The life of Stacey Abrams

Brut America

She's responsible for registering hundreds of thousands of new Georgia voters. Her efforts could help flip the Senate.  This is the story of Stacey Abrams.

Transcript

00:00And as a person of color, as a black woman, I've had to overcome barriers myself.

00:04I've had to figure out how to navigate systems that aren't designed for me.

00:19Growing up, my family went back and forth between lower middle class and working class.

00:30Every day, my parents taught us, all six of their children, to celebrate through service

00:41the grace that is America.

01:00And today, I come to you as a young person, as a young woman, as a young black woman,

01:16to ask you to use us.

01:18Use the young people of the United States of America to pave a road that will last forever.

01:23Pave a road that will let us become the foot soldiers, let us not have to do this again

01:28for our children.

01:29We ask you to let us come forth with you, not behind you, not in front of you, but together,

01:35on that road to jobs, justice, and peace.

02:00I ran for office because I believe that you have to fight to protect the elderly, that

02:06you must stand for immigrants and be their voice, no matter what language they speak,

02:11and that working families simply looking for a way forward should not be denied access

02:16because they had the misfortune of not being born to privilege.

02:20Starting in 2014, we organized ourselves, we raised money, and we registered 86,000

02:32New Georgians.

02:50We are writing the next chapter of Georgia's future, where no one is unseen, no one is

02:56unheard, and no one is uninspired.

03:14So let's go and vote for the one who glow.

03:17That's Stacey Abrams.

03:18Go out and vote and vote early right now.

03:20This is your chance, Georgia, to let your voice be heard and change the world.

03:25Fight back.

03:26Fight back.

03:27Stacey Abrams for governor.

03:39Those who have the legal eligibility to vote should cast a ballot, but I also understand

03:44that under Secretary Kemp, more people have lost the right to vote.

03:56I acknowledge that former Secretary of State Brian Kemp will be certified as the victor

04:02in the 2018 gubernatorial election, but to watch an elected official who claims to represent

04:08the people in this state baldly pin his hopes for election on the suppression of the people's

04:14democratic right to vote has been truly appalling.

04:17So let's be clear.

04:19This is not a speech of concession, because concession means to acknowledge an action

04:24is right.

04:37My first responsibility was to channel my rage and my despondency into action, and we

04:42launched Fair Fight, which is our organization that is pushing for fair elections in Georgia

04:47and across the country.

04:59I'm honored to join the conversation about the state of our union.

05:08Public service has been a calling for me as long as I can remember.

05:11Whether in elected office or as an active citizen, I believe we are required to find

05:16solutions to our most intractable problems and to use our skills to expand opportunity

05:21for all.

05:22However, I am announcing today that I will not be a candidate for the United States Senate.

05:27But let's be clear.

05:28I will do everything in my power to ensure Georgia elects a Democrat to the United States

05:32Senate in 2020.

05:41My belief is I'm prepared to serve.

05:49I look forward to the opportunities to continue the work that I do on voting rights, on making

05:54sure that every underserved community is seen, and that we can recover from this pandemic

05:58by fixing the structural inequities that have ravaged communities of color and poor communities

06:03in our country.

06:11I think in the 2020 cycle, while we cannot defeat suppression in all its forms, we have

06:23made sufficient progress there, and we have seen campaigns like the Biden campaign, like

06:28John Ossoff's campaign, like Raphael Warnock's campaign, the investments we've made through

06:33the work of Fair Fight.

06:34We have seen progress being made, and I think absolutely we can not only deliver 16 electoral

06:39college votes, we can deliver two U.S. Senate seats.

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