The Goddesses of Democracy

Tuesday, November 2, 2021, is Election Day in Georgia. Democracy doesn't have “off years.” For information about poll sites and to get your voting questions answered, visit 866ourvote.org. 

The morning after the people of Georgia voted to send Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock to the United States Senate in 2021—twin victories that secured Democratic control of the chamber, a boon for President Joe Biden—the activist and organizer Nsé Ufot leveled with CNN: The margins had been small. But the results were decisive, she pointed out. The elections were evidence that each vote did matter.

“Black voters got that message,” Ufot, who serves as the CEO of the New Georgia Project, said. “Black voters recognized that we need to complete the task.”

That task is securing true, unfettered access to the ballot, and Black voters have been working to complete it for decades. The surge in voters in Georgia who helped elect Biden and then handed him a Democratic-led Senate is the result of groundwork that was laid in the lead up to the Civil Rights Movement. Since then, generations of Black women in particular have encouraged voter registration, organized their communities to turn out at the polls, and battled near-constant voter suppression efforts. Their tireless commitment has started to attract more attention, but their work is not done.

In the months after their triumphs in 2020 and 2021, Republican-led state legislatures nationwide have passed laws to limit who is eligible to vote and placed absurd limits on how activists can help their fellow citizens exercise their constitutional rights. An omnibus bill signed into law in March 2021 in Georgia has made it a crime to pass out a bottle of water or a snack to people waiting in line to vote. Ballot drop boxes once placed in convenient and central locations have now been moved inside early-voting sites. It should not fall to Black women to beat back these antidemocratic measures, but over and over, it’s Black women who step up. To recognize their contributions, we’re honoring three of them as Glamour Women of the Year: the indefatigable and aforementioned Nsé Ufot, Black Voters Matter Fund cofounder LaTosha Brown, and Helen Butler, the executive director of the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda.

These women are pillars in their communities. On a national level, their organizations have modeled new strategies in voter outreach, centered on an ethos of respect and transparent communication. And while their focuses are each a little different, their message is the same: It’s time to get involved.

To celebrate them and to share how we can all support the work of democratic engagement, we asked the actor, producer, and activist Kerry Washington to sit down with our honorees for a wide-ranging conversation about activism, organizing, and hope. —Mattie Kahn, culture director

Kerry Washington: This is such a dream for me to get to be in conversation with some of my real heroes—my superhero goddesses of democracy—so thank you for having me. I want to just start out by asking each of you what your aha moment was. When did you know that you were going to be doing this work?

Nsé Ufot: Oh goodness, the aha moment.

Helen Butler: Well, I guess the aha moment for me was when I left corporate America. I was sitting at home, and my brother said, “You got to get up and not be lazy. You got to do something.” And so I got up. I worked for the NAACP Voter Fund. Then I joined the People’s Agenda. I met Dr. [Joseph] Lowery, Reverend James Orange, Rita Samuels, John Lewis—all those civil rights leaders. I just became addicted to this work.

Kerry: “Addicted”—love it. There are worse things to be addicted to than democracy building. Miss LaTosha Brown, how about you? Your aha moment.

LaTosha Brown: It’s interesting. I am sitting here thinking about the question, and I don’t know if I have an answer of an aha moment in the sense that I think there have been several moments. I was led to the work because I love human beings. There’s been two things that have shaped who I am—this deep love for life and people, and then this keen sense of injustice. I never liked to see people use power against people who were powerless,

I keep telling people that my work is not about elections. It’s about, How are we going to restore or reclaim our humanity? And for me, voting is an expression of that. Every single human being should have a right to have some input on decisions made about their lives, and so I fundamentally believe that to the core of my being. I want the world to be better.

Kerry: You’re not going to have me crying today.

Nsé: I love it.

Kerry: Nsé, what about you?

Nsé: Like LaTosha, I feel like I was always a precocious kid that felt things very deeply and had a strong sense of “This is not right.” I didn’t know if I could do anything about it, but you going to hear me say something because I don’t like what I’m seeing!

