Black women making history

This morning I watched Melissa Harris-Perry host her own news show on cable television. And yes, what a glorious way to celebrate the focus on Black women during African American History Month.

But there's more!

When it comes to the historic 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama, who will ever forget the contribution of Edith Childs? She joined up when hardly anyone was paying attention...but was fired up and ready to go.



She's still at it.

Now, exactly four years after South Carolina chose Barack Obama as its Democratic nominee for President, Mrs. Childs is still as fervent as ever in her support of President Obama and her belief in what he stands for. “I was with him, and I’m still with him,” she told the South Carolina team during a recent visit. She hasn’t forgotten one minute of the history-making election she was a part of, and she reflects on trips to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration and visits to the White House with pride and passion. “It was worth every minute of it,” she said. “I wouldn’t change anything.”

Mrs. Childs put a lot of herself into the 2008 election – registering voters, making calls and knocking on doors in her community – all in support of Barack Obama. And 10 months out until the 2012 election, she is gearing up again to help ensure he stays in the White House. Re-connecting with her team from 2008, Mrs. Childs plans to get back out into her Greenwood community over the coming months and encourage folks to talk to their families and people in their neighborhoods and churches about President Obama and all that he has accomplished over the last three years.

But she's not the only African American woman making history in South Carolina. Meet the first female African American Mayor of Manning, South Carolina - Julia Nelson.

President Obama's bid for the presidency and then his election stirred up an interest and a gift that I was unaware I possessed. From my grassroots work with President Obama's campaign, I learned how to organize effectively, recruit and staff volunteers, create databases, raise funds, maintain momentum, and utilize social media to have successful regional and local campaigns.

It also gave me the courage and belief that I could become the mayor of my hometown. I was elected in July 2011 as the first African American female mayor of Manning, S.C. I completed the term of the former Mayor Kevin L. Johnson, the first African American mayor of our city who was elected as the first African American for S.C. House District 64 in more than a century. Now, I am unopposed to run for the full term election to remain mayor until 2016.
I would have never believed that my work on President Obama's campaign would lead me to being elected as a delegate for the Sixth Congressional District of South Carolina for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, a member of my local school board, and eventually the mayor of my hometown.

There you have it folks...changing the world one voice at a time.