“Black women’s bodies are a site for state-sponsored violence.”

A growth in Black women’s representation in statehouses and other levels of government in recent years has increased their political power. Black women elected officials often are the ones who challenge policies over issues like police killings, racist monuments and voting restrictions.

It has also led to increasingly visible resistance, with several Black women being arrested or facing criminal charges in the midst of their work in statehouses or in their communities.