Having been raised in New York in the 60’s and 70’s by a single feminist mother, Shirley Chisholm was a household name. The first ever African-American woman elected to congress, she is most famoulsy known for her 1972 Presidential run. Using the slogan “Unbought and Unbossed,” Ms. Chisholm won 151 delegates in the democratic primary.
Ms. Chisholm hoped her presidential run would be more than historic; she wanted it to be inspirational.
“The next time a woman runs, or a black, a Jew or anyone from a group that the country is ‘not ready’ to elect to its highest office, I believe that he or she will be taken seriously from the start,” she said.
With the loss of Bella Abzug back in 1998 and now Shirley Chisholm, two of the towering (and very outspoken figures from the women’s movement are now gone. I’ll finish this post with another quote from one of the people who was on my list of people I’d most like to have dinner with:
“My greatest political asset, which professional politicians fear, is my mouth, out of which come all kinds of things one shouldn’t always discuss for reasons of political expediency.”