Black women vote often yet rarely elected. Dayton event examines why today

YWCA Dayton will host “YWomen Vote: The Leadership We Need” as part of a series of community dialogues. A previous event in the series held in April is pictured. CONTRIBUTED

YWCA Dayton will host “YWomen Vote: The Leadership We Need” as part of a series of community dialogues. A previous event in the series held in April is pictured. CONTRIBUTED

Black women have a high voting rate but low representation in Congress, state legislatures and other elected positions.

A community dialogue hosted by YWCA Dayton Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 will examine the political marginalization of women of color and equip attendees to push for change.

A panel session will begin at 6 p.m.Thursday at the Dayton Metro Library – East Branch, followed by interactive breakout group discussions and takeaways attendees can implement quickly and easily, the YWCA said in a press release. The event is from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

“While Black women are active in their communities and vote at the highest rates, they are represented the least in political office and public policy,” Sarah Wolf-Knight, advocacy coordinator, said in a release. “We recognize this void of representation and believe that through activism, community allies can move the needle in the Miami Valley.

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In the last two presidential elections, black women had a higher voting rate than all other groups of men and women. Black women are also registered to vote at the highest rate of any cohort.

Yet, black women make up 6 percent of the U.S. population, but hold just 3 percent of seats in the U.S. Congress, the YWCA stated.

The event is free. RSVPs can be submitted at bit.ly/ydub1025. Questions can be sent to events@ywcadayton.org.

The event is the fourth installment in the YWCA Dayton’s Y-Dub Discussion series as part of the nonprofit’s advocacy work to eliminate racism and empower women.

Prior Y-Dub Discussions have looked at the impact of school boards on local public education, the effects of trauma in the classroom; toxic stress and the effects of lived trauma on community systems, and the disproportionate rate of sexual assault experienced by women and girls of color.

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