News 6 discusses Black women in politics with actress Kerry Washington

The midterm elections are developing on Nov. 8 in Florida, and Information 6 reporter Treasure Roberts acquired the news with actress Kerry Washington, who’s pushing eligible Floridians to end up to vote.

The 45-year-old actress has carried out in various movies and tv reveals over the previous few a long time, together with Scandal, Find out how to Get Away with Homicide and Django Unchained.

[TRENDING: Worker runs over 10-foot Burmese python at Kennedy Space Center | FEMA hiring workers to help with Hurricane Ian recovery, agency says | Become a News 6 Insider]

However now, she’s working towards a political trigger.

Washington joined with Florida Rising — a statewide group that goals to advertise “financial and racial justice throughout Florida” — to debate how Floridians “have an opportunity to disrupt techniques which have traditionally disenfranchised Black communities.”

“We’ve seen unimaginable progress for Black girls on this nation, proper? Significantly in political workplace…” Washington stated. “However in a rustic the place Black girls are usually not within the Senate, in a rustic the place we’ve by no means had a Black girl as an elected governor, there’s little question that we’re nonetheless working towards equal illustration.”

Washington stated she believes it’s necessary to have extra Black girls in workplace, stating that “all People need to see themselves represented in our authorities.”

Greater than 160 Black girls are up for positions in Congress and governorships in the course of the upcoming midterms, and Washington stated it’s mandatory to have the ability to elect them.

“It’s actually a historic time in Florida, (having) this many Black girls on the poll,” Washington stated.

Within the meantime, Washington is urging voters to point out up on the polls and make their voices heard.

“For me, it’s necessary to vote in each election,” Washington stated. “I feel typically, the presidential elections get all the eye and the splash, however actually, midterm election, that’s when now we have a chance to elect our native or state’s officers, and people are the individuals who have the largest affect on our day-to-day lives.”

Florida Rising Govt Director Andrea Mercado added on, saying {that a} handful of votes may make the entire distinction in an election cycle.

“You’ve candidates who misplaced by 37 votes, so whenever you take a look at these native races — county fee, state legislature, faculty board — a few of them are actually coming all the way down to the wire and I feel actually present that each vote actually does matter,” Mercado stated.

Washington informed Information 6 that she doesn’t take part in civic engagement as a consequence of her profession as an entertainer, however she nonetheless desires to do her civic responsibility as an American citizen.

Whereas she stated she helps causes like housing reform, green-energy initiatives and abortion protections, she informed Information 6 she doesn’t need to use her platform to inform individuals how they need to vote.

“When I’ve that microphone, I by no means need it to be to inform different individuals how you can really feel concerning the points that matter to them,” she stated. “I simply need individuals to know they’ll have an effect on the problems that matter to them.”

Get as we speak’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Every day: