John, this morning I discussed my lifelong fight for progress on CBS Mornings – and why all of these factors make me the best choice for California's Senate seat.

My fight for progress began long before I first got to Washington, D.C., or was even registered to vote. It began in my high school in Southern California – where I wanted to become a cheerleader, but they only had an all-white team.

Maybe if I hadn't grown up in the segregated South and spent my entire life being told that I couldn't do this or I couldn't be that, I would've accepted that I didn't look like the kind of girl they picked for the team. But I knew I could make change, not just for me, but for the other girls of color that would follow me.

So, I teamed up with the NAACP to integrate my cheer team, and I've been fighting for progress ever since.

From becoming my school's first Black cheerleader to following Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm on her historic presidential campaign to being the only person in Congress to vote against giving President Bush nearly unlimited war powers after 9/11, every single fight for progress has prepared me for the Senate.

John, this morning on CBS I shared my story and the many times that I've shattered the glass ceiling – but I'm going to need your help shattering this last one.

I'm running for U.S. Senate, where only two other Black women have ever served, but this race is going to be tight to the very end. And, with Black female candidates like myself raising just a fraction of what white candidates do, I'm counting on your support.

So please, will you chip in $5 or more to my Senate campaign now so I can become California's next senator and continue my lifelong fight for progress?

Thank you,

Barbara Lee