By Olivia Rynberg-Going, NWPC Political Planning and Action Intern
Kamala Harris’ Maternal Health Day of Action
On December 7, 2021, Vice President Kamala Harris held the White House’s first ever Maternal Health Day of Action. White House officials say that Harris met with lawmakers, cabinet secretaries, and celebrities, on Tuesday to discuss American maternal health. In the future, Harris will meet with members of the private and public sector, and initiate federal reports and guidance in pursuit of substantial solutions to what is undoubtedly, a health crisis.
The United States has the highest rate of maternal death among the most economically developed countries. In the United States, 20 women per 100,000 live births, die as a result of their pregnancy (before, during, or after childbirth). For comparison, the second highest maternal death rate in a peer country is 8.7 out of 100,000 live births in France. Maternal death is not experienced evenly across the American population. Black and Native women are more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than any other demographic.
Throughout her career – from her time as a District Attorney in California, to the Maternal Care Act and the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act that she introduced as a Senator – Kamala Harris has fought for the right to safe pregnancies. Harris announced on Tuesday that a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Report shows that expanded Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months has a positive impact on mothers and maternal health. Harris has public and private sector companies promising up to $20 million commitments to the cause, as well as “$20 million in maternal health efforts domestically and more than $150 million globally,” to aid in her mission.
While Harris led Tuesday’s discussions, the entire Biden administration is dedicated to maternal health. President Biden signed legislation in November to address maternal mortality among veterans. He authorized $15 million for the new Veterans Affairs maternity care coordination programs.
Some of the funding for these maternal mortality solutions will come from President Biden’s landmark Build Back Better bill, which Congress passed before Thanksgiving. Maternal health activists and pregnant people alike, now join a litany of Americans waiting for, and relying upon, the Senate to pass the bill.
In her speech on Tuesday, Harris said: “Regardless of income level, regardless of education level, Black women, Native women, women who live in rural areas are more likely to die or be left scared, or scarred, from an experience that should be safe, and should be a joyful one. And we know a primary reason why this is true: systemic inequities.”
The first female Vice President of the United States then said to the ovary-havers of America, “I hear you. We hear you. And we are here to take action.”
Carrie Meek Remembered
Carrie Mae Pittman Meek was born in Tallahassee, Florida in 1926. The youngest of 12 children, Carrie was the daughter of sharecroppers, and the granddaughter of an enslaved Black American. Meek graduated from Florida A&M University (an HBCU, at the time called: Florida A&M College for Negroes) in 1946. At the time, the state of Florida didn’t allow Black people to attend its graduate schools, so Meek left home and received her master’s of science degree from the University of Michigan.
Meek’s first post-graduate job was teaching at Bethune-Cookman College. Later, Meek taught at her alma mater, Florida A&M University. In 1961, Meek moved to Miami and served as special assistant to the vice president of Miami-Dade Community College. There, Meek fought hard for integration, and in 1963 Miami-Dade Community College was desegregated.
While Meek engaged in political activism through her faculty position, her political career didn’t formally start until 1979 when Gwen Cherry passed away. In 1970, Gwen Cherry was the first Black woman elected to the Florida House of Representatives. Cherry was a teacher, lawyer, Democrat, and the founder of the National Association for Black Women Attorneys. Cherry held leadership positions within the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC), as well as the Minority Affairs Committee for the Democratic National Convention of 1972. When Cherry died unexpectedly at the age of 55, the impact of her loss was felt in an array of Floridian communities, but especially among Black women.
A special election was held to pick Cherry’s successor. Carrie Meek ran for it, won the seat, and served as a Democrat in the Florida House of Representatives until 1982. Meek ran for a newly-drawn state senate seat, and became the first Black woman elected to the Florida Senate.
In 1992, Carrie Meek was elected to the United States House of Representatives on behalf of Florida’s 17th congressional district. On January 3rd, 1993, Carrie Meek, Corrinne Brown, and Alcee Hastings (who died in office, April 2021) became the first Black members of Congress to represent Florida since the Reconstruction Era (specifically: Josiah T. Walls, a formerly enslaved Black American, Republican, elected in 1871).
