Issue #1,098 Today In Black History, Monday, November 9, 2026
Please enter your email below to support us by subscribing at the free or paid level for less than $10/month.
We Are Speaking is a small reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider subscribing at the free or paid level.
Independent authors and creative professionals! Please scroll to the “Shameless Plug” at the end to find out about the Pam Speaks 2 You Creative Business Community app for creative branding and marketing.
Keisha Lance Bottoms’s path to the governor’s office began in Atlanta, the city where she was born, raised, and built her career. The daughter of Chicago-born blues singer Major Lance, she grew up in a family connected to music and public life. Before entering politics, Bottoms studied communications at Florida A&M University and earned a law degree from Georgia State University. She worked as an attorney and later served as a magistrate judge in Fulton County, experiences that brought her close to the legal and civic challenges local residents face.
Governor-elect Bottoms is my Soror in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Bottoms entered elected office in 2009, winning a seat on the Atlanta City Council. She represented parts of the city and worked on issues that included public safety, neighborhood development, and municipal services. In 2017, she won the Atlanta mayoral race, becoming the city’s 60th mayor and one of its most prominent political leaders.
Her mayoralty was shaped by extraordinary tests. The COVID-19 pandemic demanded decisions about public health, economic disruption, and the needs of residents and small businesses. In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd and protests against police violence, Bottoms became a nationally visible voice. She urged people to express their anger without destroying their own communities, while also speaking about the pain and urgency behind the demonstrations. The moment drew national attention to her leadership and placed Atlanta’s debates over policing, equity, and public safety in a wider spotlight.
Bottoms also confronted the city’s long-running challenge of economic inequality. Her administration pursued affordable-housing initiatives and sought to expand opportunity for residents facing displacement and rising costs. As with any mayoralty, the scale and results of those efforts were debated; the lasting measure is how Atlanta continues to address who can afford to live, work, and build a future in the city.
She chose not to seek reelection in 2021. In 2022, President Joe Biden appointed her a senior adviser and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. In that role, she worked with a wide range of communities and stakeholders, extending her experience from city government to national politics. She served until 2023.
In 2026, Bottoms won Georgia’s gubernatorial election, becoming the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state. Her victory followed a campaign focused on affordability and access to health care, among other issues. As governor-elect, she stands at the threshold of a new challenge: translating campaign commitments into policy across a state with sharply different needs and political perspectives.
Bottoms’s influence is not only a matter of titles. Her career links the courtroom, City Hall, the White House, and now the governor’s office. She has represented Atlanta in moments of grief and conflict, and has helped shape national conversations about race, protest, and leadership. Her election widens the picture of who can hold the highest state office in the country. What she accomplishes in office will determine how people remember that historic breakthrough—but the breakthrough itself has already changed American political history.
Today In Black History
In 1868, the Howard University Medical School opened with eight students.
In 1901, William Monroe Trotter founded the Boston Guardian newspaper.
In 1925, actor Paul Robeson made his film debut in Oscar Micheaux’s film “Body and Soul.”
Paid subscribers can always leave questions in the comments or email us.
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber for $10/month or less to access all of the articles and other benefits.
If you are an independent author or creative professional, this is your chance to join the Pam Speaks 2 You Creative Business Community, and there’s an app for that! We have 5 eBooks and 5 courses, plus networking communities designed specifically for you in the Branding and Marketing Academy!
