In honor of Women’s History Month, once again I’m using some of that research I dug up and didn’t use for the first post. As I mentioned before, I wanted to introduce readers to women that might not be in the typical history books. This next woman was a series of firsts which she asked not to be remembered for when she died. I’m going to go down the list of her firsts anyway because knowledge is power. We should all know about her.
- Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman to run for congress and win. In 1968, she won a seat in congress representing the 12th District in Brooklyn. She represented her district from 1969 to 1983.
- She was also the first woman of Caribbean to win a seat in congress. Her mother was born in Barbados. Her father was from British Guiana.
- Four years later in 1972, she was the first person of African American descent to run for nomination in a major party for president of the United States.
- She was also the first woman to run for president of the United States from the Democratic party.
- She served as a role model for many women and girls who watched her presidential campaign with shock and awe as I did in 1972.
- She died in 2005 a month before the PBS, documentary “Unbossed and Unbought” was released. The documentary won a Peabody Award in 2006.
- In 2015, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously.
Below is a fabulous quote from the movie about her presidential campaign, “Unbossed and Unbought.”
“When I die, I wanted to be remembered as a woman who lived in the 20th Century and who dared to be a catalyst for change. I don’t want to be remembered as the first Black woman who went to Congress and I don’t even want to be remembered as the first woman who happened to be Black to make a bid for the presidency. I want to be remembered as a woman who fought for change in the 20th Century. That’s what I want.”
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