PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (March 4, 2020) – Women’s History Month at Prairie View A&M University kicked off Tuesday with alumnae who are becoming political forces in the greater Houston area.
Houston City Councilwoman. Tiffany Thomas, District F.
PVAMU’s Women’s Leadership Council aligned the event with the election year and chose the theme, “Valiant Women of the Vote.” Freshman Houston City Councilwoman Tiffany Thomas, District F, and Mayor of Missouri City (Texas) Yolanda Ford were invited. Both said they never dreamed of being a politician, but life and experiences prepared them to redefine the power of African-American women.
“I never wanted to pursue politics. For me to end up in this place was a series of saying, ‘Yes’ to experiences and opportunities. It was about the service, and for me, doing work for people who look like me,” said Thomas, who was elected in 2019 to represent one of the most culturally diverse areas of Houston.
Ford’s journey into politics is parallel to Thomas’s.
Mayor of Missouri City (Texas), Yolanda Ford.
“I didn’t see fair representation across the community, so that’s when I said I had to step up. That’s why it’s important to join an office so you can speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves,” said Ford, who was elected at the age of 35 to become the youngest person ever to win a seat on the council in Missouri City.
Thomas coined the rise of African-American women becoming leaders in politics as “powernomics.”
“I am responsible for the majority of the people that I represent. Most [politicians] running for office have been lawyers. We don’t need more lawyers in local government. We really need people. People who own a business, strategists, architects, planners. It’s really the people who have the power,” Thomas said.
Ford, Thomas, and Miss Prairie View A&M University 2019-2020, Asia Williams.
When Miss Prairie View A&M University 2019-2020 Asia Williams—serving as moderator—asked the two politicians what could female voters do to help, Ford and Thomas urged all the coeds in attendance to realize their power.
“Black women carry the vote. We can’t believe the narrative that ‘Black women are not doing their job,’” said Thomas, who is also an adjunct professor in the PVAMU School of Architecture. “You cannot win a race in Harris County without black women. You cannot win an election in Houston without black women voting.”
Ford said her experience as a graduate student in the architecture program helped her to experiment and experience out-of-the-box critical thinking to better asset community development.
“It helped me to intimately understand the needs our community has. Being in local government, it’s about building communities, understanding development. And with my experience as an architect, it gives me an edge [in being a leader],” Mayor Ford said.
Both women encouraged African-American women to recognize their collective vote can make a difference.
Attendees from Tuesday’s event.
“When we look at Black women’s leadership, do they trust us with their money [as in fundraising]? It tells us with that no they don’t. ‘We trust you to move our agenda. We trust you to vote for someone else’s interest, but we don’t you to completely represent us with fidelity.’ Right? And no one is talking about that reality in the country’s fourth-largest city,” Councilwoman Thomas explained. “Of course, we have power. We know we have power. If we have influence, and we do influence. Now the decision on what we want to do with the power that we have is the better question.”
Ford said the visibility of African-Americans in politics helps.
Provost Emerita and Professor of Educational Leadership, Emma Joahanne Thomas-Smith.
“For years, we didn’t see people [of color] in these positions, so we didn’t see it as possible. My community is kind of a strange animal in that you have a major African-American community that never had a female mayor, an African-American mayor, or any mayor of color. So, I had a community out there that was just asleep. Until I ran,” she said. “You are making decisions for the quality of life for everyone in that community. So, it’s important for us to get into these positions so that we can influence the vote.”
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By Michael Douglas