Pennsylvania Democrat Summer Lee won her primary election on
April 23, repelling an opponent who challenged
her partly because of her criticism of
Israel’s brutal war crimes in Gaza. A proud
member of “the squad,” she was targeted by the
American Israel Political Action Committee.
But to repel the anticipated AIPAC, she raised
over a million dollars in the last quarter of
2023, most of it from small dollar donors. She
raised about $900,000 more in the first three
months of 2024. Her opponent, Bhavini Patel,
beat on the Israel drum until it broke. She
had the backing of a billionaire Jeffrey Yass,
but his billions were nothing compared to the will of the people.
In Maryland, Prince
George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks
faces a similar challenge as she runs for the
United States Senate against billionaire bully
David Trone, the founder of Total Wine, Trone
has poured nearly $50 million into his own
race, claiming that his self-funded campaign
makes him immune to outside influences. I
guess that’s why he donates heavily to people
who oppose a woman’s right to choose, saying
“business reasons” explain his donations. Will
business reasons also explain his actions if,
heaven forbid, he prevails over Alsobrooks in
the Seante race?
Trone has poured
his millions into a series of television ads,
featuring Black folks who live outside
Maryland attesting to his supposed
effectiveness. He’s also found ordinary Black
citizens to speak of their interactions with
him. Par for the course. But recently his ads
have taken an ugly turn, replete with racist
dog whistles. Alsobrooks, the ads say, is not
qualified to run for the United States Senate.
Most offensively, one ad states that
Alsobrooks, who managed a multi-billion dollar
budget, “needs training wheels.” More than two
hundred Black women who support Alsobrooks
(full disclosure – including yours truly),
describes that comment as “not only
disparaging and dismissive but also echoes
tones of misogyny and racism”. It is
misogynoir in its most base form.
Misogyny is defined “hatred of contempt for, or
prejudice against women or girls. It is a
form of sexism that can keep women at a
lower social status than men, thus
maintaining the social roles of patriarchy.”
Misogynoir, then takes it to another level,
with a special hatred, contempt for or
prejudice against Black women and girls. We
see it every day, in the way that little
black girls are demonized and criminalized.
In the ways that Black women, like Harvard’s
Dr. Claudine Gay, are hounded out of their
jobs and positions of power. We see it when
fools come at Vice President Harris with
specious suggestions that she should vacate
the Biden-Harris ticket and let a white boy
step into a spot she has not only earned but
excelled in.
Are we seeing this
rancid misogynoir in my beloved San Francisco?
Mayor London Breed is, in my opinion, a rock
star. But a cabal of white men are lobbing
attacks at her nonstop. And like Rep. Summer
Lee, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, and
LA Mayor Karen Bass, she faces white boys with
big checkbooks who want to buy her seat. As
soon as Daniel Lurie announced his mayoral
bid, his mama gifted his campaign a million
dollars. The Levi Strauss heiress sent a
signal to her moneyed friends, and undoubtedly
others in her high-rolling circles will
follow. Is San Francisco for sale? Lurie is
not the only challenge Mayor Breed faces, but
none of them has offered principled
opposition. Can misogynoir reign in San
Francisco? Not if we fight it.
In Pennsylvania,
Summer Lee overcame misogynoir with hard work,
organizing, and small dollar donations. In
Maryland, Angela has the enthusiastic support
of most Maryland elective officials, including
Governor Wes Moore, Comptroller Brooke
Lierman, and beloved progressive Congressman
Jamie Raskin. Will San Franciscans rally
around London Breed? Many are salivating at
the prospect of her loss. San Franciscans have
the opportunity to develop a counter-narrative
and reelect Mayor Breed.
The election isn’t
until November but the momentum must start
now. We need voter education, especially about
ranked order voting, and voter mobilization.
It’s work.
Dr. Rhonda Sharpe, the economist (and my friend, who founded the Women’s Institute for Science Equity
and Race sent me a t-shirt a few years ago
that read, “Don’t Call It Black Girl Magic, I
Worked Hard for This S$it”. As Black women
become more visible in the policy space, many
are tempted to call our presence magic. And we
are magic, with our special swag, our
incandescent presence. Our magic, though, is
combined with hard work and with a determined
resistance to misogynoir. We need to work to
elect the sisters who are working hard to
change our world.
