Get to know the political leaders who have been using their platforms to address the needs of Black people across the world in the face of COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly drawn the world’s attention to the failures of white male leadership across the globe. The inaction and incompetency of Bolsonaro, Johnson, Putin, and Trump both exacerbate the spread of coronavirus and expose longstanding social, political, and economic inequalities across countries.
According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, confirmed cases across the world (at the time of this writing) surpass seven million, with concentrations found in pockets of the United States, the U.K., Asia and throughout Europe. In spite of their underrepresentation in executive, government, and parliamentary positions around the world, Black women have been consistent in developing and implementing laws, policies, and initiatives that center the most marginalized among us. Thus, it is critical to acknowledge and amplify the efforts and actions of Black women leaders throughout the pandemic if we are truly committed to meeting the needs of the most vulnerable.
Guided by philosophies of mutual and community care, government transparency and accountability, and political innovation, here are 12 Black women leaders who exemplify true leadership and are using their platforms to amplify the experiences, needs, and demands of Black and marginalized people and communities across the world during this pandemic.
Sahle-Work Zewde | President of Ethiopia
Sahle-Work Zewde is the president of Ethiopia — the first woman to hold the office. Throughout the pandemic, Zewde has collaborated with leaders across the continent and the world to contain and mitigate the pandemic. Zewde’s actions include the pardoning of 4,000 people from the nation’s prisons to prevent the spread of the virus and chairing UNESCO’s International Commission on the Future of Education. | WATCH: In conversation with Ethiopia’s first female president on CNBC
Mia Mottley | Prime Minister of Barbados + Chair, CARICOM
Mia Mottley is the Prime Minister of Barbados (also the first woman to hold the office) and the Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). She’s highly regarded as an advocate for tourism-dependent, climate vulnerable nations while also the need for multilateral collaborations, commitments, and responses. Under her leadership, the government of Barbados has developed a five-part, two-year economic plan to benefit all residents of the island nation. | WATCH: CARICOM Chair, PM Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados being interviewed on CNNi
Epsy Campbell Barr | First-Vice President of Costa Rica
Epsy Campbell Barr is the First-Vice President of Costa Rica, the first woman of African descent to hold the office. She has collaborated with women leaders throughout Latin America to address the unique circumstances facing women during the pandemic. She recently outlined the actions of the Costa Rican government to address the impact of COVID-19 on women and girls and used her platform to condemn racism globally. She has also recently expressed her solidarity with the family of George Floyd and Afro-descendants across Central America. | WATCH: Mensaje VP Epsy Campbell Barr on Black Lives Matter
Bell Ribeiro-Addy | Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Bell Riberio-Addy is a Ghanaian-British Member of Parliament (MP) of the United Kingdom and Shadow Minister of Immigration. Riberio-Addy has used her platform to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities while also sharing her solidarity with the demands of Black protesters in the UK and across the world. She openly advocates for the release of detained immigrants as well as rent freezes and the extension of the UK’s eviction ban, and engages with her constituents to provide key COVID-19 information and updates. | WATCH: Why I voted against the disastrous Immigration Bill
Marsha de Cordova | Member of Parliament, United Kingdom
Member of Parliament (MP) of the United Kingdom and Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities. She is a blind disability rights activist and has centered the needs of people with disabilities and BAME healthcare workers throughout the pandemic. She also demanded that Health Secretary Matt Hancock announce a date for publication and release of a special report on COVID-19 disparities. de Cordova uses her platform to express her support for and solidarity with Black protesters across the world. | WATCH: Marsha de Cordova speaks to the BBC
Danièle Obono | National Assembly Member + Deputy, France
Danièle Obono is a Gabonese-French National Assembly and deputy for the 17th constituency of Paris. Obono has made use of social media to share key COVID-19 information and updates with her constituents. She has actively advocated for people experiencing homelessness, the provision of masks, and environmentally ethical pandemic response. Obono is vocal in her critique of President Emmanuel Macron’s public health emergency response, stating that the government is trapped in neoliberal logic based on individual choice. Obono has also pushed forward conversation on police violence in France in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. | WATCH: 44th Review of Parliamentary Activity by Danièle Obono
Aminata Touré | Vice President of Schleswig-Holstein Landtag, Germany
Aminata Touré, who is of Malian heritage, is a member and Vice-President of the Landtag for Schleswig-Holstein. She is the first Afro-German Vice President of a Landtag. Throughout the pandemic, Touré has addressed the need for structural solutions to structural discrimination and has used social media to directly engage with constituents to share vital information and public announcements. Toure also released a powerful statement of solidarity with Black protesters and people across the globe and is pushing the German government to confront and dismantle structural racism. | WATCH: For Democracy – Against Racism, Right-Wing Extremism and Terror
Ilhan Omar | Minnesota Congressional Representative, USA
During her first term as congresswoman, Omar’s MEALS Act was incorporated into and enacted by law in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. She has also introduced legislation that centers the needs of youth and families, renters and homeowners, and immigrants, refugees, and asylees. Omar’s unrelenting commitment to her constituents was taken to a new level following the murder of George Floyd in her district. She introduced several bills in response to Floyd’s murder and fully supports the dismantling of the Minneapolis Police Department. | WATCH: Rep. Ilhan Omar Gives Powerful Speech at Memorial for George Floyd
Erica Malunguinho | São Paolo State Representative, Brazil
Erica Malunguinho is a State Representative of São Paulo, Brazil. She is the first trans person to win a seat in the São Paulo legislature. Malunguinho has co-created virtual healing spaces in addition to introducing and implementing policy to address the needs of Brazil’s most marginalized communities. This includes PL 156, a plan that would provide water, masks, hygiene products, and a basic income for people experiencing homelessness. Bom Prato (Good Plate), another initiative launched by Malunguinho, provides people experiencing homelessness with free meals during the pandemic. Malunguinho’s recent op-ed also delves into the genocide of Black people in Brazil and condemns state violence. | WATCH: The Pandemic and Black and Trans Populations: An Interview with Erica Malunguinho
Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka | Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women
South Africa’s Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is the Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women. Under her leadership and sparked by her call to action, UN Women recently co-authored a report on the impact of COVID-19 on women globally. UN Women has also produced a number of policy briefs and guidance and has made COVID-19 gender data accessible to all. Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka (also an anti-apartheid leader) has also spoken frankly about the circumstances facing Black Americans, which she calls “a pandemic of racism.” | WATCH: In Her Words series – Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Dr. Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana | European Parliament Member, Germany
Dr. Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, who is of Guinean and Cape Verdean heritage, is a member of the European Parliament from Germany. She serves as Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with the Pan-African Parliament. She has shared her perspectives on COVID-19 response in Africa and the African Diaspora and recently led a call for the European Commission to both condemn racism and police brutality and implement structural solutions of systemic racism for the European Union. She was joined by Samira Rafaela, Monica Semedo, and Alice Bah Kuhnke, fellow Black women members of the European Parliament. | WATCH: Covid Impact on Racialised Communities
Bineta Diop | Special Envoy for African Union, South Africa
Bineta Diop, a Senegalese national, is the Special Envoy of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission on Women, Peace and Security. Under her leadership, the African Union recently released guidance on gender-responsive responses to COVID-19. Diop has also spoken to the unique circumstances and needs of African youth and refugees. In partnership with Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (Executive Director, UN Women), Diop convened a virtual consultation to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on women in Africa to aid in developing COVID-19 policy and action. | WATCH: Gender mainstreaming in the COVID-19 response
