‘I Am an Overcomer,’ Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears Says. ‘Many Black People Are Overcomers.’

When she was a little girl, Winsome Sears emigrated to America from Jamaica. Years later, she chose to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps because, she says, “America had always been good to my family and me.” 

Today, Sears is again serving her adopted country, this time as Virginia’s lieutenant governor. She made history when she was elected Nov. 2 to become the first black woman to hold that office.

Being where she is, Sears says, she is reminded of the opportunities that America affords, and that she is “an overcomer, ” adding that “many black people are overcomers.” 

“I am here in the former capital of the Confederacy, for goodness sake,” she says. “I am second in command. Second in command. I’m a black woman. I am not first-generation American.”