Shirley Chisholm

Kamala Harris has said she stands on the shoulders of those who came before her and Shirley Chisholm is certainly one of those.  Chisholm was not only the first black woman in Congress (she served 7 terms in the House of Representatives), but she was also the first woman to ever seek the nomination for the president of the United States and the first African American to do so. 

She was incredibly smart, graduating cum laude from Brooklyn College, earning her master’s from Columbia, and was an exceptional debater in college.  She was encouraged by many of her professors to go into politics, but she refused because of the “double handicap” as she termed it, of being both Black and a woman. As she grew more involved in social justice, Fighting Shirley introduced over 50 pieces of legislation.  Her autobiography (and life motto) was ‘Unbought and Unbossed’.  She wanted to be remembered “as a woman…who dared to be a catalyst of change.”  We remember you Shirley.