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 now before my daily digital fundraiser ends at midnight?

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

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

But despite all the things that 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.

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 still 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.

With less than 50 days to go until primary day, the latest polls show that this race is still up for grabs, with over 20% still undecided. So I have to ask – will you chip in $5 or more now to help send me to the Senate? I set a goal to raise $25,000 online before midnight, and I need your help to do that.

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

– Barbara