Issue No. —Monday, May 4, 2026

Inaugural Issue

A Note from Leah

Welcome to the first edition of Black Lady News. Once a week, I'll send you the stories I think we need to be paying attention to — the wins worth celebrating, the headlines worth tracking, and the moments that don't always make the front page but matter for us.

This was supposed to be a quieter inaugural issue. Then on Wednesday, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Louisiana v. Callais, and the math of Black political power changed.

So we're starting where the news started us — at the foundation, and what just happened to it.

It's curated, not comprehensive. Read it on the train. Forward it to your group chat. Pull a stat for your next meeting.

Let's get into it.

— Editor's note: This issue went to press Thursday afternoon. The story is moving faster than any weekly publication can fully capture. We will continue tracking in Issue 002.

The Headline

The Court's new math: Why Black political power just got harder to build

Black political power in America has always been built on three pillars: organizing, legislation, and the courts. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court took the third one away.

The 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais did not strike down the Voting Rights Act outright. It did something arguably more damaging. It made the Act's most important enforcement mechanism — Section 2 — nearly impossible to use.

"Today's decision renders Section 2 all but a dead letter."

For sixty years, Section 2 was how Black voters challenged maps that diluted our political power. The cases brought by Black women, organized by Black women, argued by Black women — Janai Nelson at LDF, Sherrilyn Ifill before her, Constance Baker Motley before that — built the entire architecture of Section 2 jurisprudence. The 19th led its analysis with the headline "Supreme Court decision could undo decades of gains by Black women lawmakers." That is precisely what is at stake.

The new math. The decision shifts the legal standard for Section 2 cases from showing discriminatory effect — that a map dilutes Black voting power — to requiring proof of discriminatory intent: that lawmakers consciously meant to discriminate. Intent is almost impossible to prove in a courtroom. That is the point. The decision was authored by Justice Alito and joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. Justice Thomas wrote separately to argue Section 2 itself is unconstitutional. The next case will tell us whether the Court agrees.

What this looks like on the ground — within 48 hours.

In Louisiana, Gov. Jeff Landry announced plans Thursday to suspend the May 16 congressional primaries — primaries already underway through absentee voting — so the legislature can redraw the map. The decision targets the state's two Democratic congressmen, both Black: Rep. Troy Carter (LA-02) and Rep. Cleo Fields (LA-06), whose seat was at the center of the Callais case. They could be redrawn into separate districts or pitted against each other. At a Congressional Black Caucus press conference, Fields said: "If you tell me I have to be white to serve in Congress from Louisiana, I can't do nothing about that."

In Florida, the legislature passed Gov. Ron DeSantis's redrawn congressional map within hours of the ruling — the Senate took an hour-long recess mid-debate to read the Callais opinion before voting. The new map could give Republicans up to four additional U.S. House seats and reduces representation for Black voters in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Orlando. Rep. Angie Nixon (D-Jacksonville), running for U.S. Senate, protested with a bullhorn on the House floor. House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell led the formal opposition.

In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves had already called a special session — to convene 21 days after Callais — to redraw state Supreme Court districts. The Mississippi Democratic Party estimates at least 29 of the state's 60 Black-majority legislative seats could be eliminated. No Black person has ever been elected to the Mississippi Supreme Court without first being appointed by a governor.

In Virginia, the state Supreme Court on April 28 declined to lift the Tazewell County injunction blocking certification of Sen. Louise Lucas's 10-1 map (more on her below). The substantive case is still pending, but the procedural signals are not good.

In Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey announced no special session — a federal court ordered the state to maintain its current Milligan-era maps through 2030. As LDF President Janai Nelson put it: "We have no reason to believe that there should be any backtracking in Alabama, and we stand ready to challenge any maps that we feel discriminate against Black voters." The damage is not uniform. Existing court orders matter.

Why this matters for us. The implications cascade beyond Congress. As Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL), the lead author of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, put it: this decision "is a gift to Donald Trump and his voter suppression scheme." Fair Fight Action estimates Republicans could gain up to 19 U.S. House seats and 200 state legislative seats nationally because of the ruling. Every level of Black political representation is now exposed — congressional, state legislative, judicial, school board. The work ahead has three fronts:

Legislation. The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore and strengthen Section 2, has passed the U.S. House but is stalled in the Senate. State-level voting rights acts already exist in California, New York, Virginia, Connecticut, Oregon, New Mexico, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington. More states need them, and quickly.
Organizing. Groups like the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Black Voters Matter, Higher Heights for America, the Brennan Center, and Fair Fight Action will be carrying the litigation, voter mobilization, and state-level legislative work. They need resources now.
Power-building that does not depend on this Court. This is the long game. State houses. Governors' mansions. School boards. Secretaries of State. District attorneys. Every elected office that touches voting infrastructure. Black women already hold a disproportionate share of this work — we are 7% of the U.S. population and 31% of Black elected officials nationally. The pipeline is real. The question is whether we have the resources and political will to expand it.

We have done it before. We will do it again. But not without naming what just happened.

The Profile

"10-1": How Sen. Louise Lucas bent Virginia's redistricting fight to her will

If Callais is what it looks like when Black political power is taken away, Lucas is what it looks like when Black political power is built.

While the rest of the country was watching Texas and California trade redistricting blows, an 82-year-old Black woman from Portsmouth was quietly — then very loudly — pulling Virginia into the center of the fight.

L. Louise Lucas, president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate and chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, is the first woman and first African American to hold either of those posts. She has served in the Virginia Senate since 1992. CNN called her "a trash-talking, meme-posting great-grandmother" who has become one of the most powerful figures in Virginia politics.

