Watching Stacey Plaskett, the Democrat delegate representing the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) in the House, prosecute the case against Donald Trump as one of nine impeachment managers had me cheering. When I saw her name trending on Twitter, I cheered louder. A Brooklyn cheer, because this Brooklyn native has finally stepped into the national spotlight.
What was even more interesting were the tweets I was reading, many of which pondered who she was even as they applauded her.
Since I regularly follow all the members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for the Daily Kos community Black Kos, her prosecutorial skills came as no surprise. Plaskett, who started off her career as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx, and who worked as senior counsel in Department of Justice, is no neophyte.
Seeing a strong Black woman, anathema to all the Trumpremacists currently supporting sedition, meticulously, clearly, and forcefully state the case against the disgraceful ex-president was a personal point of pride for me as a Black woman.
Plaskett knew she did well Wednesday, as this post-hearing tweet shows.
There are quite a few articles about her, like this one from Vogue’s Stuart Emmrich, which calls her a “breakout star” of the trial.
As she began her presentation, Plaskett, 54, who was born in Brooklyn to parents from the Virgin Islands, spoke of the journey that had brought her to this historic day. “I’ve learned throughout my life that preparation and truth can carry you far, can allow you to speak truth to power,” she said. “I’ve learned that as a young Black girl growing up in the projects in Brooklyn, a housing community on St. Croix, sent to the most unlikeliest of settings and now as an adult woman representing an island territory speaking to the U.S. Senate.”
Plaskett graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in history and diplomacy and from American University’s Washington College of Law. Later, she worked as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx, as counsel to the House ethics committee, and as a political appointee at the Justice Department under President George W. Bush.
She can’t vote because the USVI is a territory, but she sure is doing a damned good job of representing the democratic principles of this republic.
Here are a few tweets about Plaskett in the wake of her presentation.
Some folks might have forgotten Plaskett’s participation in last year’s impeachment, but the visuals became a Black Twitter meme.
In case you missed it, here’s the footage, courtesy of PBS Newshour.
All I have to say after that is “Right on, Sister!”
