Kamala's sister Maya wrote the (book) on women of color civic engagement

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Jess Morales Rocketto @JessLivMo
This is not an accident. @mayaharris_ literally wrote the paper on women of color civic engagement… She is why there even is a discussion about the power of women of color in politics.

Women of Color: A Growing Force in the American Electorate
by Maya Harris, October 30, 2014

As the 2008, 2012, and 2013 elections demonstrated, women of color are a key, emerging voting bloc with the potential to significantly affect electoral outcomes. In the past two years, more than 2 million women of color have joined the vote-eligible population. As more people of color participate in elections, demographic trends suggest that women of color will become increasingly prominent electoral players.

This brief presents initial research aimed at re-evaluating prevailing assumptions about women of color as participants in our democracy. While not a monolithic group, women of color comprise an important demographic that can, when acting in concert on issues of common concern, have a profound impact not just on elections but on public policy as well. This impact is particularly salient in the state-level data presented in this brief. The data are from select states where women of color are concentrated in the largest numbers.

Women are the country’s largest voting bloc, and women of color are the fastest-growing segment of that group. When coupled with the fact that women of color make up just more than half of the emerging majority—in other words, people of color, who by 2043 will represent a majority of the country’s population—it becomes clear that this new reality points to a vastly altered political landscape, one in which women of color may wield great influence.

The new research presented in this brief provides a snapshot of what this emerging constituency looks like. Fully unleashing the political power that women of color represent requires understanding who they are, knowing what issues are most important to them, and identifying how best to inspire them to participate regularly.

read more: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2014/10/30/99962/women-of-color/

Maya Harris was one of three senior policy advisors to develop an agenda for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. She also served as Executive Director of the ACLU. She also was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress where this paper was published.