Stacey Abrams
Host of the Assembly Required podcast. Democracy, DEI, policy, small business & storytelling. Opinions are my own. My latest novel CODED JUSTICE IS OUT NOW!
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Articles by Stacey Abrams
Ava DuVernay means well, but doesn't rise to the occasion
Ten years ago, director Ava DuVernay’s explosive documentary “13th” argued that the United States government uses mass incarceration as a way to continue America’s project of subjugating Black people to thwart the success of Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement. DuVernay continued exploring racial injustice in America with her 2019 Netflix miniseries “When They See Us,” which tells the harrowing story of the Central Park Five.
Brazil Drew the Line. Now It Has to Hold.
Accountability is not the end of the fight against authoritarianism. It is the beginning of the next one. On Sunday, more than 158 million Brazilians are eligible to vote for president. One of the leading candidates is Flávio Bolsonaro, a 45-year-old senator and the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. His father will not be on the ballot. Jair Bolsonaro is barred from running and serving a 27-year sentence for plotting to overturn the last election.
National Voter Registration Day With Stacey Abrams And More!
Thank you Lynn L, Avery McGinn, Cletus, Martinique Akinfosile, Janice Mohn, and many others for tuning into COURIER’s live event to kick off the race to the midterms! Starting today, over the next 6 weeks we are taking the COURIER Newsroom on the road across America. Bringing in person and live conversations across 8 cities with the candidates in your state, paired with an onsite Get Out The Vote activation and the chance to hear from candidates in some of this year’s most critical races.
Inside Trump’s Surveillance State
As many of you know, I write political thrillers, and in 2023 I published Rogue Justice, a cautionary tale about the vulnerability of the FISA Court, a real secret federal court that can surveil Americans without a public hearing, where only a handful of politicians actually have oversight.
How Trumpism Might Survive the Fall of Trump
I wanted to highlight a comment from one of you that stood out to me. @RomanKnight7199 wrote, “Stacey, I don’t understand why your channel doesn’t get more attention, but I found my way back because I watched Heather Cox Richardson’s recent interview with Mr. Wikler, and I want to thank you for discussing the events in India.” First of all, my thanks to @RomanKnight7199 for coming back.
Democracy Is a Transaction
This month in India, two million students learned that the national medical entrance exam — the single pathway to a middle-class life for millions of families — had been leaked. The rich had bought the answers. Everyone else was told to take the test again. In the weeks that followed, at least a dozen students died by suicide. One of them was Sheikh Sana, a 19-year-old aspiring doctor who died the day before the retest.
How Veterans Are Rebuilding Trust in American Elections
The structure of our democracy, let alone truth itself, is under real strain. Just days ago, on July 16th, the president delivered a primetime address warning of “shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure.” He claimed that our elections are vulnerable to being rigged and stolen, yet little new information was released with the accompanying documents. This wasn’t a briefing.
Ava DuVernay Doc ’14th’ to Make World Premiere at 2026 New York Film Festival
CelebrityNews TrendingStories Aaron Rodgers Reconciles with Estranged Family Instagram Media.On Monday, Rodgers took to Instagram to share photos of himself with his mom Daria and dad Ed Rodgers.Aaron also included a photo of himself on the couch with his older brother Luke.The post also featured a photo of Aaron being an uncle to Luke’s kids, Jack, 4, and Evie, 2.Aaron captioned the post, “Another bonding week.
The Real(ish) History of America (w/ Heather Cox Richardson & Rebecca Nagle)
When we launched this show, the mission was crystal clear: understand what’s broken, figure out who broke it and why, and then build what we actually need and deserve. During the 250th anniversary of this nation’s founding, that calling is more important and more relevant than ever. In the same month that we welcomed visitors from around the globe to witness the World Cup, the American government committed extrajudicial killings of three men whose only known transgression was not being from here.
Disaster Recovery Cannot Depend on Presidential Whims
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... As hurricane season begins, Georgians should understand a dangerous truth: disaster recovery depends not only on the strength of our communities, but how the government decides to respond. Will they choose competence, compassion and accountability or cruelty, neglect and political retribution? Across the South, we’ve seen both responses, often in the same state for the same disaster.
Trump’s Election Lies Were Never About Fraud
Last night, Donald Trump stood at a podium reserved for moments of national purpose and used it to relitigate an election he lost six years ago. Republicans’ grievance-based, anti-election propaganda is straight out of the 10 Steps to Autocracy & Authoritarianism, and they are hard at work on Step 10: End Democracy Itself. Americans see through the lies, and here in Georgia, we certainly know this playbook — because they ran it here first.
What Teddy Roosevelt’s New Library Can Teach Us About America
On America’s 250th birthday, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opened its doors in Medora, North Dakota. The Library arrived more than a century after Roosevelt’s death, not simply to preserve a president’s legacy, but to ask what that legacy requires of us now. In Assembly Notes, we want what Teddy Roosevelt championed: helping move more and more of us into the arena.
