Black By God: The West Virginian – I walked the thick, white marble hallways of the West Virginia State Capitol for years as a lobbyist. My journey into policy work began out of frustration during the 2014 West Virginia Water Crisis and the fight for the Aboveground Storage Tank Bill. The process felt foreign—because it was. Like many, my civic engagement had been limited to voting and making calls when prompted. But curiosity led me to ask questions, and with mentorship from seasoned lobbyists, I learned policy through immersion and perseverance.
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What struck me during those years was the glaring absence of Black faces and a unified Black agenda at the Capitol. Sure, there were specific days when Black West Virginians showed up to advocate, but those moments were fleeting. Meanwhile, lawmakers, accustomed to the ebb and flow of advocacy days, moved on to the next issue.
A few dedicated individuals like Rev. Watts, Jennifer Wells, Sheila Coleman-Castells, Stephanie Tyree, and others held the line, but the lack of consistent representation was palpable. For 60 days each session, the halls were quiet of Black voices, and this absence allowed some lawmakers to dismiss our very existence—like the delegate, whose name I chose to forget, claimed Black people were “imaginary” and “fairy tales.”
