Stacey Abrams in Minority Leader
On Government Reform:
Raising campaign funds asks others to invest in your vision
One of the most significant impediments for women running for office, particularly women of color, is the ability and willingness to raise money. We don't believe we can because we rarely see women of color who do.
And we shy away because we do not like the sensation of asking, perhaps somehow thinking we are searching for charity. In politics specifically, raising campaign dollars is about asking others to invest in your vision and your values.
We don't get to keep the money and public reports keep that from happening. In my race, I out raised my opponents $127,000 to $13,000 combined.
My capacity to fundraise helped me move quickly in the political arena and eventually win the post of minority leader.
Source: Minority Leader, by Stacey Abrams, p.126
Apr 24, 2018
On Principles & Values:
Sometimes we fail, our task is to embrace the failure
Sometimes we're going to fail, and our task is to embrace the failure. Risk-taking inevitably leads to missteps or bad decisions. Unfortunately, admitting mistakes is a fundamental skill too few of us learn. In part, this is because we've been taught
it's wrong to be wrong. As children, making mistakes serves as training ground for adulthood. However, we also begin to crave the positive reinforcement of success and avoid the flush of embarrassment when we mess up. Over time, like laboratory mice,
our instinct toward pleasure overrides our desire to learn by picking the wrong option. Worse yet, the pursuit of success becomes justification for bad behavior, a necessary step toward power.Failing forward, that is, taking risks and potentially
falling short, has a utility. Intervention, discovery, & empires are built on high degrees of failure. But screwing up serves as a form of mental cartography, which result in a map of what we should avoid and a preview of the terrain for better outcomes.
Source: Minority Leader, by Stacey Abrams, p.141-142
Apr 24, 2018
On Principles & Values:
When time not on our side, prepare for the long haul
Sometimes, winning takes longer than we hope. When time is not on our side. We have to settle in and prepare for the long haul. That requires setting expectations early for those who follow you, and adjusting to the challenges of a long fight.
Texas state senator Wendy Davis held the floor of the State Senate in 2014 for eleven hours to block a regulation to roll back reproductive choice. She beat the bill that night , but the GOP passed it in the following session, leading a newspaper to
declare she had won the battle but lost the war. The temporary win and latter loss seemed to agree with the headlines, but one of the aspects of holding power is understanding the long game-that battles up over time and creates space for others to
feel emboldened to act. And sometimes a simple act of defiance raises awareness and action, which in Davis' case meant the federal court decision that latter blocked parts of the bill from taking effect.
Source: Minority Leader, by Stacey Abrams, p.156-157
Apr 24, 2018
On Civil Rights:
Leaders should show that differences needn't be barriers
Part of the job of leaders is to show why difference doesn't have to be a barrier. My colleague Simone Bell held the distinction of being the first openly African American lesbian elected to a state legislature. Simone joined a Southern legislature that
had awkwardly grappled with its first white lesbian ten years before, but mixing stereotypes of gender and sexual orientation with race proved too much for some veterans in the House. One member, a Democratic ally, urged me to tell
Simone not to mention her status so often. It was making members uncomfortable. But for Simone, not only was her sexual orientation essential to her identity, it was central to her reasoning for running for office. She won her seat not because of her
sexual orientation but because of what it signaled to an economically depressed, largely black community. Here is a woman who understood hardship and had fought against the very oppressions that seemed to seethe unchecked in their communities.
Source: Minority Leader, by Stacey Abrams, p.46
Apr 24, 2018
On Education:
A college degree is no guarantee of opportunity
As mom and dad and millions of folks learn in our country, a college degree is no guarantee of opportunity. Despite the prestige of their educations the "isms" that stalk minorities do not disappear when we cross the academic stage, and turning the
tassel from right to left isn't a magical ritual to open closed doors. Doing exactly what were told, amassing the education and the accolades and the experiences, guarantees absolutely nothing.
A white family of median income sees a return of $55,000 from completing a four year degree.
A black family will earn a return of $4,800, slightly more than a Latino family at $4,200.
Source: Minority Leader, by Stacey Abrams, p.57
Apr 24, 2018
On Civil Rights:
For women & people of color, double standards are a constant
Regardless of how we get in the door or up the ladder, we can never forget that the expectations for us are not the same. For women and people of color, the notion of a double standard is constant. For women of color triple standards abound.
Getting inside obliges us to increase our efforts even when we are tempted to coast on our success. Opportunity places even the most successful minorities between a rock and a hard place-trying to manifest the traits to signal we are qualified and have
a right to be present while also holding fast to the qualities that got us inside in the first place.Holding opportunity means learning how to position ourselves to constantly refute the soft prejudices held against us.
No matter how else they do it, we are always required to be credentialed. Whether the bona fides come in the form of advanced education, respected training courses, or job titles, be prepared to show your credentials.
Source: Minority Leader, by Stacey Abrams, p.74-75
Apr 24, 2018
On Principles & Values:
Leadership requires confidence, insight, sheer bravado
Leadership is hard. Convincing others and often ourselves that you have the answers to overcome long standing obstacles takes a combination of confidence, insight, and sheer bravado.
Finding ways to prevail, while bringing others along with you, is the core of being a good leader and the central tenant of minority leader.
I wrote this book with the experiences and challenges in mind that might hinder anyone who exists outside the structure of traditional white male power-woman, people of color, members of the
LGBTQ plus community, those without money, and millennials ready to make a change.
Source: Minority Leader, by Stacey Abrams, p.xxiii-xxiv
Apr 24, 2018
Page last updated: Nov 25, 2021