Why the Majority Needs the Minority to Save the Country
Last week, ICE killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a man who had lived in this country for more than 35 years. His children, family, and community are now left to mourn him. Mr. Salgado Araujo’s death is not an isolated incident.
The Supreme Court Just Empowered Authoritarian Loyalty
Authoritarianism does not begin with tanks in the streets. More often, it begins with memos, personnel changes and court rulings that sound too technical to be dangerous. This is why Step 5 of the authoritarian playbook matters: Replace qualified officials with loyalists. Last week, the Supreme Court gave Donald Trump a dangerous tool to do exactly that. In the Slaughter decision, our nation’s highest court overturned nearly a century of precedent to bow down to a tyrant.
The South Shows America How to Fight to Expand Democracy for All
By Stacey Abrams and Genny Castillo As America draws closer to its 250th anniversary, democracy has never been more necessary or more at risk. For communities of color in the South and across the nation, the distance between democracy and delivery has rarely been as wide. As we celebrate a major milestone in our nation’s history, the South stands as a harbinger of what’s to come for other regions across the nation if we don’t act now.
Kemp passes on chance to feed hungry kids
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... We can all agree that groceries are becoming harder to afford, and that Georgia’s children deserve access to the food they need to grow and thrive. Summer places a particular strain on families’ grocery budgets. On top of soaring costs, children being out of school for summer creates a huge meal gap for families to fill. For many families, accessing two meals a day at school is a lifeline they can’t afford to do without.
Assembly Notes by Stacey Abrams
Every four years, people who don’t usually think about politics suddenly pay attention to the presidential elections. Spurred by billions in spending, they donate, they canvass, they argue with family members, and frantically refresh results at midnight. Then it’s over and they go back to their lives.
Abusive preemption and the Georgia workers it leaves behind
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Americans might not agree on everything, but here’s one common belief: wages aren’t keeping up with the cost of living. This is a truth we face at the grocery store, at the gas pump and when our household budgets demand tradeoffs between healthcare and housing. The idea of raising wages is met with skepticism and hostility. Small businesses cannot bear the costs, the excuse goes, and if you want more, learn more.
Assembly Notes by Stacey Abrams
10 Steps Campaign Say no. Mean it. Do it together. Earlier this year, we began a series right here on Substack to go over our 10 Steps to Freedom and Power — what each of them are, what they entail, and what we can do today to slow the march towards autocracy. Step Six: Disrupt Stacey Abrams · Apr 24 Read full story Step Five: Litigate Stacey Abrams · Apr 17 Read full story Step Four: Mobilize Stacey Abrams · Apr 9 Read full story Authoritarians want us to feel alone.
From Jim Crow to Callais, the voting fight goes on
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Photo Courtesy of Stacey Abrams The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais gutted the Voting Rights Act and has given a green light for politicians in Georgia and across the South to redraw maps that silence Black and brown voters before a single vote is cast. The Voting Rights Act ended one of Jim Crow’s most effective anti-voting tools: voting maps that ignored voters. Let’s start with some history.
VOICES: 'This is not democracy. This is cowardice.'
On May 6, 2026, former Georgia state representative and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams testified before the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition to the state's newly-redrawn congressional map, which would eliminate Tennessee's only Black-majority district. State lawmakers moved quickly to redraw district lines in the wake of Louisiana v.
Assembly Notes by Stacey Abrams
Friends, I’m in Tennessee where I just finished testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee against Republican-led efforts to carve up the Black-majority Democratic-held district in Memphis across three different districts. Photo Credit: The Tennessee Holler Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee. Good morning. My name is Stacey Abrams. I am a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives, where I served six terms, including seven years as Minority Leader.
Rural Georgia can’t afford to ignore the rise of authoritarianism
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Photo Courtesy of Stacey Abrams Authoritarianism is a word invoked frequently these days. Politicians, academics, podcasters and yours truly have leveled it as an explanation, a warning or a call to action. Like its opponent — democracy — there seems to be a common sentiment: you’ll know it when you see it. But when the risks are high and the harms are real, actual understanding matters.
The Supreme Court has all but killed the law that helped kill Jim Crow
The Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais is a direct hit to the heart of the Voting Rights Act and to the fragile promise that every American’s vote should carry equal weight. The VRA ended Jim Crow. Full stop. With this decision, it’s open season — once again — on Black and brown voters at the ballot box. In 2023, the Supreme Court instructed Alabama to finally draw fair maps to create two majority-Black constitutional districts to allow Black citizens a shot at equal representation.
