Thank You, Stacey Abrams 🙏🏾

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams waits to speak at a Democratic canvass kickoff as she campaigns for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at Bruce Trent Park on October 24, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Georgia has flipped and the country feels hopeful for the first time in four years! Former Vice President Joe Biden has taken the lead in the historically red state and is getting closer to bringing this election (and Trump’s presidency) to an end.

This is great news but let’s be clear, states don’t just turn blue by accident or even through excellent campaign strategies from presidential candidates. It takes the efforts of organizers and politicians on the ground in Trump country. Specifically, it takes Black organizers and politicians doing the work to change the minds and the votes of staunch Republicans.

Stacey Abrams is one of those people leading the Georgian blue wave.

As Will Leitch writes for GEN, Medium’s publication about power, politics, and culture, Abrams has been hard at work making sure every vote counts.

Abrams, who just missed becoming the state’s governor two years ago, under circumstances that still rankle, poured her efforts and resources into Fair Fight, an organization dedicated to fair elections, overcoming voter suppression, and registering and mobilizing as many voters as possible… Fair Fight registered an estimated 800,000 voters since 2018, a staggering number that has ‘transformed the electorate,’ as Abrams put it.

Give Stacey Abrams all of her flowers and give thanks for the Black men and women who are making change possible. Their hard work doesn’t end after the election. In fact, they’re just getting started.

Read more about their efforts here:

How Stacey Abrams Made Georgia the Center of the Political Universe