Nadia E. Brown

Sisters in the statehouse : Black women and legislative decision making

Acknowledgments Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Formative Experiences Chapter 3. Black Womens Representation Chapter 4. Legislation for the Prevention of Domestic Violence Chapter 5. Representation for Whom? Chapter 6. Caregiving as a Race-Gendered Issue Chapter 7. Conclusion Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

Women Also Know Stuff: Meta-Level Mentoring to Battle Gender Bias in Political Science

Women know stuff. Yet, all too often, they are underrepresented in political science meetings, syllabi, and editorial boards. To counter the implicit bias that leads to women’s underrepresentation, to ensure that women’s expertise is included and shared, and to improve the visibility of women in political science, in February 2016 we launched the “Women Also Know Stuff” initiative, which features a crowd-sourced website and an active Twitter feed. In this article, we share the origins of our project, the effect we are already having on media utilization of women experts, and plans for how to expand that success within the discipline of political science. We also share our personal reflections on the project.

Political Participation of Women of Color: An Intersectional Analysis

This article develops the hypothesis that participation in American politics of minority women differs from political participation of white women. I propose that individuals with multiple subordinate group identities, namely, racial and ethnic minority women, will experience differences in political mobilization and interest in politics and demonstrate different participatory styles than white women do. On the basis of their identity in racial/ethnic identity groups, minority women operate as both racial/ethnic minorities and women in the American polity. As such, the analysis models intersectionality to account for historical narratives, cultural representations, and legal discrimination to show how both race/ethnicity and gender operate in tandem to influence how minority women participate in American politics.

INTERSECTIONAL PRESENTATIONS: An Exploratory Study of Minority Congresswomen’s Websites’ Biographies

In recent decades the number of women and minorities elected to public office has increased significantly, prompting a wealth of studies examining the ways these different gender and racial identities shape elected officials’ appeals to constituents. However, much previous research focuses on representational differences among either men and women or Anglos and minorities, neglecting the intersection of race and gender. We seek to fill this void by examining differences in presentation styles among Latina and African American congresswomen, their Anglo female counterparts, and minority male peers. Relying on a detailed content analysis of the biographical pages available on U.S. Representatives’ websites, we conduct an exploratory examination of the differences in representatives’ presentation of self. Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative analysis, this paper identifies the unique ways minority congresswomen present themselves and issue positions to constituents. We conclude by considering the implications of our results for minority women holding and seeking public office.

Intersecting interests: Gender, race, and congressional attention to women's issues

Despite claims by normative theorists that gender diversity in Congress leads to better representation of women’s interests, the results of empirical studies have been largely mixed. While some scholars have found positive effects of gender diversity, others have found very little impact. We argue that it is not the presence of White and minority women alone that makes political institutions more responsive to women’s issues, but rather it is the organizational presence of minority men along with minority women who make similar claims for inclusion, power, and organizational formation to achieve those goals that matters. We examine to what extent gender and racial diversity have led to more attention to issues that directly and indirectly impact women. Using congressional hearings data from 1951–2004, we find that the increased presence of minority men and women legislators in the House, but less so in the Senate, is responsible for keeping women’s interests on the congressional agenda. We demonstrate how an intersectional and additive approach can add both theoretical and empirical value to the study of political representation by demonstrating the impact of women and minorities in Congress.

“It's more than hair … that's why you should care”: the politics of appearance for Black women state legislators

African American women female state legislators navigate the politics of appearance differently from others. Black womens texture and style of their hair and their skin tone influences their experiences as state legislators. In sum, this essay contends that Black womens appearances have led to experiences that are linked to building their self-confidence, internal fortitude, and building their character, which they attribute to assisting them with dealing with adversities. In turn, these experiences impact their practices as state legislators.

Scholarship on #BlackLivesMatter and its implications on local electoral politics

