Who Was Shirley Chisholm? The Black Woman Who Ran For President In 1972

By | January 23, 2021

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July 13, 1972, Miami Beach, Florida. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm speaks from podium at Democratic National Convention.

First black woman elected to U.S. Congress, first woman to seek the Democratic party's nomination for President, first black American to run for President -- Shirley Chisholm was a woman of firsts. Elected to Congress in 1968, Chisholm was also one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus. As a legislator, Chisholm sought to improve the lives of the poor, to help women in their quest for equality, and to feed and educate children. The Civil Rights struggles of the early '60s had been about establishing a baseline of rights and respect for all people, and Chisholm represented the next phase -- legislating, negotiating, governing. Martin Luther King had a dream of equality for all, but he did not personally dream of being President of the United States. 

Shirley Chisholm did.

"I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud," she said when she announced her Presidential run on January 25, 1972. "I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman and equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people and my presence before you symbolizes a new era in American political history."

Chisholm Lived In Barbados As A Child

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She started as a teacher. Source: (All That's Interesting)

Shirley Chisholm was born in Brooklyn on November 30, 1924. Her father, Christopher St. Hill was an immigrant from British Guyana, and her mother was an immigrant from Barbados. When she was five, she and her sisters were sent to Barbados to live with their maternal grandmother and remained in the Barbados until 1934; her time in Barbados led her to have a noticeable West Indian accent throughout her life. Chisholm initially studied sociology at Brooklyn College, and because of her debating skills, professors suggested that she pursue a career in politics, but she didn’t take that seriously because she recognized the difficulty of trying to succeed in politics as both an African American and a woman. 

 Chisholm’s career began in early childhood education, and after receiving her degree from Brooklyn College, she went on to obtain an MA in Early Childhood Education from Columbia. Chisholm’s father was an avid supporter of Marcus Garvey and union rights, providing her with an early political education of sorts. and she started to get involved in local Democratic party politics in the 1950s; she joined an effort to elect Lewis Flagg Jr. as the first Black judge in Brooklyn. The group shifted its focus to advocating for civil rights and fighting against discrimination. 

 However, in 1958, Chisholm left the group, which had been founded by Wesley Holder, because Chisholm was pushing to give women more of a voice in decision-making in the group, and the two clashed because of it. She also volunteered in mainly White political clubs in Brooklyn, and managed to recruit more people of color into local politics. She then campaigned to help Thomas Jones become Brooklyn’s second Black assemblyman.