Before Kamala Harris, before Hillary Clinton, there was Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Unbought and unbossed, she was a uniquely gifted politician who leveraged her chutzpa, family upbringing, schooling and professional experience to fight for the marginalized so they might have a voice in government. Forthright and audacious, Chisholm consistently broke barriers throughout her life in education and politics for women and African Americans, no more so than when – at age 48 – she declared her candidacy for the 1972 Democratic nomination for president.
Recognized as an energetic and empathetic campaigner, Chisholm sported that broad smile and steely gaze she was known for when she announced in Brooklyn – her place of birth – 50 years ago.
I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud.
I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political bosses or fat cats or special interests. I stand here now without endorsements from many … or any other kind of prop. I do not intend to offer… glib clichés, which for too long have been an accepted part of our political life. I am the candidate of the people of America. And my presence before you now symbolizes a new era in American political history.
Shirley Chisholm
Before Kamala Harris, before Hillary Clinton, there was Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Unbought and unbossed, she was a uniquely gifted politician who leveraged her chutzpa, family upbringing, schooling and professional experience to fight for the marginalized so they might have a voice in government. Forthright and audacious, Chisholm consistently broke barriers throughout her life in education and politics for women and African Americans, no more so than when – at age 48 – she declared her candidacy for the 1972 Democratic nomination for president.
Recognized as an energetic and empathetic campaigner, Chisholm sported that broad smile and steely gaze she was known for when she announced in Brooklyn – her place of birth – 50 years ago.
In her rhetoric laid the latent hope of generations of citizens dating back to Reconstruction and ratification of the 19th Amendment. In her prose, despite the derision her campaign evoked, was the clarion call for a multi-racial, multi-ethnic coalition that could cut across class and geography, to shake up the political establishment and herald new policies that might more effectively address the needs of our nation’s underclass in accordance with principles established in the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution.
Though many may have hoped, few dared – then and now – to be the avatar of such a coalition. Even Chisholm didn’t see herself as its embodiment, but expressed in her memoir, Unbought and Unbossed, that she saw herself as a catalyst; a disrupter unafraid to verbalize what was wrong in order to move things forward.
The 1972 Democratic presidential race was not unlike what we experienced this past year; Chisholm was one of 15 candidates seeking the nomination. Underfunded, she fought to be taken seriously. She competed against several challengers with national reputations; people such as Sen. George McGovern; Sen. Hubert Humphrey, the former vice president and the party’s 1968 presidential nominee; Sen. Edmund Muskie, the party’s 1968 vice presidential nominee; and George Wallace, Alabama’s governor and a staunch segregationist. At times, her candidacy was met with indifference because she was a black woman. Blocked from participating in televised primary debates, Chisholm sued and was permitted to appear just once. She had difficulty gaining ballot access. She received credible death threats, prompting her husband at the time – Conrad Chisholm, a private investigator – to accompany her on the campaign trail until finally, Secret Service detail was provided. After George Wallace was shot and paralyzed in an attempted assassination, Chisholm, with equanimity and compassion, visited him in the hospital.
Despite it all, Chisholm remained in the race to the end. She competed in 14 states, won 430,703 votes (2.69 percent of the total) and garnered 28 delegates; finishing seventh. As a comparison, in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Elizabeth Warren won 63 delegates, Pete Buttigieg won 21 and Amy Klobuchar won seven before each dropped out. George McGovern won the 1972 Democratic nomination and chose Sargent Shriver as his running mate. Richard Nixon, the Republican presidential nominee, beat McGovern in a landslide that year, winning 60.7 percent of the popular vote, carrying 49 states in victory.
When asked why she ran for president, Chisholm responded: “In spite of the hopeless odds…to demonstrate sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.” May we benefit from her example of self-sacrifice, wit and perseverance as we seek reform in the realms we inhabit.
During her 14-years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1969-82) representing New York’s 12th Congressional district, Shirley Anita Chisholm was known as a bridge builder. She created alliances within the Democratic caucus and with Republicans where she could. During her incumbency, she introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation. She played a critical role in creating the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). She worked with Robert Dole (R-Kansas) to expand the food stamp program. In 1971, she was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. From 1977-81, she served as Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus, a key leadership position.
A long-time community activist who cut her political teeth as a member of the New York State Assembly (1965-68), Chisholm fought tirelessly for increased access to quality public education and healthcare, for the equal rights of women and African Americans, and to address the economic needs of the inner-city poor. She was resolutely against the Vietnam war. Given her passion for justice and desire for action, it is understandable Chisholm felt at times, “dishearteningly small and futile.” She wrote: “It’s as if I’m facing a seamless brick wall… [and] people are deaf to what I try to say.” She came to believe during her political career that “The majority of Americans do not want to know the truth about how their country is ruled and for whom.”
In 1983, Shirley Chisholm retired from Congress, resumed her earlier career in education, and cared for her second husband – Arthur Hardwick, Jr., a Buffalo liquor store owner and former New York State assemblyman – until his death in 1986.
During her many talks with young people, Chisholm wrote she was frequently asked: “How can you stay in Congress and keep talking about progress… after all that this society has done?” Her answer, 50 years later, still resonates. “I don’t measure America by its achievement, but by its potential.” Frederick Douglass said: “Power concedes nothing unless challenged.” Shirley Chisholm took up that challenge in her own inimitable style. She left us with a legacy of her fortitude, commitment and fervor for a more inclusive America. May future practitioners learn from her example.
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