Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation is a collection of stories about women’s representation in politics, boardrooms, sports and entertainment, the judiciary, and the private sector in the United States and around the world, mixed with a little gardening and goodwill for a change of pace. I am. !
The RepresentWomen team returns from a long-awaited winter recovery and is ready to continue building women’s political power in 2025 and beyond. The United States is moving further into unprecedented territory regarding women’s representation. We must envision a 21st century democracy where all women can run, win, lead, and serve. We want to reaffirm our commitment not only to supporting women leaders, but also to reforming the entire electoral system to create a truly representative government.
Earlier this week, the United States made history with the swearing-in of Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Delaware). For the first time, two black women served in the Senate at the same time.
Delaware also elected its first transgender lawmaker, Sarah McBride. And in Washington, Emily Randall becomes the first LGBTQ+ Latina member of Congress.
However, despite these victories, the overall number of women serving in the House of Representatives and the Senate has declined, and the composition of Congress shows disparities between party affiliation and gender.
The elections of Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and Namibia’s President Netumbo Nnamdi-Ntowa demonstrate growing enthusiasm for gender-balanced governments around the world. Comparative systems such as gender quotas and proportional representation are just some of the reforms that can be implemented in the United States to continue to increase the political power of women in the United States.
The first quarter of 2025 will be a busy time for RepresentWomen, including the release of our new international microsite, a new brief on gender equality in North America, the continuation of our Black Women in Politics series, and the launch of our Democracy Solutions Summit. -Off International Women’s Month. To learn more about these initiatives, discuss collaboration, and chat about how we can build women’s political power in 2025, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].
This week’s weekend reads include President Jimmy Carter’s accomplishments, activist Fannie Lou Hamer’s posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, milestones in the U.S. Congress, and the number of women serving in state-level government. increase, and the impact of January’s presidential election. 6 Riots against female MPs.
Remembering Jimmy Carter’s Legacy
Former President Jimmy Carter plans to rest at his parents’ home in Georgia this week. Although she only served one term, her tenure was pivotal in advancing women’s inclusion and rights. Carter demonstrated a commitment to racial and gender equality, working closely with prominent black leaders like Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan.
Mr. Carter broke new ground with his appointment, naming Patricia Roberts Harris as the first black woman to serve in the Cabinet (HUD). He also appointed other Black women, including Eleanor Holmes Norton to lead the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Hazel R. O’Leary to a senior position in the energy department. Alexis Herman, appointed by Mr. Carter as the agency’s youngest female director, championed policies such as equal pay, child care, maternity leave and protections from sexual harassment.
As the United States slowly moves toward gender balance in politics, Jimmy Carter will be remembered for his lifelong dedication to equity, justice, and service.
NBC’s Donna M. Owens reports:
From judges to cabinet-level appointments, black women took new steps in the Carter administration. He served as president from 1977 to 1981 in the midst of a wave of feminist and gender activism that followed the rise of the civil rights movement.
After it was announced last year that Carter, 100, had entered hospice care at home, Black women who worked with him during his administration told NBC News that Carter, who died Sunday, Long has been a champion of women, especially as gender norms have changed with his tenure…
“There is not a single initiative related to women’s rights that did not have a foundation in the Carter administration,” Herman said.
According to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, Carter is one of the 12 women appointed to cabinet or cabinet-level positions since President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Frances Perkins as secretary of labor in 1933. He is one of the presidents of According to CAWP data, the White House and President Carter have appointed four women to such positions.
119th U.S. Congress Milestone: 3 LGBTQ Women Sworn In
Three LGBTQ+ women made history by taking the oath in the 119th U.S. Congress. Sarah McBride becomes the first openly transgender member of Congress. Congresswoman Emily Randall made history as the first queer Latina in Congress. And Congresswoman Julie Johnson became the first openly LGBTQ person from the South to be elected to Congress. In the 119th Congress, the number of openly LGBTQ members of Congress increased to 13, including 12 in the House and Sen. Tammy Baldwin in the Senate.
NBC News’ Joe Yurkaba reports:
Congresswoman Sarah McBride served two terms in the Delaware State Senate and won the state’s only House seat in November. McBride is no stranger to making history. In 2020, she was elected as the nation’s first openly transgender state senator.
