Black Women will elect the next president

But Barnes also expressed concerns that neither of the presidential candidates have touched on the issues that are important to Black women and single parents, who are also the primary breadwinners in their families; issues like health care, education and the environment are very important to Black women and their families.
“I don’t think we’ve heard enough from the candidates about how they plan to address issues that affect Black and Latino families,” Barnes said.
Berkley said that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said that he knows the Black community, but he hasn’t proven that he understands the impact that Black people, especially Black women, have on society.
“Black women drive turnout for the Black community,” said Berkley. “We care a lot about police reform, raising the minimum wage, protecting social security and we are economically liberal when it come to the government.”
Berkley also noted that Black women have been very reliable voters in the past two election cycles. In 2012 and 2014, Black women voted at higher rates than other women.
Berkley said that Black women do more than vote.
“We’re very active in our churches, we’re very active in our communities and we’re very active in our unions,” she said.
According to a survey by Lake Research Partners, a leading public opinion and political strategy research firm, Black workers are far more likely to view labor unions favorably (77 percent for Blacks vs. 50 for all-respondents) compared to other workers.
Petee Talley, the secretary-treasurer of  the Ohio branch of the AFL-CIO, said that evidence shows that Black women union members have stepped up in remarkable ways.
“Not only are they organizing inside of their unions, they are organizing the Black community around vote registration efforts,” said Talley.
And when Black women take on leadership roles, they have the power to significantly affect elections inside their unions.
The briefing paper states, “As labor scholars Kate Bronfenbrenner and Dorian Warren found in their oft-cited study ‘Race, Gender, and the Rebirth of Trade Unionism,’ unions won 89 percent of elections where Black women were the lead organizers compared with 53 percent for female organizers overall and 42 percent for male organizers.”
The briefing paper states that as the labor movement grows, it should look to Black communities and Black women organizers as a potential base for power.
“This requires incorporating Black communities into long-term strategic thinking and lifting up the most progressive voice of the Democratic base,” it states. “For organized labor and other parts of the political left, Black women are a smart investment, in 2016 and beyond.”
Barnes said that Black women hold the power of the vote and also have the influence in their households to make sure their families and friends get out to vote.
Barnes continued, “We need to come out strong, like we did before, and make the difference we know we can make in November.”
 
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