We, NOBEL Women and SiX, just released "No Democracy Without Black Women: Black Women are Underrepresented in State Legislatures," a state-by-state analysis highlighting the need for and the importance of more Black women in state legislatures. 

We published this report because we know that Black women need to be at every table, from the statehouse to the White House, where decisions are being made, and to spread awareness that there are a lot of state legislative tables missing our voices. Help us spread the word today. 

Spread the word on social media using this toolkit 

Key Takeaways

• States with the greatest number of Black women in the legislature: 

  • Georgia with 39 women 
  • Maryland with 28 women 
  • New York with 23 women 
     

• States with large Black populations are not immune from under-representation. In fact, Mississippi, the state with the highest Black population in the country, has a staggering disparity in representation—Black women make up approximately 19.36% of the population but just 7.47% of the legislature.

• There remain eight states with no Black women serving in the legislature, despite the Black population ranging from 2-6% of each state’s population: Vermont, South Dakota, Hawaii, Arizona, Idaho, Nebraska, Montana, and North Dakota.