MadameNoire
Source: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for STARZ / Getty
Name: Stacey E. Plaskett
Title: Congresswoman, USVI
SpeakHER Greatness: Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett was born and raised in Brooklyn, but she spent a lot of time visiting her parents’ native US Virgin Islands — Saint Croix, to be exact. Plaskett graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in history and diplomacy, and from American University’s Washington College of Law. Eventually, she worked as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx, as counsel to the House Committee on Ethics, and as a political appointee at the Justice Department under President George W. Bush.
She moved to the USVI after working the US mainland for decades, and in 2014, she was elected to represent the territory in Congress as a non-voting member. Plaskett asked Nancy Pelosi to be part of the Trump impeachment team in 2019, citing her experience as a prosecutor and the significance it would bring actually having a Black woman on the team.
“The party says that Black women are the base and our primary support, and there are five Black women in the House who are attorneys, and only two of us are former prosecutors,” Plaskett told Buzzfeed News.
She did not get that assignment then, but two years later, it was hers when Trump was facing impeachment again, and she shined. She showed up wearing a blue cape (think high fashion), and delivered a rousing testimony about how Trump had been stirring up his followers for months, which ultimately led to the riot at the Capitol on Jan 6.
Her poise and conviction were undeniable. And while she is unfortunately not a voting member of the house, it’s clear that she isn’t on her fourth term for nothing.
