Sisterhood of the 'Obama Women'

Seven of about three dozen senior positions on president's team are filled by African American women, another giant step by black women in political Washington. (Photos: Post, Getty, Bloomberg, AP)

The Ties That Align

Administration's Black Women Form A Strong Sisterhood

By Krissah Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Like two old girlfriends catching up, they ignored onlookers, hugged and laughed.

Donna Brazile, the political strategist and Washington veteran, peppered Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson with questions.

"How are the kids?" "Have you contacted the church? I don't go every Sunday but they know me."

Before she left, Jackson had an open invitation to Brazile's place for home-cooked red beans and rice, served up every Monday night.

"The sisterhood in this town, there's deep history here," Jackson said.

The "Obama women" -- as African American women who've taken big jobs in his administration have been nicknamed -- mark another step in the long journey of black women from outsiders to gatekeepers in political Washington. They have quietly entered their jobs with little attention paid to the fact that they are the largest contingent of high-ranking black women to work for a president.

(More here.)