Looks like Diana Ross is helping on the campaign trail of her youngest sister, Rita Ross. After sharing with her Twitter followers that Rita is running for a seat in the State Representative of Detroit’s 5th District earlier this year, she calls Rita a “dedicated Detroiter.”
Detroit Metro Times reports Rita entered the race late January. Her website declares that she champions the city’s infrastructure, criminal justice reform, livable wages, a single-payer healthcare system and expanding early childhood education. She’s served for almost 20 years on the Michigan Supreme Court Foster Care Review Board and has worked to save senior citizens’ homes from tax foreclosure, according to PIX11. Metro Times also reports she was a member of Detroit’s Board of Zoning Appeals.
My sister A really dedicated Detroiter pic.twitter.com/S8uXN7xREC
— Ms. Ross (@DianaRoss) May 25, 2018
Detroit’s primary elections are Aug. 7 with the winners heading to November’s general election. Rita is running up against six opponents, including Fred Durhal III who currently holds the seat and is running for re-election.
The future is black and female, and Rita’s running is another example of black women taking political matters into their own hands. Stacey Abrams is likely to become the first African-American woman to be governor of a state.
Black Women In Politics, a searchable database that lists black women in politics, says 603 black women are running for office in 2018.
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