Mandy Carter reflects on her activism and organizing for social, racial, and LGBTQ+ justice, and discusses her experience of the years of the Obama presidency, with particular emphasis on her service as co-chair of Obama Pride, the Obama 2008 campaign's national LGBT infrastructure, and on the advisory board of the Presidential Appointments Initiative. Carter speaks widely about the history of move ments for social and racial justice, and she recounts notable efforts and issues with which she was closely involved, including the founding of Southerners on New Ground (SONG); Harvey Gantt's campaigns for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina in 1990 and 1996; the work of poll workers and voting rights activists in the South; and the differences in conditions facing LGBT communities across the country in the 1970s and 1980s. She also describes her experience of the 2008 Democratic primaries and general election, and considers Obama's approach to speaking about issues relevant to LGBT communities, and tensions between Obama's and Hillary Clinton's supporters during the 2008 general election cycle. Also discussed are Carter's congressional advocacy during the Obama years; her service as national coordinator of the Bayard Rustin Commemoration Project and Obama's posthumous awarding of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rustin in 2013; and the Obama administration's relations with social movements
Presidents--United States; Sexual minorities--Social conditions--United States; Sexual minorities--Civil rights--United States; Suffrage--United States; Carter, Mandy, 1948-; Obama, Barack; Southerners on New Ground (Organization)
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
56 pages
Note (Biographical)
Mandy Carter is an American organizer and activist, who for decades has been involved in the movements for social, racial, and LGBTQ+ justice. Among other prominent involvements, Carter co-founded Southerners on New Ground (SONG) in 1993, a human righ ts organization devoted to uniting LGBTQ people in the South, and was a leader on Harvey Gantt's two campaigns for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina. She is also the co-founder of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) and a former member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC)'s Black Caucus and LGBT Caucus. Carter was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize as a part of the 1,000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005, recognizing the peace work of women around the world. She was also co-chair of Obama Pride, the national LGBT infrastructure for the Obama 2008 presidential campaign, and served on the advisory board of the Presidential Appointments Initiative, helping to place openly-LGBT candidates in the administration
Note
Interviewed by Terrell D. Frazier on March 15, 2022. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Mandy Carter, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023