Black History Month - Erased Heroes 2/9/21

 

Shirley Chisholm (1924 - 2005)
Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1924, Chisholm was a first-generation American and graduated from Brooklyn College cum laude. Despite an interest in politics, Chisholm worked as a nursery school teacher and earned a degree in childhood education from Columbia University in 1951. She joined and was active in the League of Women Voters, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Urban League, and the Democratic Party. In 1964, Chisholm ran for and became the first African American in the New York State legislature. Then, in 1968, she won a seat in Congress representing New York's 12th congressional district. She became "Fighting Shirley" and introduced more than 50 pieces of legislature for equality by race, gender, status, etc. She co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971. In 1972, she requested presidential nomination from the Democratic Party and was turned down. Discrimination followed and her campaign was severely underfunded and underrepresented. Still, Chisholm garnered 10% of the delegated votes. 1977 became the first African American woman to ever serve on the House Rules Committee. In 1983, Chisholm retired from Congress and taught at Mount Holyoke College and co-founded the National Political Congress of Black Women. In 1991, she moved to Florida and eventually died of ill health.