Before former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson made U.S. history with their respective presidential campaigns, there was Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm.
In addition to being the first Black woman elected to the New York State Assembly in 1964, Chisholm was also the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress in 1968. Her biggest political run was in 1972 when she ran for president. During the primary, Chisholm gained over 430,000 votes and 152 delegates.
Her motto and title of her 1970 autobiography, Unbought and Unbossed, illustrates her outspoken advocacy for women and minorities during her seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. So often, I believe that we focus too narrowly on her achievements as the “first Black woman to …” and it masks her other legendary contributions. It’s what she did before and after she pushed open those doors that set her apart.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 30, 1924, Chisholm was the oldest of four daughters to immigrant parents. She graduated from Brooklyn Girls’ High in 1942, Brooklyn College cum laude in 1946, and earned a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1951. Chisholm worked as a nursery school teacher, and by 1960, was a consultant to the New York City Division of Day Care. Being aware of racial and gender inequality, she joined local chapters of the League of Women Voters, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Urban League, as well as the Democratic Party club in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
In 1964, Chisholm ran for and became the second Black person in the New York State Legislature. “Fighting Shirley,” as she was appropriately called, championed racial and gender equality, easing the plight of the poor, and ending the Vietnam War. She understood that by being a Black woman, she would face an additional unique set of challenges.
As Black women, we have become so accustomed to being the “only” in just about every space — so much so that for me, I have started using it to my advantage. I’ve allowed it to become a natural comfort being the only or the few in a room, embracing being good at bringing my full self to the table. We’re so different that, at least in open spaces, they can’t ignore us.
Shirley Chisholm couldn’t and wouldn’t be ignored. She knew she was upsetting the status quo. She asked her party and her country to throw off the racist and sexist politics of the past and forge a new America. That narrative, especially in the ’70s, along with her embrace of an endorsement from the Black Panthers, scared the media and older liberals who worried that Chisholm would tap votes from better-known anti-war candidates.
The truth is: They weren’t ready.
Chisholm pushed a platform focused on racial and gender equity, elevating those issues to the national stage. She advocated for reproductive rights and fought to broaden food stamp programs and increase minimum wage.
What I find noteworthy is that Chisholm rested in knowing she would not actually receive the presidential nomination. In 1973, she wrote in her second book, The Good Fight, “I ran for the presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo. I ran because most people think the country is not ready for a Black candidate, not ready for a woman candidate.”
If we look at what Shirley Chisholm stood for, fought for and spoke out against, it was her Black feminist agenda that stood out for me. It was so uniquely suited to build strength, because she envisioned a voter base of people who were Black and female. The fact that she introduced racial and gender equality concurrently showed that she was determined to build space for everyone but particularly for Black women. She repeatedly called herself “the people’s candidate” through which everyone had a voice.
Chisholm was an icon ahead of her time. She knew that someone had to be the first. Her path would be followed by Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr.; by Barack Obama, who was elected in 2008 as the first Black president, three years after Chisholm died; and by Kamala Harris, who four days before she was sworn in as vice president wrote, “Shirley Chisholm created a path for me and for so many others. Today, I’m thinking about her inspirational words: ‘I am and always will be a catalyst for change.”
Across the country, Black women have been making history in city halls, state houses, and in Congress. However, Black women are often at a double disadvantage on the campaign trail and holding office, just as Shirley Chisholm was, having to confront both sexism and racism. It’s an uphill battle, but they have shown the nation just how powerful Black women truly are.
Shirley Chisholm is often remembered for being the first. But she should also be remembered for what she accomplished once she got to Congress. She took on fights for low-income families, for hungry school kids, and for single moms. She was instrumental in creating the national school lunch program, expanding the food stamp program, and establishing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, commonly known as WIC.
If Shirley Chisholm ran for president now, she would be even more influential than she was in 1972. She would lead by example that the only way to fix a broken system is to get involved. She said herself, “You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.” Her platform would be one that resonates with Black women and the Black community but would also benefit everyone — expanding childcare; government-funded programs for women and children; improving education.
Her legacy is one that will not be ignored. When we go to the polls this year, we have an opportunity to elect the next generation of Black women leaders. It is my hope many of those women on the ballot will join Shirley Chisholm’s name in the history books.
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