August 9 2016 marked the second anniversary of Mike Brown’s murder at the hands of Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. This anniversary affords scholars the opportunity to reflect on the nature of Black life in the closing Age of Obama. At present, our society is faced with the juxtaposition of repeated assaults on Black and Brown bodies at a time when a self-identified Black man holds the highest elected position in the United States. Consequently, our nation has witnessed the rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the resurgence of protest politics. #BlackLivesMatter is a hashtag used by a network of activists, scholars, and practitioners that seek to create a world where “Blacks lives are no longer systematically and intentionally targeted for demise” (blacklivesmatter.com/about). The Black Lives Matter movement works to affirm Blacks’ humanity while simultaneously calling attention to the continued brutality that Blacks endure at the hands of the state, institutions, and oppressive structures. Seeking to “(re)build the Black liberation movement,” Black Lives Matter is a national organization with several chapters that are working toward ending anti-Black racism (blacklivesmatter.com/ about). Founded by Patrisse Culors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza after George Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, #BlackLivesMatter became a political intervention – more than a mere social media hashtag – that called national attention to the dehumanization of Black lives. The Black Lives Matter Movement is a social justice movement that embraces the lives of all Blacks – including queer, transgender, undocumented, women, and those within the criminal justice system. The works of Glaude (2016), Hill (2016), and Taylor (2016) provide scholars with insightful analysis, engaging theoretical frameworks, and comprehensive connections to the historical and modern-day realities of Black Americans as they skillfully reflect on why and how the Black Lives Matter Movement emerged after the July 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman. These scholars simultaneously question how much Black lives are valued in the United States under a system of White supremacy. Glaude, Hill, and Taylor conclude that Black lives indeed matter by forcefully illustrating the continued salience of structural racism, classism, sexism, and transphobia. In the following essay, we address four prominent themes that emerge across Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul (Glaude); Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, From Ferguson to Flint and Beyond (Hill); and From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation (Taylor). Using our recent work that is centered on the 2016 Baltimore Mayoral Democratic Primary, we explore the implications for

The intersection of race and gender on representation: Black women legislators' impact on legislation

ii Acknowledgement and Dedication iii Chapter One: Identities Matter 1 Chapter Two: Identity and the Decision Making Process 44 Chapter Three: Black Women‟s Legislative Influence 70 Chapter Four – Who‟s Worth Representing? Advanced Marginalization in the Context of Representation 103 Chapter Five: Anti-domestic violence legislation 138 Conclusion Chapter: Findings & Implications for Future Research 161 Appendix A – Methods 185 Appendix – B 198 Appendix C: Recruitment letter 200 Footnotes 201 Acknowledgement of Previous Publications 204 Bibliography 205 Curriculum Vitae 230

Black Women Lawmakers and Second-Wave Feminism: An Intersectional Analysis on Generational Cohorts Within Southern State Legislatures from 1990 to 2014

While the Second Wave of feminism opened doors for female political activism and for women to be seen as strong political leaders, the movement has been accused of focusing largely on the concerns of white women and generally avoiding the concerns of African American women—who live in a double bind of racial and gender discrimination. In this chapter, Nadia E. Brown, Guillermo Caballero, Fernando Tormos, Allison Wong, and Sharonda Woodford argue that despite criticism of Second-Wave feminists for ignoring the intersection of race and gender, the movement, when viewed in conjunction with the African American Civil Rights Movement proved influential for Black women who came of age during this period, launching a generation of female, African American state political leaders. Specifically, Brown and colleagues examine differences in class and generational cohorts among African American female state legislators from 1990 to 2014. They focus primarily on African American female state legislators in the South since that is where most African Americans live and where female African Americans have had the most electoral success. In order to explicate the ways in which race and gender function in tandem, Brown et al. profile two African American female state legislators from Maryland. From this in-depth case study, the authors are able to provide a more nuanced description of how these two legislators championed policies designed to help the most marginalized people in their community—an approach that allows African American legislators to establish common ground at the crucial intersection of race and gender, highlighting the complexity of Black feminism in the post-Second-Wave era.

Examining intersectionality and symbolic representation

ABSTRACT This contribution highlights the need and benefits of a mixed methodological approach in intersectional studies of symbolic representation. Existing research concerning symbolic representation among traditionally marginalized groups such as women, racial and ethnic minorities focuses on the role either gender or race/ethnic identity plays in shaping symbolic forms of representation such as communication or presentation of self. However, extant literature tells us very little about the experiences of elected officials who are both women and racial and/or ethnic minorities, which are substantively different from those of either Anglo women or minority men. We will first argue for the benefits of an intersectional approach to studying symbolic representation in the U.S. that uses both quantitative and qualitative methods. Through the use of quantitative and qualitative content analysis in our own work, we were able to offer a more nuanced picture of how identity informs symbolic representation. As scholars with very different methodological training and different identities, we will detail the ways in which the practice of working together expanded our own understanding of how to identify and measure symbolic representation among diverse members of Congress.