Condoleezza Rice’s years in the White House were pretty lonely if she was ever in search of some sisterly support. Sure she had her good friend George W. but that can’t rival being able to let her hair down (if she actually would) with her girls. Not so for the black woman who hold high level posts in the Obama administration. Krissah Thompson’s Washington Post piece draws a compelling portrait of sisters getting and giving support (not tearing each other down or ignoring one another) in the Obama administration. Isn’t that refreshing?Senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Melody Barnes, head of the Domestic Policy Council, Mona Sutphen deputy chief of staff, Desiree Rogers White House social secretary, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and Cassandra Butts deputy White House counsel have been dubbed “Obama women.”

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.

But these sisters don’t have time to bask in the historical significance, or the sobering statistics that  remind us that we earn about 2/3 of the Associates and Bachelor’s degrees awarded to black folks in this country and only a small percentage of us hold professional or managerial positions. Instead, they’ve quietly gotten down to business because that is the reason they are there. 

When they arrived in DC, however, they found support from the unsung sisters who had taken their own place in the White House with previous administrations or worked hard on political campaigns trying to get others there. Among those who can offer wise counsel as well as the unvarnished truth are Patricia Harris Roberts, former HUD Secretary under President Carter, Eleanor Holmes Norton, who lead the EEOC during the same administration. A quartet of Clintonites that includes Minyon Moore, former director of White House political affairs, Alexis Herman, who served as labor secretary and Hazel O’Leary, who was energy secretary and Cheryl Mills who worked as deputy White House counsel. And now that the campaign is over political strategist and one of the architects of  the Reverend Jesse Jackson’s failed Presidential bid, Donna Brazile, offers an ear, a shoulder and invitations to home cooked meals. 

The intensity of their jobs aside, being part of their sisterly circle sounds like fun.It almost makes me want to work in politics too. Alas, I lack the intestinal fortitude for Capital Hill warfare. But I am glad to know that these sisters can call in their own backup.

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