Listen, I’m an immigrant kid from a working-class family; [the daughter of] a single parent from Nigeria. They don’t play any kind of games. My junior year of college, I got my first D in organic chemistry, and I was pre-med. I was like, “All right, so I’m about to be murdered.” I didn’t feel like I had a lot of career options, but the truth was I did. It was the summer of 2001. I had pledged a sorority. I had got a little boyfriend. And I had hustled an internship at CNN for the summer. [The network was] covering the World Conference Against Racism, and so I spent the summer in Durban, South Africa. I met so many lawyers who did not practice law. There were communicators, there were fundraisers, there were graphic designers. It felt like, “Oh, this might be something that I could do where I could satisfy my family, but also get paid or figure out a way to feed myself to do the work that I care about deeply; the democracy work that I care about, the justice work that I care about.”

I was still on the fence about it because I was still pre-med and still afraid of having this conversation. And I got back to Atlanta on September 10, 2001. September 11 happened the next morning, and it shook me to my core. I got the clarity that tomorrow is not promised. I can do the things that are supposed to make my family happy, or I can do the things that I’m supposed to do, which is why my Creator brought me here. I got the courage, had the conversation, switched my major, took the LSAT, went to law school; the rest is history.

Kerry: Each of you talked about mentors—people that you came across who really had an impact on your choice to do this work. What is some piece of wisdom that you came across along the way that you carry with you in your work now?

LaTosha: My first work as an organizer was in Selma in a local public housing community where we were organizing a residence council. Everybody told me I needed to talk to a woman named Miss Carolyn. I start going to her house with a little clipboard and a piece for her to sign, and I would get in and she would completely ignore it. She would not let me talk about the work. She would ask me if I wanted some lemonade or tea or some food, and she watched The Young and the Restless. She would be like, “Do you know what they did today on The Young and Restless?” And I was like, “I came to…okay.” But everybody said I had to have Miss Carolyn, and so I would go again and again, and every time it would be the same thing. She would ask me if I wanted something to eat. She would be telling me what Victor was doing, and I was like, “Okay.”

After about the sixth or seventh time going to her house, I went in and I wasn’t even worried about it. I had developed an affection for her. I liked seeing her, so this time I was like, “Okay, what did Victor do today, Miss Carolyn?” We sit down, she looks at me, and she says, “Where’s your clipboard? Aren’t you supposed to be working?” She was putting pressure on me! I pulled out the clipboard, and she’s like, “Don’t you want me to sign it?” She signed, and as a result, our next meeting was packed. I’m quite sure it was because of Miss Carolyn.

The biggest lesson she taught me is that work is never more important than the people. And so sometimes when we’re doing social justice work and we’re doing movement work, we will do it at the expense of people. But it’s their humanity that’s important—not that they become another signer on my account, not that they register to vote. Yeah, I’m glad you’re registering to vote, but this is a moment that I want you to stand in your agency. That’s why I want you to register to vote. I want you to fight for democracy not because the end goal for me is democracy. I want you to actually see democracy as a vehicle for all humanity to advance. People are always first. They should be centered in our work. If they are not, then there’s something wrong.

Kerry: That’s beautiful. Nsé, did you want to add something to that?

Nsé: I think one of the things that has stuck with me throughout the course of my career and my organizing is the idea that we need to practice revolutionary democracy in every aspect of our organizing. And that comes from Amílcar Cabral—a philosopher and an organizer and a revolutionary. He would say, “Hide nothing from the masses of the people. Tell no lies. Mask no difficulties, mistakes or failures.” I feel like—and particularly in this moment now where our theory of change individually and collectively is starting to bear fruit—that there is a danger for people who are marginally in the work or tangentially related to the work, to claim easy victories. That’s why you will never hear me say that Georgia is a blue state, because we’re not there yet, right? We got a lot of work to do!

We are honest about the challenges and the difficulties so that when we win—because we will win—people will know how hard it was, people will know how we got there, and the results of our efforts can be duplicated, can be replicated in other places and at other times.

Kerry: We’ve established that your vote is your expression of your full humanity, your self-determination. Your vote is the way that you express your feelings about what you want to change, whether that’s health care, the environment, a woman’s right to choose, all of it. All of that is impacted by voting. The vote itself is impacted by voting! So how do people help when they read this?

