Black women have been involved in American socio-political issues and advocating for the community since the American Civil War era through organizations, clubs, community-based social services, and advocacy. Black women are currently underrepresented in the United States in both elected offices and in policy made by elected officials. Although data shows that women do not run for office in large numbers when compared to men, Black women have been involved in issues concerning identity, human rights, child welfare, and misogynoir within the political dialogue for decades.

Black women almost uniformly vote for the Democratic Party, usually at least 90% or higher. In the 2024 United States presidential election, Black women voted for Kamala Harris by a margin of 92-7%.

History

Black women's suffrage, voting rights and racism

The U.S. Women’s Rights Movement involved many Black women suffragists who were simultaneously fighting for the abolition of slavery and women's rights. Formerly enslaved and free Black women like Mary Church Terrell, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Harriet Tubman, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, and Maria W. Stewart advocated for their rights by participating in women’s rights gatherings in the 1850s and 1860s. At the time, Black women felt sidelined by both Black men and white suffragists, who did not consider their struggle for voting rights to be an important issue. As a result of this exclusion, Black suffragists were forced to march separately from white suffragist marches, and both Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony largely ignored contributions of Black suffragists.

It was at the 1851 Ohio Women's Convention at Akron, that abolitionist and preacher Sojourner Truth gave the speech commonly referred to as 'Ain't I a Woman?' Truth was the only Black woman in attendance at the conference and delivered the speech from the steps of the Old Stone Church, on the second day of the convention. The most widely-circulated version of her speech, titled "Ain't I a Woman," and was transcribed by Frances Dana Barker Gage, a feminist writer and attendee of the convention. This version contained stereotypical speech of Southern Slaves, though Truth was from New York and Jersey Dutch was her first language, and other details that are suspected to be highly exaggerated. Both recent historians and the Sojourner Truth Project find a transcribed version by Marcus Robinson, an abolitionist and newspaper editor of the time, to be the most accurate version. In her speech, Truth demanded equal human rights for all women, not simply white women, as well as the intersection of abolitionism with women's rights. However, as the feminist movement progressed throughout the 20th century, intersectionality was not taken into consideration and the movement largely focused on the plight of white women. Black women would eventually come together to create Womanism. Named after a term coined by Alice Walker, Womanism is based on the history and everyday experiences of Black women.

Though women obtained the right to vote in the United States in 1920, many women of color still ran into obstacles. Some faced tests that required them to interpret the Constitution in order to vote. Others were threatened with physical violence, false charges, and other extreme danger to prevent voting. Due to these tactics and others that marginalized people of color, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted under President Johnson. It outlawed discriminatory acts to prevent people from voting.

Women and the Black Power movement

Although some elements of the Black Power movement included misogynistic views, women quickly found a voice in the movement. Black women held leadership positions, ran community-based programs, and fought misogyny. Others also contributed to the grassroots movement through community service. "In the age of rights, antipoverty, and power campaigns, Black women in community-based and often women-centered organizations, similar to their female counterparts in nationally known organizations, harnessed and engendered Black Power through their speech and iconography as participants of tenant councils, welfare rights groups, and a Black female religious order."Williams, R.Y. (2006). Black women, urban politics, and engendering Black power. In P.E. Joseph (Ed.), The black power movement: Rethinking the civil rights-black power era. New York: Routledge. p.79-103.

Women and the 2020 election

One critical factor in Joe Biden's 2020 United States presidential election win was the efforts of Black women and other people of color who helped to energize and register voters across the United States. In 2020, more than two-thirds of Black women "turned out to vote in the presidential election" — "the third highest rate of any race-gender group."

Georgia Stacey Abrams, former representative of Georgia (2007 to 2017) and minority leader (2011 to 2017), founded both Fair Fight Action and New Georgia Project, organizations focused on addressing voter suppression and voter registration, and is considered to be one of the key people to encourage voter outreach programs that affected the 2020 election in Georgia. Abrams and other prominent women of color such as LaTosha Brown of Black Voters Matter worked for several years registering voters and continued to register more than 800,000 new voters in the time leading up to the 2020 election. While Georgia went to Donald Trump during the 2016 election, fueled by a mostly white, Republican electorate, Abrams and her cohorts chose to focus on persuading voters of color that their votes did matter rather than focusing on undecided white voters. As a result of these efforts, more than one million Black voters cast ballots in the 2020 election. Largely because of Black voters, Georgia went blue for the first time in a presidential election since 1992, delivering the state to Joe Biden. Abrams was also the first Black woman to deliver a response to the State of the Union address.

