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• 1 2020-11-03T14:06:09+00:00 Women in Politics 29 plain 2020-11-17T00:06:07+00:00 When people think of leaders of our country, they think of an older white male.  My generation has lived through many memorable moments in history, including more diversity in politics.  We witnessed the first African American president in 2008, and this year, we witnessed the first woman Vice President Elect, Kamala Harris, who is also a woman of color.  I find it refreshing to have a woman, especially a woman of color to be in the White House, helping our president lead our country.  This is a turning point in our history because it will hopefully lead to more women and people of color in power. 
  
   Based off of the results from the 2020 election, women are breaking records.  More than one-third of the women in the 117th Congress will be women of color, and there will be twelve more women than last year in Congress.  Also, at least 141 women will serve in the House of Representatives and the Senate next year, which is a record, but women still only make up a quarter of the total representation.  In this year's election, twice as many women ran for Congress compared to the 2016 election, which is a step in the right direction, so that more women are in power.  We need more women in power so that we have someone to advocate for us and our rights.  We still face discrimination, lower pay wages, and many other issues that can be solved with a woman having a voice in politics.
  
  An exceptionally influential Congresswoman among our Representatives is Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. Before she was a Congresswoman, she worked for Ted Kennedy by providing a firsthand view of the heartbreak families endured after being separated by ICE. She then worked as an Educational Director with the National Hispanic Institute, where she helped American DREAMers and undocumented youth in the community. She is now committed to serving working-class people and advocates for social, racial, economic and environmental justice.  Our government needs more women like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez to advocate for those who do not have a voice.  Women of color would undoubtedly benefit from having more women like Alexandra in power because she stands up for not only herself as a woman of color, but also people like herself.  
  
  Another very important woman in politics is Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  She fought tirelessly against gender discrimination.  Before she was in in the Supreme Court, she was an advocate for women's rights.  One of the many things Ruth did for women in our country was helped women practicing law have more rights.  Before Ginsburg's movement, women were treated differently by law from men.  Hundreds of state and federal laws restricted what women could do, barring them from jobs, rights and even from jury service. By the time she donned judicial robes, however, Ginsburg had worked a revolution.  When I found out about her death, I was heartbroken.  Her dying wish was that she would not be replaced until a new president was installed, but she was sadly replaced just a week before the election. 
  
  These women in power are truly inspiring to any range of women.  I find it important that more and more women are in power until it is equal because the voices of both men and women deserve to be heard equally.