Biography
Early Life
In 2020, Cori Bush became the first #BlackLivesMatter leader, and the first Black woman, elected to the U.S. Congress from the state of Missouri.
Cori Bush was born on July 21, 1976, in St. Louis, Missouri.
She lived in a lower-middle-class neighborhood with her parents Errol Bush and Barbara Blakney, brother Perry, and sister Kelli.
Bush graduated from Cardinal Ritter High School in North St. Louis. She attended college for a brief time. She left college because she was unable to afford tuition.
She got married and had two children. Bush left her husband because of his abuse. She lived in her car with her children because she was too ashamed to go home to her family. After getting back on her feet, Bush earned a degree from the Lutheran School of Nursing.
Road to Spiritual Activism
Bush learned about civil rights leaders and her African heritage from her parents. Her father was an activist. He was elected Alderman and then mayor of the Northwoods township. Bush remembers being on stage with him speaking as a young child.
She credits her drive to the women in her church. They assisted her during her spousal abuse and homelessness.
The women’s support helped her leave her marriage, move in with her father, and go to nursing school. Bush says, “It was my faith that ordered every step I took from then on.”
She worked to rescue human trafficking victims and provide services to the mentally ill and unhoused persons. She also became an ordained minister.
Black Lives Matter
After the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a white police officer, Bush was on the front lines of the protests in Ferguson, Missouri.
She used her training to provide medical care and resources to the community.
Bush co-founded The Truth Telling Project and led the protest group #ExpectUS.
Political Leadership
Bush achieved many firsts.
She is the first Black woman in Missouri elected to Congress, and she is the first nurse to represent Missouri.
She is the first woman to represent Missouri’s First Congressional District.
She is the first activist from the #BlackLivesMatter Movement elected to the United States Congress.
As a member of Congress, Representative Bush serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee.
Being unhoused led Bush to stage a sleep-out on the Capitol steps. She wanted to extend the eviction moratorium in 2021.
That year, Bush, Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MASS) introduced the Environmental Justice Mapping and Data Collection Act of 2021. This legislation helps direct resources to communities affected by environmental racism.
Congresswoman Cori Bush believes that “lived experience should count for something, and oftentimes in Congress, it doesn’t.”
Her experiences of poverty, substandard maternal care, and homelessness make her a catalyst for change in Congress.
As Bush puts it, “After everything I’ve been through, I’m not afraid to fight.”