Randall was elected to the Washington State Senate in 2018 by a margin of 102 votes, flipping the seat previously held by Republicans. She said she decided to run in late 2016 after the election of President Donald Trump.
Johnson won the state’s 115th Congressional District election in 2018, becoming the first Texas House member to have a same-sex spouse.
She ran for Congress on a platform of protecting abortion access at the federal level, tightening gun control, and protecting the Affordable Care Act.
18 female members of Congress prepare for Trump’s return as president. Remember the threat of violence during and after the January 6th riot
On January 6, 2025, four years after the violent insurrection at the Capitol in 2021, Vice President Kamala Harris presided over a joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College. Eighteen women who were present on the day of the attack remain in parliament. It was led by supporters of President Trump and is currently considered an act of domestic terrorism by the FBI. Seventeen members of the House of Representatives and one senator told the newspaper on the 19th how the violence and trauma of January 6 has affected their experiences as members of Congress as they try to combat the spread of misinformation about the severity of that day. He talked about what he gave.
Mariel Padilla of the 19th wrote about a former lawmaker:
New Hampshire Representative Anne McClain Kuster said she is still dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder from January 6, one of the “most traumatic events” of her life. Kuster was also one of the last five members to be evacuated from the House chamber. She heard the roar of the crowd and banging on the door, and experienced a panic attack as the police forced them to sneak into the elevator and rush them through an underground tunnel to safety. Kuster then saw surveillance footage showing insurgents carrying backpacks, bear maces and zip ties entering the same hallway they had evacuated from 30 seconds earlier.
“I’m haunted by the idea that if the police hadn’t taken five seconds here and five seconds there to push back the bike racks and push back the people who were crushed against the door, there would have been five of us.” , killed or injured,” Kuster said. “It was just a five-vote majority, and if we weren’t there, America might never have woken up with Joe Biden as the legitimately elected President of the United States.”
Kuster said he decided to retire this year before Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, and that January 6 was one of the reasons he decided to retire.
Women’s progress in politics is mixed: New records set in state legislatures and governorships as representation declines
This year will bring mixed prospects for women’s representation in politics. For the first time since 2016, there has been no net increase in the number of women elected to parliament, but there is still significant progress. For the first time, two black women, Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks, will serve in the Senate at the same time. A record for women in administrative positions has also been set, with 13 female governors expected to be inaugurated in 2025. At the state level, 2,467 women will serve in Congress, setting a new record. However, they still make up only about one-third of all MPs.
CNN’s Simone Pate, Renee Rigdon and Arit John write:
The number of women in parliament is decreasing, but not significantly. Overall, there will be 150 women in the new parliament, down from the 152 recorded in 2024. This is the first time since the 2016 election that there has been no net increase in the number of female representatives. According to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University…
Fannie Lou Hamer receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Last week, President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 people, including a posthumous honor to civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer. Hammer was a civil rights activist and was known for his fierce advocacy of voting and equal rights. She also founded programs to combat poverty, including Freedom Farm and Mississippi’s first Head Start program. Her award was accepted by her family, who continue to honor her legacy through projects such as the documentary Fannie Lou Hamer’s America.
Mississippi Today reports:
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest award, awarded to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, security, world peace, or other important social, public, or private endeavors of the United States. This is a civilian honor…
A vocal advocate of voting and equal rights for all, Mr. Hammer is remembered as a fiery and eloquent speaker who said, “I’m sick of it.”
A number of political heavyweights, including Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif., Mississippi) and NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson, spoke of Hammer’s bravery at the Democratic National Convention in August. He mentioned his attitude.
Born October 6, 1917, Hammer was a sharecropper in Mississippi who received a sixth-grade education and worked tirelessly to help thousands of black residents in his home state register and vote. Ta. As a result of these efforts, Hammer and several others were arrested in Winona on June 9, 1963, while returning home from a voter registration workshop in South Carolina. Hammer and three others, including 15-year-old June Johnson, were severely beaten by local police. The activists were released four days later, on June 12.
Save the date: March 4-6, Democracy Solutions Summit
Save your dates for RepresentWomen’s 2025 Democracy Solutions Summit, a three-day virtual event from March 4-6, 2025. The summit will feature inspiring women leaders in politics and discuss important issues related to democracy and women’s representation. Please stay tuned for further information. In the meantime, visit this landing page to add a hold on your calendar.