‘Unless we have hope, then we can't have these conversations’

Back in the day, Jesse Jackson told us to keep hope alive. And when Barack Obama first ran for president, his image became almost synonymous with hope (maybe you still have one of the posters). We’ve spent this season learning about all the obstacles standing between Black people and the ballot box. But hope IS alive. A 2022 poll by the African American Research Collaborative found Black Americans are actually some of the most hopeful about democracy, while white Americans are the least. Dr. Andrene Wright from the University of Wisconsin-Madison helps us unpack the data and what’s behind it. And Dr. Andra Gillespie from Emory University joins us to talk about a group that gets a lot of attention around Election Day, but little respect the rest of the time: Black women voters.