LaTosha: Part of what we have to think about is, we’ve got to have federal voting rights legislation. Right now we’re looking at the Freedom to Vote Act, which takes parts of the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voter Advancement Act. Those aren’t dead, but we have to demand that this administration prioritizes the passing of voting rights, protection, and legislation, and not one or the other. We have to have legislation that does two things. First, it has to set a national standard around voting access so that it doesn’t matter whether I live in Alabama or Iowa or California, I should have equal access to the ballot. Second, we’ve got to have the John Lewis Voter Advancement Act. We’ve got to have additional protections. Part of what we’re seeing is this massive closing of polling sites. That means people have to be in line 9, 10, 11 hours. Last year we were in Union City, Georgia, for the primary until 1 a.m. The last person voted on Wednesday! That is unacceptable.

But it’s not enough to respond to what’s happening now. If we are to shape a future, we have to reimagine the possibilities that exist when people are able to tap into their power. And so we’ve got to reframe every single system that has been created out of the bowels of oppression and racism and sexism. Those have to be improved and replaced, and many of them have to be abolished. We have to look forward as we’re doing the work now to reduce the harm happening to us.

Kerry: Amen.

Nsé: To lean on a theme from the Black church, people need to think about what time, what talent, or what treasure they have that they can contribute. I know that there are things you care about. And I know that there are issues that you can’t stand to see continue, or that there’s a hope, a vision that you have for the country that you want to live in that your family deserves. I’m here to tell you that there are other people who share your values, and it’s time to join an organization. It’s time to pick up a shovel.

This is the time. The hand-wringing, the anxiety, the fear about the attacks on our democracy, I’m not saying that you don’t feel your feelings. You should certainly feel what you’re feeling. And then use that to propel you to get to work, to find your people and get to work.

Kerry: And the reality is, in my experience, when I get to work, it helps the feelings, right? When you commit yourself to being of service to women like you, the reward is that you get to be part of the solution. And that breeds hope—that idea of you planting a seed. We only plant seeds when we trust there’s going to be another season. It affirms that we believe there is a brighter future.

Nsé: Come on! And you will harvest.

Kerry: Yes! Yes.

LaTosha: That is a word.

Helen: We got to also become engaged. Run for office. Offer yourself to be that change agent. Don’t rely on someone else to do it for you. Do that. And more importantly, research information that comes across your path, because all of this misinformation and disinformation does no one any good. Be engaged in this process. You can be that difference.

Kerry: One thing that you three women do so effectively is encourage people to participate. You really do mobilize people. What’s your secret? How do you make a person feel that they matter and then get them into action to have a voice in their community?

LaTosha: In all of my work, I want to generate as much joy as possible in the world. I am a human, damn it. I’m a human being. And part of what brings me joy is when I’m leaning into culture. The work that we do is culture-centered. Yes, we’re talking about policies, but we’re also doing the electric slide, and we’re singing, and we’re using the arts. We’re using those things that affirm our being to be able to activate people in a deeper sense.

My goal isn’t to convince them to believe in a system that has been racist and that has been exclusive and that has mistreated them and been oppressive. My goal is to get them to believe in themselves and their own agency.

Helen: Well, not everybody is a singer like LaTosha. Some of us don’t have those kinds of talents! So what we do is tell people we’re in this together. I can’t sing. I can’t draw. I’m not a gamer like Nsé is, but I just let people know I care. I care. And there are other people that care about you and about us together. And if we’re in this together, we can make that difference. We’ve done it since the days we got here from our motherland, right? We stuck together and we survived and persevered and we can still do that.

Kerry: Nsé, you do such innovative work around utilizing apps and games. And to me, that’s also a way of saying “I see you,” because you’re meeting young people where they are.

Nsé: A hundred percent. I think that if we’re trying to change the culture of our democracy, change the culture of participation, change the culture of policy and how it gets made, you work with culture, right? That means food, music, dance, song. We don’t do any meetings without food, music, and childcare. We want to create memorable, joyful experiences. That’s how we bring people in. We want people to see themselves in the work that we do and see an on-ramp and how to get in.