Political representation

Black women have been underrepresented in politics within the United States, but numbers continue to increase. In 2011, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, 13 Black women served in the 112th Congress with 239 state legislators serving nationwide. In 2014, Mia Love was the first Black woman to be elected to Congress for the Republican Party. In 2021, as stated by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, 27 Black women served in the 117th Congress, doubling the number of Black women to serve in 2011. The paths to public office for women in the Black community have differed from men and other groups, such as women's organizations, rallies, and fundraisers.

State, county and local government

In 2025, there were 2,483 women in state legislatures, 402 of whom were Black women. Of the over 20,000 elected county and local officials, fewer than 8% were Black women.

On April 3, 1973, Lelia Foley became the first Black woman elected mayor in the United States. In 1974, Oklahoma named Foley Outstanding Woman of the Year.

In 2008, Karen Bass (D-CA) became the first Black woman to serve as a house speaker in a state legislature, leading the California State Assembly.

Stephanie Summerow Dumas was elected in 2018 as the first Black woman county commissioner in the history of Ohio.

In 2019, Andrea Stewart-Cousins became the first Black woman to lead a state senate, becoming president pro tem of the New York State Senate. She later became the first Black woman to hold the position of lieutenant governor in New York.

In 2025, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, 21 Black women work in state legislative leadership in 42 states. That year, Black women also led 8 of the largest 100 cities in the US as mayor.

United States House of Representatives Overall, 19 states, including the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia, have elected a Black woman to represent them in the U.S. House. There are currently 42 Black female representatives and three Black female delegates in the United States House of Representatives. Most are members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The first Black woman to serve as a representative was Shirley Chisholm from New York's 12th congressional district in 1969 during the Civil Rights Movement.

United States Senate

Kamala Harris was the first African-American U.S. senator to be elected vice president of the United States. Black women in the United States Senate are underrepresented twofold: the United States Senate has had fourteen Black elected or appointed office holders and only five Black female senators since its inception in 1789. For a complete list of office holders, see List of African-American United States senators. Despite this, Black women are increasingly running for and being elected or appointed to offices.

In 1993, Carol Moseley Braun became the first Black woman to be elected to the United States Senate, and the first female senator from Illinois. Braun served from 1993 to 1999, only one term. Braun's shock at Democratic incumbent senator Alan Dixon's vote to confirm Clarence Thomas after his 1991 sexual harassment scandal motivated her successful primary campaign against Dixon. Shortly after being elected, Braun took a one-woman stand against the United Daughters of the Confederacy's renewal of patent for the Confederate flag as their insignia. Though Braun considered it a non-issue, she was still puzzled: "Who would have expected a design patent for the Confederate flag?" Incredibly, Braun was able to sway the Senate vote against renewal of the patent. The United Daughters of the Confederacy no longer uses the confederate flag as their insignia.

In 2017 Kamala Harris began serving as the junior United States senator from California and was the second African American woman elected to the U.S. Senate in American history. In 2004, she was elected the 27th district attorney of San Francisco and served from 2004 to 2011. During that time, Harris created a unit to tackle environmental crimes and a Hate Crimes Unit that focused on hate crimes committed against LGBT youth in schools. In 2010, Harris won the election for California's attorney general by less than 1 point and about 50,000 votes. She was then re-elected in 2014 by a wide margin.

Harris has a strong record of bipartisan cooperation with her Republican colleagues, having introduced a multitude of bills with Republican co-sponsors, including a bail reform bill with Senator Rand Paul, an election security bill with Senator James Lankford, and a workplace harassment bill with Senator Lisa Murkowski. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham said of Harris: "She's hard-nosed. She's smart. She's tough." Harris resigned from serving the state of California as a U.S. senator on January 18, 2021, two days before she was inaugurated as vice president of the United States. She became the first female and first African-American vice president of the United States Senate. As of the 2022 midterm elections, there were no Black women in the United States Senate.

On October 1, 2023, labor union official Laphonza Butler was chosen to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Dianne Feinstein's death. Butler became the first openly LGBT member of the U.S. Senate from California and its first Black LGBT member, and was sworn in on October 3, 2023.

In the 2024 election, Angela Alsobrooks was elected as a senator from Maryland, and Lisa Blunt Rochester was elected as a senator from Delaware. The two are the largest number of Black women serving at the chamber at the same time.