This is the database America needs right now.
Writer and author Luvvie Ajayi decided it was time to put together a database of Black women running for office in 2018 when she learned no such database existed.
With the help of three other women – Sili Recio, Lucrecer Braxton and Candace Jones – Luvvie created the database after combing through Twitter, Facebook and other social media to find all the names of candidates that other people had put forward. The team created spreadsheets and Google Docs and eventually came up with a list of more than 100 Black women running for office.
The group was then by Jeff Reifman, a coder, who offered to code a database that would more easily update.
The database is not an endorsement of any particular candidate, Luvvie writes. Users should treat it as a “phone book” of candidates and information on their positions.
The database has its own website at BlackWomeninPolitics.com that everyone can visit and browse. The database currently has 392 black women running for office in it and can be searched by both state and candidate name.
The site allows users to fill out a form if they want to be added to the list or know someone who does.
