EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan. New York Attorney General Letitia James. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. They’re all Black women who have posed challenges to former President Donald Trump.

And now, of course, he faces Vice President Kamala Harris in his quest to reclaim the White House. Is there a theme in the relationship between Donald Trump and Black women?

I recently had the chance to run that theory by U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler, D-Calif., who highlighted the role Black women have played for many years as advocates and activists. She added that at this moment, there is so much at stake for these voters.

“When they are only making 62 cents on the dollar,” Butler said. “We’re seeing the impatience and determination of Black women to not have another generation of their families. Their communities go by being unseen, unheard, disrespected or dismissed.”

Butler first met Kamala Harris about 15 years ago and was instantly impressed by the candidate who was running to become the state’s Attorney General at the time.

“I remember quite vividly her walking into the room,” Butler said, “shoulders back, chin up, confident, very thoughtful about the questions she was asking.”

The Democrat went on to become a senior adviser for Harris when she first mulled a presidential run in 2019.

At the time, being a Black woman —and a Californian — was seen as a vulnerability, Butler said. But could what was once seen as a disadvantage might now be viewed as an opportunity in 2024?

“November will tell us,” Butler responded. “The American people will decide.”