Why I Listen to Stacey Abrams’ Ted Talk on Repeat
I don’t know what is more miraculous, Georgia turning blue during this election cycle or the fact that it was a Black woman who made it all happen. I have lived in the South all of my life and I have had a front-row seat to the things that make it hard to be not only Black but a woman in this country. These ideals and thoughts are deeply ingrained in American society but particularly in the South. So much so that it creates physical, emotional, and mental barriers for Black women to feel like they can succeed. To see someone like Stacey Abrams get knocked down unfairly and still get up and fight her way to a win is beyond words. The feeling is truly indescribable and has left me with thoughts around what it truly means to be impactful in this world.
After having the Georgia governor’s election stolen from her in 2018, Stacey Abrams has been on a mission to reverse the voter suppression experienced by so many people of color, particularly in the South. In 2013 she started a voter registration non-profit The New Georgia Project which saw returns of 86,000 new registered voters. The governor’s seat barely slipped out of Abrams’ grasp, losing by only approximately 55,000 votes in 2018. However, she did not let that deter her, instead, she took the momentum she gained in her run for office and turned into a huge voting registration machine. In 2016, 22% of Georgia eligible voters were not registered to vote. Currently, that number stands at 2% of eligible voters not registered to vote. What started this surge in voter registrations in 2016 was an administrative change that made registering to vote the default option on the state’s driver’s registration form. Following that up, Stacey Abrams created the nonprofit group Fair Fight and worked to further close the gap in eligible voter registration while fighting voter suppression. This resulted in an enormous boost in registration totaling 800,000 new voters added before the November 2020 presidential elections. In doing so she not only set the tides of change in motion for Georgia but also for the rest of the country. There is something about taking what may seem to be a loss and turning it into a win that is so gratifying.
Stacey Abrams’ Ted talk is hands down one of my top 5 favorites and one that I listen to quite often for inspiration. It is entitled “ 3 Questions to Ask Yourself About Everything You Do,” and it is 12 minutes of what motivates Abrams to take on any challenge and push through. In it, she describes when she was a young girl being invited to the Governor’s mansion to be recognized for being valedictorian of her school along with other students from across the state. She was almost turned away at the gate because the guard told her and her parents that the event was private and they did not belong there. It was this moment that sparked Abrams to know what she would do with her life and that was to create a path for all people to be able to have access granted to only those who have money and are privileged. Stacey Abrams outlines what her process is when she decides to pursue anything. “And there are three questions I ask myself about everything I do, whether it’s running for office or starting a business; when I decided to start the New Georgia Project to register people to vote; or when I started the latest action, Fair Fight Georgia. No matter what I do, I ask myself three questions: What do I want? Why do I want it? And how do I get it?”
What Do I Want?
This is the first step in deciding what challenges to take on, and it is pretty simple, decide “what do you want.” Establishing the problem and becoming aware of what the issues are lead you directly to some understanding. Deciding what that “want” is, basically means visualizing what the ideal end game is or what the results should look like compared to where they currently stand.
Abrams offers two qualifiers to get you to understand what the want is:
Be honest with yourself about the scope of your ambition and understand not only your mistakes but the mistakes of others. Creating clear intentions around these two things is essential to begin to carve a path to success. No matter what you decide to do, Abrams says, “Do not allow setbacks to set you back.”
Why Do You Want It?
You may feel that the path you have chosen is the right one, but are you the person to carry it out? Here, Abrams begs the question of why you? In anything, you do intention matters. It dictates how you will act in times of victory as well as in times of extreme stress and defeat. Some challenges may cost you more than you bargain for, so it is necessary that you be clear on why you want this. In her TedTalk, Abrams lends this advice, “Instead, make sure you want it because there’s something not that you should do, but something you must do. It has to be something that doesn’t allow you to sleep at night unless you’re dreaming about it; something that wakes you up in the morning and gets you excited about it; or something that makes you so angry, you know you have to do something about it. But know why you’re doing it. And know why it must be done.” challenges take grit and you will be tested, be firm on why what it is you want to be done must be done.
How Do I Get It?
No task can be accomplished without a clear plan in place of how to win. Without a strategy, you are lost. It is the difference between playing chess and not checkers. There may be obstacles that come into play that make you waiver, but if you stick to your plan you won’t fall too far off track. The steadiness of how to get from point A to point B is part of how you outwork your opponent. The organization of resources with clear actionable steps can be overlooked when we are celebrating accomplishments. Also, once you solidify your plan you need support behind you to carry you to the finish line. “Our campaign tripled the number of Latinos who believed their voices mattered in the state of Georgia. We tripled the number of Asian Americans who stood up and said, “This is our state, too,” Abrams says about measuring her success on how to get it done. All of these things in concert with one another is how you get what you set out to do done and done well.
We all will suffer setbacks trying to fulfill what we think our life’s purpose may be. These things must be faced head-on if we want real change. How we choose to carry on and press forward is the real obstacle to overcome. The mission can be big, but our response to what may seem is a failure could put us on a bigger track. Let’s normalize coming back after what seems to be a major loss. It is the accumulation of small wins that can lead to a bigger victory in the end. If we can learn anything from Stacy Abrams, it is to sustain resilience and reach for the sky no matter what gets in your way. If her story has inspired you, I will leave one last quote to think about next time you run up against what may seem impossible. “But here’s my point: I know what I want, and that is justice. I know why I want it, because poverty is immoral, and it is a stain on our nation. And I know how I’m going to get it: by moving forward every single day.” Keep moving forward yall!!!