Can She Turn A Red State Blue?

In 241 Years, America Has Never Elected a Black Woman to a State’s Highest Office. In 2018, Gubernatorial Candidate Stacey Abrams Aims to Redirect the Course of History.

- Donna M. Owens

In the bustling southern metropolis of Atlanta, Black excellence is visible everywhere: Streets are named for legendary civil rights leaders, and it’s commonplace to spot power brokers, ballers and celebrities mingling. That said, it means something when someone commands attention simply by entering a room.

So it’s worth noting the reaction when Stacey Abrams— the rising political star in Georgia aiming to make U.S. history as the first African-American female governor, ever—arrives at Le Petit Marché, a Black-owned café in the city’s historic Kirkwood neighborhood.

Heads raise and necks crane as the statuesque (nearly six feet tall in heels) candidate rushes in during lunch hour on a balmy January afternoon. She’s wearing a candy pink sweater set and sparkly earrings. A natural twist-out hairstyle frames chiseled cheekbones.

The Democrat offers a cordial greeting before taking a seat at the establishment, where she’s a regular. (Campaign headquarters are nearby.) “I come here often,” says Abrams, who also owns a condo in Kirkwood. “This is one of those great spaces where the community gathers.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the eminent native son of Atlanta, preached and wrote about the “Beloved Community”—a society wherein all people share the earth’s bounty, and work to combat poverty, hatred, violence and war with sisterly and brotherly love.