Former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun — the first and only U.S. African American female senator — spoke at Northwestern on Wednesday night in honor of the political science department’s centennial.

The talk, attended by approximately 60 faculty members and students, was part of a series of events to celebrate the department’s 100 years.

During her talk and the hour-long Q&A session that followed, Moseley Braun shared a selection of stories from her nearly 40 years of public service.

Moseley Braun recounted her time occupying the Senate seat once held by Stephen Douglas, an Illinois senator infamous for defending slavery throughout the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858.

“It was my privilege to sit in the very seat that Douglas once occupied,” Moseley Braun said. “I scooched around to make sure he knew I was there.”

But Moseley Braun maintains that political change is not just a matter of storytelling.

“Stories just illustrate a core value or point. I hope I communicated that individuals can and do make a difference,” she told The Daily. “Individuals reaching outside of themselves to create community, to do for somebody else. That matters.”

Moseley Braun represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate from 1993 to 1999. Since then, she has served as U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2004 Presidential Election. After returning from New Zealand in 2001, Moseley Braun launched Ambassador Organics, a line of organic food and drink products.

“I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up,” Moseley Braun said in her talk. “But I’m working on it.”

Moseley Braun is the first and only African American female U.S. senator and the first and only female senator from Illinois. She has been a champion of progressive causes including gun control, inclusivity in representation and abortion rights, said Weinberg senior Pam Keller, co-chair of the Political Science Undergraduate Council, when introducing Moseley Braun.

The former senator was selected as a guest speaker because the values that drive her career are things NU is known for, said Daniel Galvin, director of undergraduate studies for the political science department.

“She had this vast range of experiences, which made her a great choice for this lecture,” Galvin said. “She’s worked at the local level, at the national level and the global level to advance causes and to develop policies to address the problems that really drive us as political scientists.”

Weinberg sophomore Sabrina Williams, who asked Moseley Braun about her undergraduate life during the Q&A session, said she enjoyed learning from such an influential figure.

“For me, it’s perfect because as you’re here you’re continually reflecting on your undergrad experience,” Williams told The Daily. “It’s really awesome to listen to people who have lived a life that you might want to emulate.”

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @emcash_