Black History Month

In honor of this blog's inaugural month and Black History Month, why not highlight a notable figure in American history. Though Black History Month has its opponents there is nothing wrong with taking some time out to remember those who paved the way for us. In light of the fact that it is an election year I cannot think of anyone better than the first Black woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress and the first Black American to run for the Democratic nomination in the 1972 Presidential Election, the late Shirley Chisholm.

Born in Brooklyn, NY to immigrant parents from the Caribbean, Chisholm is the embodiment of the American dream. In 1969, she was the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress and was re-elected six times until she retired from political office in 1983. During her first term in Congress, she hired an all-female staff. In Congress, she spoke out for civil rights and women's rights, advocated for the poor and opposed the Vietnam War. She ran for the Democratic Nomination for President in 1972. She was active in the NAACP and co-founder of Unity Democratic Club in Brooklyn (instrumental in mobilizing black and Hispanic voters), the National Women's Political Caucus, the National Political Congress of Black Women and one of the early members of the National Organization for Women. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993.
Chisholm wrote the autobiographical works Unbought and Unbossed (1970) and The Good Fight (1973).
Shirley Chisholm died in Florida at the age of 80 on January 1, 2005.