When Roy Moore lost the U.S. Senate race in Alabama this month, dogged by accusation of preying teenaged girls as a man in his 30s, it was black women who fought him hardest.

Ninety-eight percent of black women voted for Democrat Doug Jones to ensure a close but improbable win in the most reddest of red states.

The Washington Post reported on the history of black women who have pushed back in the civic arena in Alabama, including Rosa Parks.

Colorado state Rep. Leslie Herod cheered from the sideline, but recognizes more than ever that the progressive movement must be strengthened by local black leaders, especially women, like those in Alabama. Black women and the voices of minorities have to be heard in the new Democratic party that rises in the aftermath of Hillary Clinton’s loss against Donald Trump last year, she said.

Herod is riding the crest of the next wave of Democratic political power at the Colorado Capitol, one of the founders of New Era Colorado and the first openly lesbian black woman to serve in the statehouse.

After Roy Moore’s defeat in Alabama, the hashtags #BlackWomen and #GiveBackGiveBlack began to trend on Twitter, and that’s how movements get started these days. But you can’t find it paired with #copolitics.

The Colorado legislature is rich with black women who foremost are good legislators: Sens. Rhonda Fields and Angela Williams, while there’s Herod and Reps. Dominique Jackson and Janet Buckner in the House.

“There has been a call for the Democratic party to step up and start listenng to black women more,” Herod said over coffee. “Black voices and black people have stood up to have the Democrats’ backs even in times when they failed us.”

Fundraising, donations and volunteers have been the result, Herod said.

“I hope that does happen,” Herod said. “It’s about time, and that tweet came out pretty quickly. It’s not just about the South, though it impacts the South and the party greatly. People of color’s votes have been taken for granted hugely across this country.

“People of color’s voices have been left out of the Democratic strategy, and I think it has contributed to our defeats. We need to listen to people of color’s voices, and in Colorado that means black and brown people.

“If we’re not at the table to frame the conversation, we won’t see the gains we need to see to make true progressive change in this state in elections.”