Shirley Chisholm and her effects in Politics

By: Lydia Millyon

Shirley Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 30th, 1924. She was the oldest of her two younger siblings and the daughter of immigrants that came from Guyanese and Bajan descent.

Her father was a laborer while her mother was a skilled seamstress however they would struggle financially and this would mean Shirley would have to go to Barbados with her two sisters to live with her grandmother.

Shirley was a very educated girl. After she came back to the states in 1934 she would go back to traditional schooling. Later on in her life, she would attend Brooklyn College where she got her BA in sociology, and Columbia University where she got her MA in childhood education. She was also very good at debates which would later on help with her political career.

Shirly was passionate about fixing the education system and the domestic issues with work life. She would begin her political career when she ran for New York State Assembly in1964 with those issues in mind. She would then win the election and become the first African American woman to serve on state legislation.

Her next step in her journey was to run for congress. Her being elected for congress was quite remarkable, by beating 3 candidates in the primary election and former civil rights leader James Farmer in the general election. This would then make her the first African American woman to be elected in Congress and she would serve for seven terms.

Shirley didn't stop there! She would then run for President. This was quite an unusual thing to hear, not only was she black she was a black woman running for President in the '70s. Well, that didn't stop her; she knew that if anyone was going to run it had to be her. And even though she didn't win she still made history in becoming the first Black major-party candidate to run for President of the United States and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Shirly went through a lot of criticism during her political career and it would get so bad during her campaign she would need secret service by her side.

Shirley is such an amazing role model for me. She kept fighting even when the odds weren't in her favor. And made so much history in the course of her lifetime. My favorite quote from her is " I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman and I am equally proud of that...I am the candidate of the people of America, and my presence before you now symbolizes a new era in American political history".

Shirly Chisholm would create a pathway for women, especially black women to break through politics. For example Kamala Harris. It doesn't matter if you support her or not but the facts are that Kamala is the first African American and South Asian Woman to become Vice President and that couldn't be done without Shirly Chisholm paving the way and many other black women just like her.

Thank you Shirly Choslim, Rest in Power!