Skip to content

Breaking the ‘pale and male’ barrier

US Consul General in Jeddah Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, second from left, and US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia James C. Oberwetter, right, leave the room after the end of a press conference in Riyadh in 2004.
US Consul General in Jeddah Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, second from left, and US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia James C. Oberwetter, right, leave the room after the end of a press conference in Riyadh in 2004. (Bilal Qabalan/AFP via Getty Images)

Former Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley has usually been the only African American, female diplomat in the room. It’s a reflection, she tells Mary C. Curtis, of how few Black women — or women in general — are senior diplomats. Abercrombie-Winstanley makes the case for diversity in national security, talks about her role in creating the organization Leadership Council for Women in National Security and why she is hopeful that change is on the horizon.

Show Notes:

Recent Stories

Legal questions surround Trump’s talk of political prosecutions

Trump can make immigration moves on his first day back in office

How RFK Jr.’s health proposals would stack up in practice

High hopes for bald eagle bill in the lame duck

Here’s a look at who’s in — and possibly in — Trump’s second administration

Trump administration faces antitrust enforcement dilemma