams, p. 77 Mar 26, 2019

  • The above quotations are from Lead from the Outside
    How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change
    by Stacey Abrams     .
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Civil Rights.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Stacey Abrams on Civil Rights.
Candidates and political leaders on Civil Rights:

Gubernatorial Debates 2020:
DE: vs.Carney(incumbent) vs.Williams(D)
IN: vs.Holcomb(incumbent) vs.Melton(D) vs.Myers(D)
MO: Parson(incumbent) vs.Galloway(D) vs.Neely(R)
MT: Bullock(retiring) vs.Fox(R) vs.Perry(R) vs.Gianforte(R) vs.Stapleton(R) vs.Olszewski(R) vs.Neill(D) vs.Schreiner(D) vs.Cooney(D) vs.Williams(D)
NC: Cooper(incumbent) vs.Forest(R) vs.Grange(R)
ND: Burgum(incumbent) vs.Coachman(R) vs.Lenz(D)
NH: Sununu(incumbent) vs.Volinsky(D) vs. fsFeltes(D)
PR: Rossello(D) vs.Garced(D) vs.Pierluisi(D)
UT: Herbert(retiring) vs.Huntsman(R) vs.Cox(R) vs.Burningham(R) vs.Newton(D) vs.Hughes(R)
VT: Scott(incumbent) vs.Holcombe(D) vs.Zuckerman(D)
WA: Inslee(incumbent) vs.Bryant(R) vs.Fortunato(R)
WV: Justice(incumbent) vs.Folk(R) vs.Thrasher(R) vs.Vanover(D) vs.Smith(D) vs.Ron Stollings(D)
Gubernatorial Debates 2021:
NJ:
Murphy(D) vs.Ciattarelli(R)
VA:
Northam(D,term-limited) vs.Herring(D) vs.Chase(R) vs.Fairfax(D)

Gubernatorial Debates 2019:
KY:
Bevin(R) vs.Goforth(R,lost primary) vs.Adkins(D,lost primary) vs.Beshear(D) vs.Edelen(D,lost primary)
LA:
Edwards(D) vs.Rispone(R) vs.Abraham(R) vs.Kennedy(R,declined)
MS:
Bryant(R,retiring) vs.Foster(R) vs.Hood(D) vs.Reeves(R) vs.Waller(R)
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Page last updated: May 01, 2021