Stacey Abrams is Angry
On Thursday January 23, Stacey Abrams, 2018 Democratic governor nominee was the featuring speaker for the Morehouse College Annual MLK Lecture Series Program. Aside from being a Spelman alumna, Abrams is widely known for running for governor of Georgia. In the 2018 governor elections, Abrams lost to Brian Kemp by thousands of votes. Abrams claims that the election was not fairly conducted due to voter suppression and sued the Georgia Board of elections.
Within Stacey Abrams lecture she discusses how she is promoting the values that Martin Luther King Jr. fought for. As one of seven children she states how her parents used the dreams of Dr. King to make a way for their children. Abrams continues to state, “Elections are not about candidates winning offices, elections are about people”. She states how after discovering that she had not won the opportunity to be the governor of Georgia, she gave a speech about how she would continue to fight. Abrams believes that her responsibility was not to get the job, but to follow through with the promises she made. She swore to never stop fighting for equality until every vote was counted. In order to follow through with the promises she made, she created a program titled Fair Fight. Fair Fight is a program that brings awareness to the public on election reform and engages in targeted voter registration. Fair Fight also has organizations on Morehouse and Spelman campuses.
Abrams continues to talk about how in her book there’s a chapter on fear. Fear to her is a natural part of trying and being afraid is not a reason not to try. When asked why she did not incorporate a chapter on anger she makes a comparison to the Avengers, where Bruce Banner states he is able to become the hulk because he is always angry. Stacey proceeds to state “I’m angry, I am angry because I believe poverty is immoral, I believe it is economically inefficient ...”, she even goes as far as to state how ideologies such as racism and homophobia stunts the growth of society.
During the Q & A round, Stacey was asked what role she intends on playing in the presidential election, and would she consider the role of Vice President. She responds by saying moving forward she will continue to fight for voters’ rights, and that she would be honored to take on the position of Vice President. Until then, people can look to see Stacey Abrams new book on voting rights come out next summer and watch her continue to fight for voter equality.