Black women descend on Capitol Hill to ‘Save Democracy’ from Trump’s MAGA agenda
While many Black women made clear they would take a break from political engagement after the 2024 election, activist Melanie Campbell tells theGrio, "We're back."
A coalition of Black women leaders and activists descended on Capitol Hill to rally against the Trump administration and the Republican Party’s string of actions that include budget cuts, elimination of critical departments and programs, and the firing of thousands of federal workers.
The group of Black women leaders from across the country — joined by newly elected Black women U.S. Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks — rallied outside the Capitol building Thursday morning before meeting with members of Congress to urge them to make an about-face on actions they say will disproportionate harm Black communities.
While many Black women leaders and organizers had made clear they would be taking a break from political engagement after their efforts were unsuccessful in the 2024 election, resulting in former Vice President Kamala Harris being defeated by President Donald Trump, they say they are ready to get back in the fight to “save democracy.”
“We deserve to take a rest, because it was a really, really grueling election season,” said Melanie Campbell, co-convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable, which organized Thursday’s rally and day of action. Campbell told theGrio that last year’s election sent the message that “Black women weren’t worthy of being in the highest position in the land.” However, she said, “But we’re back…We had to regroup.”
Campbell and several other Black women leaders, including young Black women in high school and college, decried the continuing resolution bill passed by Republicans in the House of Representatives and will soon see a vote in the U.S. Senate. The bill, which would avoid a federal government shutdown and fund it through Sept. 30, includes billions of dollars worth of cuts. The group of activists also called out the Trump administration’s moves to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion, nearly eliminate the Department of Education and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) — which provides critical funding for nonprofits — and roll back civil rights and environmental protections.
“There are major cuts and slashing of budgets for Medicaid. At the same time, we know that Black women are dying at three, four times the rate as our white counterparts,” said Sen. Blunt Rochester, who became the first Black woman elected to the Senate from the state of Delaware. “Just today I heard an announcement of rollbacks to rules for clean drinking water, clean air … these are basic things.”
Despite the horrors many communities say they face amidst Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda to drastically shrink the federal government, Blunt Rochester declared, “No weapon that’s formed against us shall prosper!”
Sen. Alsobrooks, who also made history as the first Black woman U.S. senator in Maryland, chastised Republicans for telling the American public that they would focus on “easing economic burdens and helping Americans get ahead.” Instead, she said, “They’re active, but they’re not busy doing what they promised…they’re busy doing the exact opposite.”
Alsobrooks explained, “Instead of boosting anti-poverty programs, it proposes significant cuts to SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]. Instead of investing in people and reaping their rewards, it aims to cut Pell Grants, which would block thousands of people, including Black women and Black men…from getting their education.”
The Maryland senator also slammed President Trump’s endorsement of a Republican budget that calls for the slashing of $880 billion that she and Democrats warn will impact Medicaid. “And if that’s not enough, they’re even laying the work again for Social Security and some of the other foundational programs,” said Alsobrooks. “Imagine being told that your health care and your decades of contributions into Social Security don’t matter as much as trillions in cuts to help these billionaires.”
As Republicans forcefully execute their agenda to cut federal spending, they’re also laying the groundwork to pay for President Trump’s economic agenda, which includes extending his 2017 tax cuts that expire later this year. Economists have long pointed out that the wealthiest Americans, who make up 1% of the population, and corporations mostly benefited from the tax cuts.
“[We] will not have Elon Musk put his hands in our pockets to take our money out of our communities and put it back in the pockets of billionaires,” said Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, in reference Trump’s billionaire advisor who heads the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency. “Nobody voted for this. Nobody voted to create chaos. We voted for solutions for our communities, and we are here because we will not go back.”
Acknowledging that the group of activists was standing outside the U.S. Capitol that was built by enslaved Black people, Wiley said Congress would soon decide “whether it’s going to take money out of the classrooms that our children…whether or not we’re going to be able to see a doctor when we’re sick, or whether our veterans, who look like all of us, get the supports that they earned because they put their lives on the line for this country.”
Campbell expressed worry that “we won’t have a middle class” if the actions taken by the Trump White House and Republicans in the past two months continue. “None of us have ever seen it before. But you know what? We’re built for this,” she told theGrio.
Despite the concerns Black women leaders have about the state of Washington, D.C., and the national implications, Campbell said having two historic Black women in the U.S. Senate is a silver lining. “In the midst of rollbacks, there are also things that show that we are winning and breaking those barriers,” she said.
Reflecting on that bright spot, Senator Alsobrooks told rallygoers that the notion that Black women were defeated in the 2024 election was a “big fat lie.”
“We elected not one but two Black women for the first time in the history of our country. And also, because of your activism, we now have the largest share of African Americans serving in the Senate at one time in our country,” said Alsobrooks, who saluted the group of Black women for showing up and “standing on business.” She added, “You are victorious and undefeated in so many respects. So I want all of us to remember that your activism and your action and your dedication do matter.”
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