Four Black Political Pioneers Pen Book of Their Lives

By George Kevin Jordan, AFRO Staff Writer

History has many sides. But some angles are rarely covered. This Friday, Jan. 25, Washingtonians get a rare glimpse into the interior and exterior lives of four of the most powerful African American women in politics.

“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics” (St. Martin’s Press) tracks the stories of Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry and Minyon Moore, (With Veronica Chambers) in a book that is part memoir, an ode to friendship and an insider’s tome to the political landscape over the last few decades.

Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry and Minyon Moore, authors of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics,” will be holding a book signing at Politcs and Prose in Northwest, D.C. on Friday, Jan. 25. (Twitter Photo)

The authors will sign copies of their book from 7 – 8 p.m. at Politics & Prose Bookstore, 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW.

According to book’s website: “The lives of Black women in American politics are remarkably absent from the shelves of bookstores and libraries. “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics” is a sweeping view of American history from the vantage points of four women who have lived and worked behind the scenes in politics for over thirty years—Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry and Minyon Moore—a group of women who call themselves the “Colored Girls.” Like many people who have spent their careers in public service, they view their lives in four-year waves where presidential campaigns and elections have been common threads. For most of the Colored Girls, their story starts with Jesse Jackson’s first campaign for president. From there, they went on to work on the presidential campaigns of Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

Each woman helped shaped the political system we participate in today. Brazile, was a renowned political strategist and former Interim Chair of the Democratic Party. Currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, she is the author of the {New York Times} bestseller “Hacks.”  Yolanda Caraway heads the Caraway Group, Inc., which is instrumental in shaping the Democratic party. Leah Daughtry served as CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee in both 2008 and 2016. She is also a preacher, organizer and public speaker. Minyon Moore also served as CEO of the Democratic National Committee. Also under President Clinton she held several positions from assistant to the President, to director of the White House Office of Public Liaison and director of White House political affairs.

Veronica Chambers, who also contributed to the book, is the editor of The New York Times archival storytelling team. She penned the memoir “Mama’s Girl” and co-wrote “Yes Chef” with Marcus Samuelsson.

The book’s title was a poignant take on the theatrical piece “for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf”  by writer Ntozake Shange, one of the most celebrated pieces of work about Black women that went on to Broadway and was also turned into a motion picture.

Even though the book was published in October, the journey of these four women can not be understated now when 39 of the 110 women serving in Congress are women of color. In fact, according to the database BlackWomenInPolitics.com, 468 black women ran for public office in 2018. Just this week Kamala Harris announced she was running for President.

This event is free and open to the public.