Notecard - Shirley Chisholm

Artwork by Yolanda Fundora ©2021.

A trailblazing educator and community activist, Shirley Chisholm (11/30/1924 - 1/1/2005) was the first black woman elected to the US Congress in 1968, and the first African American to run for a major party's nomination for President in 1972.

Her motto and title of her autobiography—Unbought and Unbossed—illustrates her outspoken advocacy for women and people of color during her seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 30, 1924, Chisholm was the oldest of four daughters to immigrant parents Charles St. Hill, a factory worker from Guyana, and Ruby Seale St. Hill, a seamstress from Barbados. She graduated from Brooklyn Girls’ High in 1942 and from Brooklyn College cum laude in 1946, where she won prizes on the debate team. Although professors encouraged her to consider a political career, she replied that she faced a “double handicap” as both Black and female.

If Kamala Harris is elected as the first Black and South Asian woman President, she will be following the path blazed by Shirley Chisholm and many others.