EMILYs List Statement on Black History Month

For Immediate Release
February 1, 2021

EMILYs List Statement on Black History Month

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In recognition of Black History Month, EMILYs List President Stephanie Schriock released the following statement: 

“As we enter Black History Month, we continue to celebrate the historic inauguration of Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to hold the office, and the swearing in of Black women legislators who are championing progress at all levels of government. And even with this groundbreaking achievement, we are still grappling with injustices that the Black community shoulders every day. The racial inequities that continue to permeate across our communities of color in access to health care, education, transportation, and treatment by law enforcement is a stain on the state of civil rights in our country.

We're proud that more Black women than ever are serving in elected offices championing issues like equal pay and advocating for equal access to health care throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. EMILYs List is committed to addressing the challenges Black women face running for office and their lack of representation in elected office. While we have much to change in this country, we are grateful for the leadership of Vice President Harris and many other Black women leaders, and we join them in standing up to racism and fighting for a more diverse and equitable government.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 157 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.