Her path: Jim Crow South, public schools shuttered during Massive Resistance, Norfolk Naval Shipyard's first female shipfitter, Norfolk State University, the Virginia Senate. Past president of the NAACP. Delta Sigma Theta. The Links.

The fight. Last summer, Lucas was at a legislators' conference in Boston when she learned Texas Democrats had fled their state to try to block a Trump-backed gerrymander. By the end of their press conference, she had decided Virginia needed to enter the fight. What she wanted was a 10-1 map — Democratic advantage in 10 of Virginia's 11 congressional districts, up from the current 6-5. Some in her own party wanted a more modest 9-2. Lucas prevailed.

When U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner tried to weigh in, she told them to stay focused on "the fascist in the White House and let us handle redistricting in Virginia. 10-1." When Ted Cruz criticized the effort, she replied:

"You all started it and we finished it."

Where it stands now. On April 21, Virginia voters approved the constitutional amendment 51% to 48%. The next day, a Tazewell County judge blocked certification. The Virginia Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 27 — and on April 28, denied Attorney General Jay Jones's request to lift the injunction while the substantive case is still pending. The court signaled skepticism of the Democrats' procedural arguments. Candidates must file by May 26. The map's survival is now genuinely in doubt.

Why this matters for us — even more so this week. With Callais now narrowing what federal courts can do to protect Black voters, state-level political muscle is the entire game. Lucas is what that looks like in practice — a Black woman who has been in the room for thirty-plus years, knows every procedural lever, and is willing to use them. The work ahead is going to require more Lucases, in more states, with more institutional knowledge. Whether her map ultimately stands is one question. Whether we are training her successors is the bigger one.

The Five

Stratton heads to November in the Illinois Senate race.

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won the Democratic primary March 17 with about 40% in a 10-candidate field. She enters as the favorite to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin and would become the second Black woman to represent Illinois in the Senate after Carol Moseley Braun in 1992. Of the seven Black women who launched Senate campaigns this cycle, Stratton is one of five still in the running. In a week when federal voting rights protections collapsed, Senate seats matter more, not less.

The 19th · Essence

Rep. Terri Sewell on Callais: "It's a gift to Donald Trump and his voter suppression scheme."

Sewell, the only Black member of Alabama's congressional delegation and the lead author of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, called the ruling "a devastating blow to American democracy." The John Lewis Act would restore and strengthen Section 2. It has passed the U.S. House but stalled in the Senate. The path to passing it runs through 2026.

The 19th coverage

Black women lost 113,000 jobs in 2025 — three times the rate of all women.

A new IWPR report found Black women accounted for 54.7% of all female job losses at the height of summer volatility, despite being only 14.1% of the female workforce. Federal employment for Black women dropped over 30%. Economic power and political power are not separate fights.

IWPR full report

CDC data: maternal mortality gap is widening, not closing.

Black women died at 44.8 per 100,000 live births vs. 14.2 for white women. Black women were the only group whose rate showed no statistically significant decline. The same elected officials who shape voting maps shape healthcare policy.

Axios analysis

Virginia signs the Momnibus Act II into law.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bipartisan package on April 22 expanding maternal mental health screenings, Medicaid coverage for high-risk pregnancies, and tracking of severe maternal morbidity. State Senator Louise Lucas was a lead patron. State-level wins, while federal protections retreat.

Office of the Governor of Virginia

The Win

The work, named.

Even on a week when the news is heavy, the work of Black women keeps getting recognized — and the lineage worth naming runs longer than any single news cycle.

This year's TIME 100 Most Influential People featured Zoe Saldaña, Keke Palmer, Coco Jones, and model Anok Yai. The April 23 gala in New York became its own cultural moment.

Add to the list:

Ruth E. Carter became the most-nominated Black woman in Academy Awards history with her fifth nod for Best Costume Design (Sinners).
Maria Taylor became the first Black woman to host an official Super Bowl pregame show and present the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Laila Edwards became the first Black woman to win Olympic gold in ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Games.
Erin Jackson became the first Black woman to serve as a Team USA flag bearer at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony.

And this week, name Janai Nelson, who argued Callais before the Supreme Court twice — the second time in October 2025 — and whose response to Wednesday's ruling set the public framing: "This is a day of shame for the Supreme Court. It has rendered key voting protections that have served this country for more than 60 years null and void." Whatever rebuilding is ahead, she is the legal mind who will help lead it.

We are, as always, doing the work. Call them by their names.

The Watch

What's coming up

Hour by hour: Louisiana's election timeline. Gov. Landry's plan to suspend the May 16 primary will likely be formalized in the coming days. Watch for what it means for Reps. Carter and Fields.

By May 20: Mississippi's special session. State Supreme Court districts and potentially state legislative seats on the table.

Any day now: The Virginia Supreme Court ruling on the substantive challenge to the 10-1 amendment. Candidates must file by May 26.

May 19: Kentucky primary. Pamela Stevenson on the ballot for Senate.

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Watch for renewed pressure on Senate leadership in the wake of Callais.

Mother's Day weekend, May 9–10.

One Thing to Read

This week, the recommendation is The 19th's "Supreme Court decision could undo decades of gains by Black women lawmakers." The 19th led its analysis where this publication would have — at the specific cost to Black women's political power, organizing infrastructure, and decades of legal architecture built by Black women lawyers. It pairs the legal analysis with reporting on what the decision means at the state and local level, where Black women are the backbone of elected leadership.

Read at The 19th

(IWPR, mentioned earlier, is the Institute for Women's Policy Research — a Washington-based think tank focused on women's economic equity. They publish some of the most rigorous data we have on the labor market experiences of women of color.)