Folks,

This Black History Month, I have been reflecting on how we can continue to uplift and amplify Black voices, achievements, stories, and communities year-round.

As the first Black woman to represent Alabama in Congress, I stand on the shoulders of so many trailblazers, visionaries, activists, and Civil Rights leaders who paved the path before me.

I’m a 3rd-generation Selmian, so I know firsthand that Black history is Alabama’s history — a history I want to honor and preserve.

That’s why I want to take some time to shine a spotlight on the contributions of Black Alabamians:

• Judge Oscar W. Adams, Jr. — the first African-American elected to a statewide office in Alabama and the first African-American Alabama Supreme Court Justice


• Dr. Mae Jemison — Decatur-native, NASA astronaut, and first African-American woman in space


• Amelia Boynton Robinson — one of the brave Foot Soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement who crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday


• Michael A. Figures — one of the first African-Americans to earn a Juris Doctorate from the University of Alabama, who went on to become the first Black state representative of Mobile County and the President Pro-Tempore of the Alabama Senate.


• Percy Lavon Julian — Montgomery-native and chemist who obtained over 130 patents, innovated the production of life-saving medicine, and became the first Black chemist nominated to the National Academy of Sciences


• Thelma Glass — a professor of geography at Alabama State University, who helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott as secretary of the Women’s Political Council

I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the amazing legacy of these and so many other known and unknown history-makers.

The accomplishments of these trailblazers serve as a reminder of the lasting impact Black Alabamians have had on our state, and I’m grateful to be able to follow in their footsteps.

Thank you,

Terri Sewell

(P.S. There is unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement, and as the representative of Alabama’s Black Belt, I’m determined to carry the baton and continue the fight for progress. Will you join me and chip in $15 or more to support my campaign?)