Kerry: I’m so moved listening to the three of you. And I just have to wonder—as the superheroes that you are—are there times that it feels like too much? And what do you do when that happens?

Nsé: I’m always trying to quit. Always!

Kerry: What else do you want to do, Nsé?

Nsé: LaTosha knows that I want to be a plus-size yoga influencer on Instagram. Like, she bendy! She can sell some yoga pants! [Laughs.] But no, it is a practice. It’s a meditation practice, a yoga practice. It’s just moving my body, getting out, walking around. I will go into my backyard with no shoes on just to make sure that there’s dirt in between my toes, just so that I can feel earth and so that I can feel grounded and feel connected. I plant fruit trees. I have these peach trees in my backyard. It’s two peaches among five trees, but I’m proud of them! And I’m fortunate to be in a village of dope leaders and women who remind me, “Breathe, stop, pause. Are you pouring back into yourself?” That is how I manage it at this moment, but also I’m always coming up with an escape plan just in case I need to bug out.

Helen: I like to just relax, take time off, and be me. That’s important to me. I love music. I like to listen to all genres of music. That will relax me. That’s the kind of stuff that just chills me out when I feel like I’m too stressed out. And with the number of elections we are having, I think I’m ready for that wholeheartedly—just to be alone, not around people, just to be me.

Kerry: It’s so beautiful to hear you say that, because I think, as women, as working women, particularly women in Black bodies, it’s hard to just say, “I’m going to do nothing for a minute.” It’s really hard to say, “I’m good company. I choose to just be with me for a little bit.” It’s really powerful to hear you say that. I’m like, “Who has time to be with themselves? That’s crazy talk!”

LaTosha: I’m in a shedding process. I’m in a process of learning and evolving. I’ve operated with this frame of wanting to do better. “I’ve got to be more. I got to be better. I got to do this better the next time.” The same thing that has driven me has also been the same thing that has harmed me. So I still struggle with that space. Does it get hard? Hell, yes! I’m tired now. It’s been relentless in Georgia. None of us have been able to stop. Normally, there’s this downtime after the election. But the assaults on voting rights happened immediately. We saw what happened on January 6. It has been nonstop, unyielding.

A couple of weeks ago, I had this epiphany. For my entire life, I’ve been doing work toward Black liberation. My goal has been the liberation of Black people and ultimately the liberation of the world. That sounds like a noble cause. Yes, that is certainly part of the core of who I am, but I was in bed one morning, and what came to me was, So when are we going to get there? When are we going to get to this Black liberation you talk about? Are we going to just continue to operate from a place of seeking this at some point in the future? Or are we committed to creating and modeling a liberated life? And what does that look like?

I decided I’m not waiting on somebody to liberate me. I’m not waiting on something outside of me to create or to impact this life. I’ve decided that I am literally going to create the liberated life that I desire and I deserve. And part of that requires me to be different. I’m learning how to be different. I’m learning that I can stand in the fullness of who I am as a creative, as a thought leader, as a person. And I don’t have to be a martyr to be important to the world. We have had enough Black women who have been martyrs to this world. What we need to see is those of us with the boldness and the courage and the insight to reclaim our lives. I haven’t figured that out, but I am standing in this journey.

Kerry: You three! I want you to know that your willingness to take up space in your lives and affirm that you matter is in direct alignment with the work. It helps all of us to show up in our democracy when you model showing up for yourself in your life, because it’s all just affirmation of our worthiness. Affirmation of our voice. I’m so, so grateful.

I know you don’t do it for the accolades, but you deserve them. So receive them and walk forward with them, knowing that we’re loving you and we’re cheering you on. And I pray that everyone who reads this figures out how to give more of their time and talent and treasure so that you guys can have a little more time for yourselves too.

Photographed by Melissa Alexander; styled by Roberto Johnson; hair by Nasetia Windham; makeup by Danielle Mitchell; props by Risha Carnes at The Spin Style Agency; on-set production by Kenley Duke.