Women of Color Leaders are Reimagining and Reshaping Michigan

Pati Navalta Poblete

COVID-19, environmental racism, the economic crisis, police violence and a long history of voter suppression. You name it, and communities of color in Michigan have taken the brunt of it– perhaps even more so than any other state in America. There’s a reason for the saying: “When America catches a cold, Michigan gets the flu.”

No one understands the challenges in this crucial swing state more than women of color, who are closest to the pain, and who are reimagining a Michigan in which communities of color are given the same access to quality education and health care, a living wage, and access to clean running water as a basic human right.

This was the reason and focus of She the People’s Reimagining Michigan online event, held in partnership with Economic Security Project, Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation and Mothering Justice. Panelists included: Rep. Rashida Tlaib; Mothering Justice Michigan director, Eboni Taylor; water activist Nicole Hill; State Sen. Stephanie Chang; and Mothering Justice founding director Danielle Atkinson; Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation executive director Angela Reyes; Cass Technical High School student and Black Lives Matter activist Ama Russell; and Detroit Public Schools parent Cindy Gamboa in conversation with She the People founder, Aimee Allison. From lived experiences to leading policy changes, each of these women are working to reshape Michigan’s future by either sharing their stories or representing the women telling them.

This is the momentum and coalition we will need to galvanize women of color voters—the fastest growing voting bloc among any other group in the country. And the stakes have never been higher.

Consider this: In 2016, Donald Trump won Michigan by 10,000 votes. But more than 200,000 women of color did not vote in that election. Without a doubt, women of color are the margin of victory and can change the outcome in this critical battleground state, but only if we inspire and mobilize our communities around a racial and economic justice agenda that addresses issues that directly impact women of color.

“Our society, our leaders, we ourselves have normalized the expectation that we will do the best we can with what we have, especially Black women, turning nothing into something,” said Taylor during the online panel. “The thought is, we will continue to vote a particular way and we will just work with whatever comes out of that administration policy-wise and make do. Those days are over and we require that candidates for any office get clearer around how they will put our concerns and our priorities in the forefront.”

Among those concerns is having enough resources to live beyond a check-to-check existence, a challenge that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. Recognizing that her district (13th District) in Michigan is the third poorest in the nation, Tlaib made the case for a bill she introduced that would provide guaranteed income during COVID-19 and a year following the pandemic. “Our communities right now need to extend the $600 federal pandemic unemployment compensation, we need to provide stimulus payments, recurring payments. My Automatic BOOST to Communities Act, which is called the ABC Act, would allow recurring payments. I’m asking for $2,000 a month during this pandemic, and then a year after that, a thousand,” she said, citing the problems that families will face when moratoriums end. “We all know that rents are still going to be due when this pandemic is over, if anything it’s going to get worse for them as it all piles on.”

Even families that manage to pay their bills, however, still struggle with access to basic needs. While Flint has largely disappeared from the news, access to clean water, or any water at all, continues to plague communities of color in the state.

Hill, a community activist, lived for two months without running water, despite having paid her bill. To make matters worse, her children were forced to live with other family members to avoid being placed in foster care. “I was told my water was shut off for lack of payment, even though I had just paid a $300 bill,” she said. “I contacted the Department of Human Services and they said there was nothing they could do. When they contacted the Water Department a social worker informed me that that was grounds for removal of my children from my house. They did not offer any other options.”

Hill began working with the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and became part of a class-action lawsuit. “As a layman, I realized the shutoffs were not because people weren’t paying the bills, they paid what they could afford to pay. Water is not affordable in Detroit.”

The panelists also discussed the many challenges for students and parents during this time of virtual learning. The digital divide, for example, will leave many children of color behind while other students will continue to accelerate.

And yet women of color must not lose hope, especially now. “We have to inject joy in our organizing,” said Atkinson. “Let’s all go vote and have dinner. We need to share our culture and embrace what our lives look like, have a social distancing playdate, create community while making our voice heard on issues that matter.”

Women of color have the power to translate that joy into something we can truly celebrate in November — we just have to show up.

Watch the entire panel discussion here.