Meek’s first job in office was to allocate relief funds to her district after Hurricane Andrew. Over her tenure, Meek focused on economic development, health care, education, and housing. Meek believed that her district was undercounted in the 1990 Census, which affected the final count of electoral votes given to George W. Bush in his narrow victory in the Presidential Election of 2000. Meek and other members of Congress voiced this concern, but Bush’s election wasn’t overturned.
In 2003, Carrie Meek retired from The United States House of Representatives. Her son, Kendrick Meek, succeeded her, and represented Florida’s 17th congressional district until 2011. Carrie Meek passed away in her home on November 28, 2021 at the age of 95. Carrie Meek never lost an election. She is survived by three children, seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Stacey Abrams for Governor
Stacey Abrams, voting rights activist, author, politician, and a leader in the Democratic party, has announced her candidacy for Governor of Georgia. If Abrams wins, she will become the first Black Governor of Georgia, and the first Black woman to serve as Governor of any state.
Abrams was born in Madison, Wisconsin, and spent her early years in Gulfport, Mississippi. In high school, her family moved to Atlanta, Georgia so that both of her parents could pursue graduate degrees at Emory University. Abrams has a Bachelor’s degree from Spelman College, a Master of Public Affairs degree from the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.
Abrams served in the Georgia house of representatives from 2007 to 2017, representing the 89th district, which includes portions of Atlanta, and DeKalb county. As a state legislator, Abrams was known for her bipartisanship, and dedication to collaboration. Notably, in her tenure, she collaborated with Republicans to save a Georgia-based scholarship program, and to fund Georgia’s biggest-ever public transportation project. Abrams also single-handedly stopped the largest tax increase in Georgia’s history that would have raised taxes in 82% of Georgian households. As reported by Time Magazine, Abrams analyzed the bill herself, and left printed copies on the desk of every House legislator.
Abrams became a household name in 2018, when she ran for Governor of Georgia against Brian Kemp. All eyes were on Stacey Abrams in 2018 – the first Black woman in the United States to be a major party’s nominee for Governor. During his candidacy for Governor, Brian Kemp served as Georgia’s Secretary of State. His political position garnered a power imbalance unseen in normal races with candidates on an equal playing field. Kemp’s most famous abuse of his position as Secretary of State during the campaign involved his role in a timely purge of Georgian voters.
Under the guise of fraud prevention, Kemp’s office canceled 1.4 million voter registrations, effectively ensuring that most of those 1.4 million American citizens wouldn’t be able to vote on election day. And while Georgia is nearly 60% white, 75% of Kemp’s purged voters were ethnic and racial minorities. Abrams lost her bid for Georgia’s governorship by 50,000 votes – a margin small enough that Kemp’s voter purge had to have had some effect on the outcome of the election. Abrams’ maintains that Kemp did not maintain a fair election, but has never publicly claimed that he purged voters of color to steal the election. There is a colloquial understanding among many Democrats that Kemp did, in fact, do the latter.
After her loss, Abrams started an organization called Fair Fight Georgia, to ensure free and fair elections. This organization led to Abrams being named to the Forbes list of “World’s Most Powerful Women in 2020”. Abrams also wrote a New York Times bestselling book: Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change, and launched her most recent book tour. After the 2020 election, Stacey Abrams and her work through Fair Fight Georgia were widely accredited to have flipped Georgia in favor of President Biden.
Last week, Abrams announced that she will once again be running for Governor of Georgia. The result of primary elections will determine who Abrams runs against in 2022, but many suspect a rematch between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp. Interestingly, while Democrats nationwide are excited to see Abrams run again for obvious reasons, Republicans report being similarly excited because they believe that strong Democratic candidates like Abrams unite Republican voters and drive them to the polls. Abrams’ unique effect on voters is ready to be tested, and once again, all eyes are on Georgia.
Olivia Rynberg-Going is a current junior at Smith College, double-majoring in Government and the Study of Women and Gender. On campus, she participated in Smith’s Student Government Association as both a senator and director of elections and appointments. Her favorite policy areas include reproductive rights, 20th century SCOTUS decisions, voting rights, elections, and most of all: campaigns. Outside of politics, Olivia has a deep love of true crime, geography, and farm animals.
