Black voters have long been the backbone of the Democratic Party, but remain underrepresented in the rooms where campaign money, messaging and strategy are controlled.

Ashley Etienne, a communications strategist who has been a senior advisor to several Democratic leaders, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and former Vice President Kamala Harris, says it’s beyond time that the party brings Black voters to the political table in an equitable way.

Chandelis Duster has covered national and international news, spanning politics, race and equality, entertainment, space, and science, with on-air and digital reporting at CNN, as well as bylines at NBC News and MSNBC. At CNN, she reported on race and equality, breaking major political stories, including investigations into discrimination against farmers of color, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and coverage of the Supreme Court. Her work also appears on NPR, where her stories reach millions...