Black Women Absent on New District of Columbia Council

None of the Black women candidates that ran for political office this year were successful. However, despite that there will be no representative for Black women, who are estimated to comprise 35 percent of the city's population and are the largest racial/gender bloc in the District, there is no cause for concern according to some leaders and political experts.

"It is unfortunate that there will be no Black women on the council come January, but there is no need to get worried," E. Faye Williams, president of the National Congress of Black Women and chief of staff to council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8). "We have a lot of skilled, brilliant Black women but they are working across the board.

"We have Black women who are chiefs of staff, committee clerks, general counsels and in other positions. The secretary to the council is a Black woman.

"Black women will still have a way to influence legislation. Black women have found a way or we made a way. That is just the way we are. Black women will still find a way to try to protect their families and children."

Williams' organization is charged with preparing Black women to get elected to political office and holds workshops on raising money and understanding the political process. Dr. Julianne Malveaux, along with Democratic activist Donna Brazile, are leaders of Future PAC, a political action organization that funds Black women candidates for federal, state and some local offices.

Many politically active Black women in the District are members of both organizations. The D.C. Council has been served by dynamic Black women such as Wilhelmina Rolark, Nadine Winter, Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis, Hilda Mason, Edyte Whittington and Linda Cropp. In the 1980s, Rolark, Winter, Jarvis and Mason served together and made up the largest racial/gender bloc on the council.

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