Why Are Black Women Still Boxed Out of Leadership?

Written by Erica Marshall-Lee, Ph.D., ABPP, on behalf of the Atlanta Behavioral Health Advocates

Why are there such monumental barriers for a Black woman to become president of the United States? The short answer is that Black women have been consistently overlooked, shut out, and ignored for centuries.

In the U.S., African-descended women are significantly underrepresented in political positions, holding only about 4 percent of elected offices at state and federal levels (Center for American Women and