The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Essential to American Democracy (And What We Can Learn from Them)

Summary

A top Democratic Party strategist and media contributor offers a bold and urgent reminder that young Black women hold the key to saving our democracy and building a truly multi-racial future that benefits all Americans.

Agitator. Troublemaker. Motivator. Initiator. Instigator.

“How can we build a truly inclusive multi-racial democracy?” For Atima Omara, the answer is The Instigators—a name she has given to a demographic of Black women between the ages of 18 and 45. These women are uniquely equipped to save American democracy. They didn’t ask for this ability, she argues. It was forced on them because racism and sexism have made them the most marginalized group in American politics. We can all benefit from their strategic know-how as we rebuild our society.

Black women have always been the most relentless instigators for change—building a democracy for all. Omara draws on her political knowledge and expertise, as well as history, to examine how they have responded to failed strategic decisions by movement leaders and the modern Democratic Party in previous elections as a context for the present. She also provides actionable recommendations to organizers, donors, candidates, strategists, political party leaders, that everyday people can use in their communities to build an inclusive democracy that endures beyond one election cycle.

The Instigators is at once an urgent political guide, historical exploration, and a poignant memoir that pulls from Omara’s two decades of work in Democratic politics and the progressive movement as an elected Democratic Party leader, movement organizer, former candidate, gubernatorial aide, campaign staff to candidates at the national, state, and local level; and now political strategist. Powerful, insightful, and practical, it is imperative reading for everyone eager to protect and rebuild our democracy and create a better tomorrow for all.