Black Girl Joy: A Tribute to Black Women in Aftermath of the 2026 Midterm Elections

Here in Georgia, I keep thinking about the Black girls who woke up after Election Day and heard something they had never heard before. A Black woman had been elected governor of a U.S. state. And it happened right here in Georgia. I want us to take a moment and let that joy in. We have earned the right to linger over some good news. Associated Press

I grew up struggling with low self-esteem, and I didn’t like my dark skin. That’s a tender thing to say out loud, especially now, when I speak so often about Black Girl Joy. But that little girl is part of this story, too. When I think about her now, I want to tell her what I wish she could have believed back then. Baby girl, God made you beautiful in the skin you’re in. You are worthy of being seen and loved just as you are.

That’s part of why this election feels so personal to me. I think about a dark-skinned Black girl who is still figuring out how to feel about the face she sees in the mirror. I hope she hears us celebrate these women and catches some of that joy for herself. I hope she gets to see Black women in all our shades leading, laughing, and taking up space. And I hope she knows we’re celebrating her, too, right now, before she has accomplished a single thing.

Keisha Lance Bottoms made history in the 2026 midterms, and she had company. Georgia elected Penny Brown Reynolds as secretary of state and Tanya Miller as attorney general. Katherine Juhan-Arnold won the race for agriculture commissioner, Nikki Porcher for labor commissioner, Keisha Sean Waites for insurance commissioner, and Dr. Lydia Powell for state school superintendent. In Illinois, voters elected Juliana Stratton to the United States Senate. I want to say their names because each woman ran her own race, and each deserves to hear us call her name in celebration. WSB-TV · Associated Press

Black Girl Joy is my theme for 2026, and this election gave me a new way to experience it. There’s joy in seeing Black women entrusted with decisions that shape the places we call home. And the next time a little Black girl in Georgia says she wants to be governor, she can point to a woman from her own state who has already shown her it’s possible. Just thinking about that makes me smile.

I’m holding that joy alongside what so many Black women have been carrying. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research, using revised federal labor data, found that 251,000 fewer Black women were employed in August 2025 than in January of that year. The researchers identified the Trump administration’s rollbacks of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and mass federal layoffs among several factors that worsened economic conditions for Black women. Behind those numbers are women who had to sit at the kitchen table and decide which bill could wait. Women who had to write another cover letter when what they really needed was a minute to catch their breath. Institute for Women’s Policy Research

I want us to make room for both stories. We can shout for the sister who won and sit beside the sister who is still waiting for a call back. And when the celebration is over, we can keep asking who gets hired, who gets promoted, and whose job is first on the chopping block. Black women deserve the security of a paycheck and the freedom to do good work without having to prove, repeatedly, that we belong.

I think about Esther when I think about showing up as your authentic self. When she went before the king, she eventually spoke plainly about who her people were and what was happening to them. She asked her community to fast with her before she went. I love that detail. Even the woman who had to walk into the room had people holding her up before she got there. (Esther 4 and 7)

So, sister, bring your whole self. Bring the voice you’ve been told to soften. Bring the questions your experience has taught you to ask. And when you’re tired, let somebody bring you dinner, make a call on your behalf, or pray with you while you get some rest. There’s room for all of that in the life God is tending in you.

Today, I celebrate the women whose names were on the ballot. I celebrate the women who knocked on doors, drove somebody to the polls, and did the quiet work that made election night possible. And to the woman reading this who is still trying to figure out what comes next, I celebrate you, too. Your gifts are still yours. Your story is still unfolding. Embrace the fullness of who you are as a Black woman. Show up as your authentic self and watch God work.