ABSTRACT
In 2013, out of 7,776 female state legislators serving nationwide, 364 are women of color; of these, 239 are African American women. Currently, women of color constitute only 4.9 percent of all state legislators. This chapter explores the “messy” dynamics of Black women’s race/gender identities on their campaign for the Maryland statehouse. After discussing the extant literature on gender and Black women candidates, it examines how Black women frame their identities in narrating their paths to the Maryland statehouse. The chapter illustrates that Black women’s race/gender identities provide different challenges and opportunities for their candidacies. It provides a more fine-grained analysis of Black women’s narratives of their candidacies to demonstrate the varied impacts of their race/gender identities on their pursuit of elected office. The chapter focuses on African American women who hold elected seats in the Maryland state legislature. Feminist life histories were conducted with eighteen of the twenty Black women Maryland state legislators between June and October 2011.
