Stacey Abrams : never conquered. Always black

Abstract

The November 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race ended with charges of voter suppression, a stolen race, and a candidate who refused to concede. While, in American politics, candidate concession is entirely optional, the spirit and action of non-concession in the Georgia election challenge was complicated by issues of race and gender. The work of radical scholar and poet-activist Fred Moten offers a useful space for analysis of the final non-concession speech of Georgia gubernatorial candidate, Stacey Abrams. For this analysis, the presentation of Abrams as both the object and subject of her political message is found in her televised non-concession speech. Employing Moten’s unique perspective, drawn from critical theory, black studies, and performance, with important notes from Richard Iton on the Black fantastic and Phillip Auslander’s suggestions of the power of liveness and technology in media and performance, the aesthetics of race, gender, and culture are here used to examine the image and sound of Abrams and her non-concession speech as a site of both resistance and fugitivity.