John, if you have a moment to share with me, I'd like to tell you my story.

But if you can't stick around, are you able to chip in whatever you can spare to my campaign for Senate?

I was brought into this world via an emergency forceps delivery after my mother was nearly denied admission into the hospital for the color of her skin.

Things did not get better from there. Because, despite my father retiring as a lieutenant colonel who had served in both WWII and the Korean War and my mother serving as the first Black clerical worker at Fort Bliss, we still faced discrimination every single day.

But regardless of all the things my parents could not control about how the world treated me, they could control how I was taught to treat the world. They instilled in me a fierce understanding that, no matter what people said, I was not and never would be lesser than my peers – and that I must work hard every day to prove that.

And that's a lesson that I've carried throughout my entire life.

That's why, at the age of 15 when I wanted to be a cheerleader, I worked with the NAACP to integrate my high school girls cheerleading squad.

When I was struggling to make ends meet after escaping an abusive marriage, I enrolled in college – and even took my boys with me to classes when money was spread too thin to get child care – to give myself the chance to reach my dreams.

When I decided that it was time to bring the voices of Black women like my own to Congress, I ran in a special election and made it happen.

John, I am no stranger to adversity – and I'm not afraid of another challenge. I'm running for Senate, and I'm ready to bring my decades of progressive experience with me.

We're just 62 days away from Election Day, and recent polls show that I am statistically tied for second place. We have the momentum to pull ahead in this race and make history, but only if we keep our foot on the gas all the way through. So I have to ask – will you chip in $5 or more now to help send me to the Senate?

Thank you for listening to my story and jumping into action.

– Barbara