Black Women in the Florida Legislature

Black Women in the Florida Legislature:

A Short History of Cherry, Meek, and Joyner

There is little question that the history of women's participation in the United States Political scene has been a rocky one. Indeed, from the birth of the nation, women have had to struggle for the most basic rights of governmental participation -- from the acquisition of the vote, to the winning of the most basic issues of equality under the laws of the land. However, when one enters into the history of women's participation in the halls of government, the struggles of women in general, and Black women in particular are even more pronounced. Given this reality, it is interesting to view the political lives of three of Florida's legislators -- Gwendolyn Cherry, Carrie Meek and Arthenia Joyner -- all Black women who have surpassed tremendous odds and difficulties in order to take their place in the history of the United States.

Until recently, Florida was one state that was considered one of the relatively "conservative" states of the South. As Wendy Loquasto stated in her speech delivered at the Ceremonial Legislative Session Honoring the First 150 Florida Women Lawyers, " ... because the greatest tribute we could pay to these women is recognition that Florida was a very different place when they came on the legal scene and that Florida is a better place today because of their actions ... (Loquasto, 2000)." Thus, when the first African-American woman, Gwen Sawyer Cherry was elected to the Florida Legislature in 1970, many considered (and rightly so) the event to be of immense historical as well as symbolic importance in that an era of clear cut racial division had finally ended.

Gwen Sawyer Cherry was hardly new to trend setting when she took her seat in the Florida Legislature. In fact, she was also Dade County's first black female attorney,

And enjoyed an impressive education leading up to her striking career. In fact, by the time Cherry entered the legislature, she had earned three degrees, a Bachelors and a Law degree from Florida A& M, as well as a Masters Degree in science from New York University (FCSW, 2003).

Of her most notable legislative work, Gwendolyn Cherry introduced the groundbreaking Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, in which she introduced the Equal Rights Amendment, which states in part, "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex (HOFA, 2002)." In addition, she worked chairing the groundbreaking State Committee for the International Woman's Year in 1978, and co-authored the work, "Portraits in Color (FCSW, 2003).

Another notable example of a Black woman in Florida legislative history is Carrie Meek, who was elected to serve in the Florida House of Representatives in 1979. Born in Florida, Meek, like Cherry, accomplished much in her academic life, earning a master's degree at the University of Michigan in 1948 (rare for a woman of any color at the time), and did additional graduate work at the University of Indiana and Florida Atlantic University (FCSW).

During her time in the Legislature (which she ended in 1982 to take her place as the first Black woman in the state Senate), she sponsored legislation forming the Florida

Commission on the Status of Women. Further, she worked hard to advocate gender and racial equality, both inside and outside the halls of Government (FCSW).

Finally, one of the best examples today of Black female leadership in Florida's legislature is certainly embodied in Rep. Arthenia L. Joyner -- first elected to the House in the year 2000. Formerly a teacher and a lawyer (much like Cherry and Meek), Joyner currently holds legislative office where she champions such legislative causes as Housing, Ethics, Energy and Transportation. In addition, she served pre-legislature on many committees illustrating her commitment to civil rights issues, including the Governor's Commission on African-American Affairs (1993-1999), Clinton-Gore Administration, Justice-Civil Rights Transition Cluster (1993), and the Florida Supreme Court Racial and Ethnic Bias Commission (1990-1991) (FHOR, 2004). Further, and perhaps most interestingly, Joyner helped to pioneer the role of Black women in civil rights issues worldwide (as opposed to nationally) in her private role in organizations such as the United Nations World Conference on Women and the U.S. Delegation World Population and Development Conference in Egypt in 1994 (FHOR).