Assembly Notes by Stacey Abrams
Staying informed, talking with people we trust, organizing our neighbors — every action matters in the fight against authoritarianism. Yet, the quiet truth is that some circumstances require more of us — more courage, more direct action, and more imagination. When the regime is counting on our silence, we must deny it compliance. When they demand we mind our own business, that’s when we must refuse to look away. Disruption is about refusing to let power go unchecked.
Texas Stripped 15,000 Businesses of Opportunity. Now It Faces a Legal Challenge.
There are three pathways to the American Dream: education, the economy, and elections. Education guides what we know; the economy determines what we do; and elections decide who’s in charge. Under the Trump administration and his Republican regime, all three pathways are under attack with leaders at every level of government working to restore barriers and hoard opportunity for a select few at the expense of millions.
Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams.com)
This is a heavily interactive web application, and JavaScript is required. Simple HTML interfaces are possible, but that is not what this is. Learn more about Bluesky at bsky.social and atproto.com. Stacey Abrams staceyabrams.com did:plc:lqpmefj7p4nqs5togvdwaep4 Thank you for having me this morning, @theweekendmsnow.bsky.social! https://youtu.be/Q9FwyfgBbo4?si=R4zhh4wbHcLuCH5m #ReadThemHome 2026-04-04T22:47:57.861Z
We Are Joy by Chrystal D Giles
Teaming up with Thomas (Patchwork Prince), middle grade author Giles (Not an Easy Win) makes her picture book debut with this dynamic celebration of Black joy viewed through the lens of community and culture.
The machinery of voter suppression – Houston Home Journal
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Mass voter purges and voter challenges are often falsely described as “election security” or “maintenance” — familiar language with problematic intent. In reality, these actions against electors are about control. These efforts are meant to target voters that certain politicians don’t like, forcing citizens to repeatedly prove their right to vote and making participation in democracy a calculated risk.
The Pernicious Myth of Voter ID Laws: Stacey Abrams & Joyce Vance Explain
What could possibly be wrong with requiring people to show identification to register to vote and to vote? It turns out, a lot. It’s not about addressing voter fraud, because frankly, that’s just not a serious problem, no matter how many times Trump claims it is. ID requirements are about keeping Americans from voting—older Americans, students, Native Americans, people who can’t afford to pay the cost for one of the limited forms of ID that would count, married women, and, of course, Black voters.
Georgians are subsidizing an uneven data center boom – Houston Home Journal
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... For years, Georgia leaders have boasted that a major reason the state became a hot spot for artificial intelligence data centers was a generous tax break passed in 2018. However, a new state audit tells a different story — most of those data centers would have come here, anyway. According to the report, only about 30% of Georgia’s data centers can be traced to the tax break.
Rising health care costs are crushing Georgia families – Houston Home Journal
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... For too many Georgia families, what comes in and what goes out isn’t working — in fact, it hasn’t been working for some time now. Rents are skyrocketing all around Georgia, in urban areas and rural enclaves. In South Georgia, demand outstrips supply, and new homes are a rare sight. Regardless of where you live or shop, groceries cost more, and those families who need a little extra help aren’t getting it.
LIVE with Professor Timothy Snyder
The words we need for the politics of today. The words we need for the politics of today.
How breaking government breaks democracy – Houston Home Journal
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... When most people hear “authoritarianism,” they tend to imagine tanks in the streets or elections being canceled overnight. But democracy is usually undone more quietly — through budget cuts, layoffs and the slow dismantling of the institutions we rely on every day. One of the fastest ways to weaken a democracy is to break the government from the inside. You target the people who make it work and make those who rely on them suffer by default.
Georgia showed us Medicaid work requirements don’t work – Houston Home Journal
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... For years, Republican lawmakers have pointed to Georgia’s Medicaid work requirement experiment as proof that their approach “works.” If you wanted to see what “reform” looked like, they said, look at Georgia. Now we know the dangers because the results are unmistakable: the purported solution was deeply inefficient and expensive and makes it harder — not easier — for people to get necessary care.
The first step toward autocracy is already here – Houston Home Journal
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Here in Georgia, we have had a front-row seat to the erosion of democracy. But it doesn’t look like the movies or come with a cinematic moment of revelation. Instead, we are watching it unfold day by day in small non-events and headlines that fail to capture our attention for more than a few hours.
The assault on rural hospitals is an assault on all – Houston Home Journal
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Recently, St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia announced it would close its labor and delivery unit. For families in Northeast Georgia, this means the nearest maternity care may now be an hour’s drive away. For expectant mothers in labor, that can be the difference between life and death. Hospital administrators pointed to many factors behind the decision — shrinking rural populations, difficulty recruiting doctors and the outmigration of patients.
Live with Stacey Abrams and Joyce Vance
What can you do, right now, to play a role in thwarting Donald Trump and saving democracy? That’s the topic and I took up this morning, in our Substack Live conversation. It starts with educating yourself, which you’re already doing in you’re reading this newsletter and others.
