"Rest is resistance": Black women ignore Trump to find peace
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Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios. Photo: Brendan Smialowski.
For many Black women, Trump's presidency isn't just a political reckoning — it's a wake-up call to turn inward, prioritize self-care, and build movements rooted in their own needs and empowerment.
The big picture: After overwhelmingly backing Democrats, many Black women are now stepping away from politics to focus on themselves and their communities.
State of play: "Our well-being, the well-being of our children and our communities, cannot be based on the whimsical nature of white folks or a particular political party," LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, told Axios on Friday.
- She said just as Black people realized during the Reconstruction era that they would have to take hold of their futures, building their own cities, churches, homesteads and banks, Black people have to do the same today.
- "I can't afford just to respond. I've got to reimagine," Brown said. "I can't afford just to fight. I've got to build."
Win With Black Women, a group that raised over $3 million for the Harris-Walz ticket in 2024, now aims to protect former Vice President Harris' legacy by "advancing Black women into leadership roles."
- "No matter who is in the White House, Black women will continue to champion the progress that Vice President Harris has led whether in our own neighborhoods, communities, or in Washington, D.C.," said Holli Holliday, a WWBW partner and president of Sisters Lead Sisters Vote.
As Nikki Frenney, a political influencer, put it, "Rest is resistance."
- She campaigned for Harris and created the viral AI graphic "92%" inspired by artist Navi' Robins — an image featuring an American flag and a woman in a 92% t-shirt, symbolizing the percentage of Black women who voted for Harris.
- Now, she's launching a 92% movement focused on wellness, economic empowerment, and cultural connections for Black people.
- "I believe we have to prepare ourselves for chaos that could be coming down the pipe, simply based on the previous four years that we had in the Trump administration," Frenney said before Trump's inauguration.
Then-Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt (now the White House press secretary) told Axios Trump "will unify the country through success."
Catch up quick: Since then, Trump rolled back diversity, equity and inclusion and affirmative action programs.
- In response, corporations such as Target, Amazon and Boeing began rolling back DEI work that helped propel Black women and business owners into spaces predominantly occupied by white entrepreneurs.
What they're saying: Republicans control all three branches of the federal government, and "Now the guard rails are off," Frenney said.
Robins said "maybe they know what they're doing, whatever it may be, but in my mind, it's like at this point, we need to stop being martyred."
- He said it's time for America to see itself for what it is, with Black people having long been scapegoats for the country.
- "We're not the reason why any of this is happening," he said.
Zoom in: Brooke Floyd, director of programs for the Jackson, Mississippi-based nonprofit People's Advocacy Institute, told Axios the idea of turning inward to build your own community is one that has always been at the heart of her organization.
- People want to see Medicaid expansions, more comprehensive healthcare coverage, criminal justice reform and clean water, especially in Jackson following a water crisis, Floyd said.
- They have real concerns about public education funding reaching Black children.
- "We fight the issues and not the people," Floyd said.
Zoom out: Cicley Gay, a Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation board member and philanthropic strategist with more than 20 years of experience, told Axios before the inauguration a lot of people are "reactive to what they believe a Trump administration will look like."
- "And as an organization, we're not going to obsess over him," she said.
- Gay canvassed for Harris and has been tasked with helping rebrand the Black Lives Matter nonprofit mired in financial controversy and division.
- "We are going to look far beyond this presidency," she said.
- She detailed her vision for "a future fully divested from policing and prisons and punishment paradigms, a future for BLM in particular that invests in justice, joy and culture."
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