Voting rights activist and former Georgia gubernatorial Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
Reuters reports that Abrams was nominated by a Norwegian lawmaker for her work to promote nonviolent change via the ballot box.
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The Democratic Party politician has been credited with boosting voter turnout in not only the presidential election but also the Georgia U.S. Senate runoff as she aided in the election of Georgia’s first Black senator, Raphael Warnock.
“Abrams’ work follows in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s footsteps in the fight for equality before the law and for civil rights,” Lars Haltbrekken, a Socialist Party member of Norway’s parliament, said.
Martin Luther King Jr. won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his nonviolent campaign against racism.
“Abrams’ efforts to complete King’s work are crucial if the United States of America shall succeed in its effort to create fraternity between all its peoples and a peaceful and just society,” Haltbrekken continued.
According to the Official Black Wall Street, as of 2020, 16 Black recipients have been awarded a Nobel Prize out of 930 people.
The 47-year-old began fighting against voter suppression in 2014 when she launched the New Georgia Project to help Black Georgians register to vote for the midterm elections. Four years later and following a narrow defeat in the 2018 gubernatorial race, Abrams created the Fair Fight Action to combat voter suppression in both Georgia and around the country.
Of the 2020 nominee list, Abrams is joined by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Tell us: Who else would you nominate for a Nobel Prize Award?
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