Booker’s epic 25-hour speech in the U.S. Senate is a rallying cry for America.
Last week, Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) delivered the longest speech in the history of the U.S. Senate. He spoke for 25 hours and 4 minutes as a protest against President Trump’s policies and urged Americans to fight back, get involved, and to stand up against the repeal of constitutional rights.
This marathon speech was not technically a filibuster – an extended speech designed to obstruct the passage of a bill – but, nevertheless, replaces the previous record for the longest speech given on the Senate floor. That was a filibuster speech given by Senator Strom Thurmond (D-S.C.) to prevent the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Booker shared that it bothered him that Thurmond previously held the record – and that Thurmond is still venerated with a named room in the Senate although he used that speech to decry racial equality.
As one of five Black senators currently in office, Booker used his voice as a form of protest. The wide resonance of Booker’s 25-hour speech illustrates the power of political rhetoric and symbolic representation – especially from members of the hip-hop generation like Cory Booker, who draw on the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement to inspire political engagement and resist racial retrenchment.
From Protest to Politics – and now back to protest?
Katherine Tate’s canonical text From Protest To Politics advances the idea that Black Americans have shifted their fight for civil rights from outside of the system to inside of the system. The struggle for civil rights previously happened largely outside of electoral politics because Black Americans were disenfranchised by both de jure and de facto methods of exclusion. Yet, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the galvanization of Black voters who supported Black politicians, this demographic group uses its political resources and electoral power to advance the goal of egalitarianism. Tate demonstrates that Black Americans now view electoral politics as a way to improve the status of Black Americans both socially and economically. While her book focuses on the 1984 and 1988 presidential elections – when Rev. Jesse Jackson sought the Democratic nomination – Booker may now be galvanizing Black voters after the electoral loss of the first Black multi-ethnic woman to run for president on the Democratic ticket.
To be sure, Democrats are demoralized. Specifically, Black Americans are also fearful of further racial retrenchment in the second Trump administration. Because Black voters – and Black women in particular, opposed Trump’s view of America, it was clear that this demographic may singularly oppose the administration.
On the heels of the Black Lives Matter and political protests for Black lives, America witnessed both the successes and the limits of centering the political objectives of Black Americans both within and outside electoral politics. But Booker’s speech this week has ignited new-found optimism from a weary group. Why?
Rhetoric matters
The link between descriptive representation, when an elected representative mirrors the characteristics of their constituency, such as gender or race, and substantive representation – when the representative’s actions match the wishes or needs of the people who are being represented – often fails to address the symbolic activity, The argument is that symbolic representation does not provide material benefits, while symbolic representatives only “stand for” their constituents, rather than act on their behalf.
While political scientist Hanna Fenichel Pitkin’s use of the term “symbolic representation” is somewhat vague, it often refers to the kinds of political behaviors that elected officials engage in outside of government: for example, speeches or non-material political actions. “Standing for” different constituents is often seen in political communication, constituent service, and other non-legislative behaviors that are used to build constituent trust and positive affect towards elected officials. Consequently, elected officials view symbolic behaviors as crucial to the representational process and for their reelection prospects.
Symbolic representation can be consequential. Black lawmakers are more likely to propose symbolic policies or embrace symbolic measures such as floor speeches to give voice to constituents. For women and racial-ethnic minorities, having an elected official bring awareness or voice their concerns serves a critical function in the representational system. Much of the study of symbolic messages on the part of women and ethno-racial minorities focuses on the forms that elected officials use to communicate their messages to constituents, such as press releases, speeches, and websites. Just as in substantive behavior, minoritized lawmakers communicate who they are through a unique form of “home style” representation.
Hip-hop at the core
Cory Booker is a member of the hip-hop generation. Born in 1969, Booker is a member of the Gen X demographic group who came of age listening to artists such as Public Enemy. These artists did more than simply entertain crowds; they also taught Black history to listeners. Indeed, historian Pero G. Dagbovie notes that Black Americans who were born between 1965 and 1984 seemed to be shaped by social and cultural focuses that were conducive to Black cultural nationalism. The embrace of Black history as a political tool was present in the music – i.e., KRS-One; Queen Latifah, and X-clan. And movies like “Malcolm X” and “Boyz n the Hood” also provided ready access to conversations about racism, the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement, and the continued need to fight racism.
But, more critically, the hip-hop generation gained the ability to speak across generations by finding connections between older and younger Americans. Journalist and activist Bakari Kitwana argues that this is an essential skill in the aftermath of the Civil Rights and Black power movements. The hip-hop generation used their voices to call attention to White supremacy and racial suppression, via a strong footing in Black grassroots.
Hip-hop and the articulation of Black political desires and needs lie at the core of who Black Gen-Xers are and what they do. As a result of his generational status, Booker was uniquely prepared to deliver a message this week to a nation that sought to find common ground, stand up against unjust policies, and urge others to action.
What we learned
Cory Booker is a New Jersey native who leveraged the tools available to him as a Democratic senator facing a Republican-led shift of not only government but American society. As political scientist Andra Gillespie notes, Booker’s style is reflective of his desire to continue the goals of the Civil Rights Movement but in a way that is different from generations before him. He is the bridge between Black leaders such as Civil Rights-era leader Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), whose legacy Booker invoked several times during his speech as he extolled Americans to “get into good trouble”; and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), a Millennial congresswoman who is highly visible on social media and uses political rhetoric to explain Democratic stances on current events. As a member of the hip-hop generation, Booker uses his political platform to highlight a vision for America that is inclusive and understands Black America’s role in building a more egalitarian society.
Style and substance matter. Booker’s historic speech serves as a harbinger for a nation whose leaders are aging – within the current U.S. Senate, for instance, 67% of senators are 60 or older. Looking for what unites, rather than what divides – as Booker sought to do with this marathon speech – is important. Yet, how Booker sought to do so invites new analysis for the power of symbolic representation when protest turns to politics.
Nadia E. Brown is a proud Jersey Girl. She is also a professor of government and the director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Georgetown University. She is the co-author of “Sister Style“ (Oxford University Press, 2021) and author of “Sisters in the Statehouse” (Oxford University Press, 2014).
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