Olympic athlete Cullen Jones defied stereotypes in 2008 when he became the first African American to break a long-course record in swimming in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay at the Beijing Olympic Games.
He's now working to teach more people of color how to swim, while also raising awareness about water safety.
The California congresswoman could become the first African-American woman to hold a leadership spot in either major political party.
Rep. Barbara Lee, one of the most outspoken progressive voices in Congress, formally launched her campaign Monday to chair the House Democratic Caucus — a post that would make her the first African-American woman to hold a leadership spot in either major political party.
“When you look at the history of the Democratic Party and the Democratic leadership, African-American women ... we’ve been the backbone of the Democratic Party — we should be in the face of leadership also,’’ Lee told POLITICO in an interview Sunday. Whether it comes to grass-roots issues, or voter mobilization and political activism, she said, black women have long proved they can “lead not only our communities, but lead our country, on the very tough issues facing us.”
Lee, first elected to Congress in 1998 in one of the nation’s most liberal bastions, Oakland and the East Bay’s 13th District, argues she has a long record as a coalition-builder who has dedicated her career to issues of concern to both poor urban and rural voters. As the party prepares for the 2020 election cycle, the California congresswoman said, “these are issues that we can all unify around, like jobs and economic growth,’’ poverty, education and health care.
“The strength of our caucus lies in our diversity of experiences and ideas,’’ Lee said in a letter released Monday to her congressional colleagues announcing her bid. “Whether it’s working across the aisle to enact HIV/AIDS laws, or bringing the Sanders and Clinton campaigns together behind a cohesive and progressive Democratic platform, my career has been dedicated to finding common ground and delivering results.”
Read more: Barbara Lee announces bid for Democratic Caucus chair
On her website Hayes explains why she is running for office:
My decision to run for Congress is inspired by the people in my community who have become disengaged because they struggle to find themselves reflected in the narrative. People with real stories, challenges and successes that never make it into the discussion. I am running because I see myself in every student, teacher, mom, sister, daughter, friend, neighbor and stranger I meet, and their story is my story. I want to earn the trust of the people in Connecticut's 5th district and be the person to carry their concerns to Washington.
In a newly released campaign video, Hayes showcases her background: She grew up in a housing project in poverty-stricken Waterbury, was raised by her grandmother while her mother struggled with drug addiction, then became a mom at 17.
When Mareena Robinson Snowden walked across the commencement stage at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) on June 8th, she became the first black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the storied university.
For her, there was one particular word that the experience brought to mind: grateful.
"Grateful for every part of this experience — highs and lows," she wrote on Instagram. "Every person who supported me and those who didn't. Grateful for a praying family, a husband who took on this challenge as his own, sisters who reminded me at every stage how powerful I am, friends who inspired me to fight harder. Grateful for the professors who fought for and against me. Every experience on this journey was necessary, and I'm better for it."
Snowden's Ph.D. was the culmination of 11 years of post-secondary study. But the 30-year-old tells CNBC Make It that a career in STEM wasn't something she dreamed of as a child.
"Engineering definitely was not something I had a passion for at a young age," she says. "I was quite the opposite. I think my earliest memories of math and science were definitely one of like nervousness and anxiety and just kind of an overall fear of the subject."
She credits her high school math and physics teachers with helping to expand her interests beyond English and history, subjects she loved.
"I had this idea that I wasn't good at math and they kind of helped to peel away that mindset," she explains. "They showed me that it's more of a growth situation, that you can develop an aptitude for this and you can develop a skill. It's just like a muscle, and you have to work for it."
Check out the new Black Lightning Season 2 Comic-Con Trailer starring Cress Williams! Black Lightning returns October 9, 2018.
