WRITTEN AND CONTRIBUTED BY TRACY SCOTT OF BLACK WOMEN’S PAC TEXAS
What You Need to Know:
Have you ever considered a career in political campaigning or legislative staff? Nationally, at all levels of government, there is a shortage of Black staff. As adults, we tend to stay away from politics, which is obvious by our percentages of turnout every election compared to the voting-age population. The accountability of change in our community should not be left at the doorstep of other communities. Young adults are engaging at levels seen in previous generations noted for their historic social change. Engagement can become a career. Several universities, organizations, and political parties offer degrees, certifications, and courses to better educate advocates and activists on the political process separate from candidacy and elected office.
Our political community needs campaign managers, chiefs of staff, trained organizers, and well-versed people of interest and of color with realistic expectations, especially at the local level. In a recent article published in the New York Times, Black legislative staff on Capitol Hill were sounding the alarm on the lack of permanent staff and wages. Leadership occurs at every level. Steering the ship (or a political campaign or legislative office) is just as important as deciding the direction.
As we continue to see a widening gap in political divisiveness, we should prepare for how “We the People” will protect our interests and engage as diverse voters. “You have to have operatives who can talk to everybody in that coalition, who also happen to be people of color,” said Dan Sena, who became the first Latino DCCC executive director in 2018.
Political power has intellectual infrastructure. Human intellect from the neighborhood where the issue lives and continues to challenge the survival of democracy and humanity. “There are many roles where you can shape the future and inject your voice,” says Tracy Scott, president of Black Women’s PAC Texas.