Another power grab: Georgia purges 471K voters – Houston Home Journal
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... For years, I have been warning about the fragility of voting rights. Now, I’m sounding the alarm. America is in the grips of an authoritarian takeover. Don’t take my word for it. Historians and political scientists have mapped out the 10 signs — from expanded executive power and weakened checks and balances to mass firings of public servants and censorship of the media.
Stacey Abrams: Why Democrats' success in the Deep South Tuesday isn't a surprise Original
Tuesday night’s election results told a powerful story: The Deep South, to quote the great Andre 3000, has “something to say.” The region — typically defined as Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi — has long been the punchline of jokes. As a result, campaigns and the people they seek to serve have long been underfunded, overlooked and discounted; but we refuse to be written out of democracy.
Voters Rejected Authoritarianism-and Chose a Bigger, Bolder Democracy
No matter where you look—from California to Maine, from Mississippi to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, last night’s election results sent a clear message: voters embraced a diverse, inclusive Democratic vision—across states, issues, and candidates—and rejected the authoritarian takeover we’re seeing from Donald Trump and the GOP. Despite the handwringing and silver-bullet solutions that are filling up our inboxes, there’s one enduring truth about Democrats: we are a big-tent party.
How public education saves democracy – Houston Home Journal
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Welcome to my new column, “Fine Print.” My ambition is simple: to take national discussions about democracy and the rise of authoritarianism and translate them into Georgia realities. As someone who has been privileged to represent Georgia on local, national and international stages, I feel compelled to go beyond the headlines and help us understand what’s actually at stake.
Step 7: Scapegoat Vulnerable Communities
Every autocrat needs a villain. Every failure needs a fall guy. When people start asking hard questions — about jobs, housing, climate, or corruption — Step 7 gives them someone else to blame. It’s not the ignoble policy or the hollow budget that’s at fault, they say. It’s the immigrant. The union organizer. The black pilot. The gay teacher. The Indigenous community that asked for too much. Scapegoating turns pain into propaganda.
AudioFile Spotlight: Mystery & Suspense Audiobooks for October
Two ensemble narrations, performed by expert narrators, make for excellent and exciting listening. Plus, the latest from S.A. Cosby and new entries in favorite series from Stacey Abrams and Linda Castillo showcase the skill and range of narrators who really know these authors and these characters and demonstrate why audio can be the best way to experience a mystery or thriller. Looking for more audiobook recommendations?
New Georgia Project, Voter Turnout Group Founded By Stacey Abrams, Closes
Black Business Abrams called the organization's issues “disappointing.” The New Georgia Project, the powerhouse voter mobilization group founded by former Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams, announced it will cease operations, The Associated Press reports. Founded in 2013, The New Georgia Project has struggled financially in recent years.
Strategies against U.S. autocracy - Live with Stacey Abrams
“Our citizenship is a daily obligation. It is a daily engagement,” Stacey Abrams notes. That’s why All Rise News keeps a focus on both law and action. After transforming politics in Georgia, Stacey Abrams is coming up with a new playbook to push back against Donald Trump’s authoritarian tide in the United States.
We Can Stop the Rise of American Autocracy
Over the first months of the second Trump presidency, we have watched the guardrails of democracy come off rapidly in real time. Mass firings of civil servants, the dismissal of government watchdogs, the weaponization of the military against our citizens, the use of the national budget as a cudgel, and the dehumanization of immigrants. President Donald Trump and his allies are following what we believe is a similar path as autocrats abroad, with an American twist.
They’re Not Just Coming for DEI. They’re Coming for Democracy.
Politics / August 19, 2025 They’re Not Just Coming for DEI. They’re Coming for Democracy. Destroying DEI has a clear motive: to stop Americans from seeking common cause. Ad Policy Stacey Abrams discusses her new novel at the Sixth & I Synagogue on July 24, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Shannon Finney / Getty Images) In recent weeks, the Trump administration has expanded its attacks on America’s most vulnerable communities.
We’re Quickly Running Out of Democracy
One of the sharpest plays on political maneuvering that I know is Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, and a particular scene has repeatedly played in my head during difficult times. Big Daddy confronts his family, the air heavy with tension because all of them have been doing things they know they shouldn’t have. Each trying to innocently justify their actions. Yet Big Daddy is having none of it. “What’s that smell in this room?” he asks his son. “Didn’t you notice it, Brick?
The DEI & ESG retreat isn’t just bad business, it’s cowardly. We define who we are in moments of fear, and it’s time to make a stand
Stacey Abrams (Credit: John Lamparski/Getty Images) We define who we are not in times of ease—but in moments of fear. Today, fear is everywhere: in politics, in the markets, and in our planet’s future. However, uncertainty is also a call to lead with clarity, with intention, and with a long view. These are the moments that test legitimacy and define our legacy.
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