Page 7 - My FlipBook

Years in political office: 2007–2017
Position: minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, 2011–2017;
member of the Georgia House of Representatives, 2007–2017

Party affiliation: Democrat
Hometown: Madison, Wisconsin
Top causes: voting rights, health care, and reproductive rights

LIfe STORy

Stacey Abrams is the second of six kids born to Robert and Carolyn Abrams, who
lived in Mississippi and then Georgia so that they could study to become Methodist
ministers. Following their faith was not a financially lucrative path, and the family
sometimes fell back on government aid, which taught Stacey early on about the value
of the social safety net.
While her mom and dad hit the books, so did Abrams. In high school, she got a job
on a congressional representative’s campaign—and she was so good they later hired
her as a speechwriter. Abrams earned the highest grades in her high school class,
becoming the school’s first Black valedictorian. In honor of her academic feat, she
was invited to a reception at the governor’s mansion in wealthy Atlanta neighborhood
Buckhead. But when her family got off the bus and tried to walk up to the governor’s
front door, a security guard looked them up and down and told them they did not
belong at the private event.
That show of racism and classism lit a fire under Abrams. She attended Spelman
College in Atlanta, a historically Black school, where she became a campus leader
during intense student protests over the not-guilty verdict in the Rodney King trial,
in which LA cops were charged with excessive force for savagely beating a Black
man. Abrams even debated Atlanta’s mayor on television, taking him to task over not
supporting young people. A few months later, his office gave her a job on the city’s
youth services.
After attending the University of Texas and Yale University for graduate degrees,
Abrams headed back to Atlanta and became an attorney. She initially worked at
a private firm, but soon she was appointed deputy city attorney—reportedly, the
youngest in Atlanta history. She went on to win her first election to the Georgia House

11 Stacey Abrams