Hi! Today we're going to focus on the political portion of this Spotlight, and I had to feature this person because unfortunately, she was someone whose accomplishments I had definitely never heard of, despite the groundbreaking nature of her career. Let's get to the Spotlight!
Name: Shirley Chisholm, 1924-2005
Profession: Politician, author and educator
Why is the Spotlight on her today? For her accomplishments in politics
Accomplishments:
--The first Black woman to run for US President
--The first Black Congresswoman
--Was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, which represents the Black members of Congress and is still in operation today
--The first woman to run for US President and the second to sit on Congress' rules committee
--Posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
--Was instrumental in the creation of WIC, a government-funded program designed to help pregnant women and younger children
Further reading links:
Biography | BBC
This is another day when I strongly suggest checking out the Further Reading links. It was incredibly gutsy for Shirley Chisholm to toss her hat in the presidential ring when she did, and it was a constant uphill battle from people who felt she had two strikes against her for being Black and being a woman. Just running for president made her the subject of a few failed assassination attempts, which still kind of blows me away. Unfortunately, Chisholm is a perfect example of why I created BHS; she became one of many figures who slipped through the cracks of Black History and isn't given her due credit nearly enough. So check out those links for me and I'll see you tomorrow!
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