Thursday, February 16, 2017

Shirley Chisholm



Shirley Chisholm announcing her presidency in 1972.
             Before Hillary Clinton famously ran in the last election, there was another woman that famously ran for president in 1972. Unfortunately, she lost in the primaries to what led to the election of Richard Nixon. But throughout her life she achieved many great accomplishments (and firsts). But what struggles did she face and what exactly did she accomplish?
            Shirley Chisholm was born on November 30th, 1924 in Brooklyn, New York to her father, Charles Christopher St. Hill and her mother, Ruby Seale. They lived with her grandmother who she later said gave her, “strength, dignity, and love…” and that she “learned from an early age [from her ‘Granny’] that I [she] was somebody…” and that she  “didn't need the black revolution to tell” her that.
In 1952 she received her Masters Degree in elementary education at Columbia University, while completing her degree she began to teach nursery school. She then worked herself up to running a daycare, the experience that she received here eventually led her to pursue politics.
She started her political career as a state legislator. She was a democratic member for three years. She did many things such as sponsoring the SEEK program in New York. The SEEK program states that it is “a program designed to meet the needs of students who are considered to be economically disadvantaged and academically underprepared.”  Later in 1968, she won the position of Democratic Committeewoman.
Later that year, she ran for the House of Representatives. This led to her being known as Brooklyn’s first African American person in congress. Every person that she hired to work for her happened to be a woman, with half of them being African American; something that was very uncommon in the 70’s, as it was a time where woman were fighting hard for equal rights.

Chisholm's Campaign Poster
In 1972, she announced that she was running for president. This made her the first ever black candidate, while also becoming the first ever woman to run in the democratic party (Margaret Smith ran in the republican party 1964).

Unfortunately, her presidency campaign didn’t go very far. She noted that one of the reasons was that she was being discriminated against for being a woman. She later reflected on this saying, “…when I ran for president, I met more discrimination as a woman than for being black. Men are men.”  She also stated that she never expected to win, stating that “although some see my candidacy as an alternate and others as symbolic…” that it was, “a necessary catalyst for change."
In the end, she ended up with 430,703 votes in the primary. Which is sadly only 2.7 percent. She later stated that “in spite of hopeless odds ... to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo”.
Chisholm then spent more time in the congress until becoming the chair at Mount Holyoke College, teaching sociology and politics. She sadly passed away on January 1st, 2005, after suffering multiple strokes. To this day, Chisholm is still being honored. In November 2015, Former President Barack Obama posthumously awarded her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Works Cited


Barron, James. Shirly Chisholm, 'Unbossed' Pioneer in Congress, Is Dead at 80. 3 Jan 2005. Feb 2017.

Hauser, Susan. The Women's Movement in the '70s, Today: 'You've Come a Long Way', But... 5 2012. 2 2017.

Lesher, Stephan. The Short, Unhappy Life Of Black Presidental Politics, 1972. 25 06 1972. 2 2017.

The City College of New York. SEEK Program. 2 2017.

Thomas J. O'Halloran. "Shirley Chisholm.jpg." Wikipedia.

Seattle City Council. "Shirley Chisholm Campaign Poster." 26 1 2016.

Shirley Chisholm, first black woman elected to Congress, dies. 3 1 2005. 2 2017.

Shirley Chisholm: Declares Presidental Bid. NYCDeptofRecords. 2015.

The Afro-American. "Shirley Chisholm to Speak at Hunter." 6 2 1971. Google News. 2 2017.


 

22 comments:

  1. Shirley Chisholm was a particularly inspirational woman since she achieved so many firsts, both because of her race and gender. Unfortunately, she lost the primaries very quickly because of her gender, but she still served as a stepping stone for women like Hillary Clinton. Of all the books I have read, none of them relate strongly, but the challenges of leadership and getting support in an election of sorts were very much familiar to Ralph and the lost boys from Lord of the Flies. There were ups and downs among the election and in the end of the book, no real peace was achieved. So, do you think she would have been a good president, if she had been elected?

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    1. Thank you for reading!
      I'm not sure! That's a good question. I personally believe she may have, but we'll sadly never know!

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  2. I've heard of Shirley Chisholm before but some of the facts that are presented are new to me. It was surprising to see that she was the first African American candidate especially since she is a woman. When Hillary Clinton ran for president, many did not approve because it was out of the ordinary for a woman to be a candidate. Although Hillary got more publicity, I think that Shirley surprised me the most for being an African American. This reminds me of Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird because he was "fighting" for social equality and the African Americans. Shirley Chisholm fought for women's rights and rights for her people.
    What do you think people's reaction would've been if she have won the election?
    -Rachana P.

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    1. Thanks for reading! That is a very good connection between Atticus and Shirley, I probably never would have thought of that!
      I think there would have probably been a bit of an uproar, as both African American people and women were still fighting for their equal rights. And at the time there had never been an African American president, or (and this still applies today) a woman president.
      What do you think the reaction would have been like?

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  3. I have personally never heard of Shirley Chisolm before but she was yet another great woman in history glossed over by the achievements of men. Obviously being a woman, most would say that she can't or shouldn't run for president but people said the same thing about Hillary Clinton and that just goes to show we haven't progressed much in that area. Chisholm is very similar to Oedipus who persevered despite the many hurdles in his way like monsters or other people out to get him. Chisholm experienced the same things but with just people and her hurdles were invisible but not any less real. How would the course of history have changed had Chisholm won?

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    1. Thank you for reading!
      I think history would have been changed in more ways then we can even imagine. But for one, I think we would have had other woman presidents in the years that followed.

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    2. How do you believe history would have been changed if Chisholm had won?

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  4. When I first saw this article I became hooked from the words "president" and "female". The last 8 years in America have defied odds and I am so grateful for Obama and Clinton for making these steps. I know have a new political activist to add to my list, Shirley Chisholm. I had never heard of her before and I am sure glad I know now. If was difficult for Hillary to run because she was a women but I can not even imagine what Chisholm went through! I found it interesting how she said that she faced more discrimination for being a women then being black because at this time period you think of the civil rights moment aiming more towards racial equality. I connected this article to "Malala", an autobiography who faced discrimination about her gender. Malala knew that she could not stop the Taliban alone and needed help from everyone supporting her. I think Shirley believed the same thing by knowing she was not gonna win but her candidacy for president needed to be seen as a stepping stone. I wonder how Chisholm became popular and how she gained her respect. I also wonder how much respect she even gained at all! I am happy to see America is progressing and enjoyed reading your article!

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    2. Thank you for reading! I haven't read "Malala", but your comparison makes a lot of sense. I'm not really sure how Chisholm gained her respect, but I do know her popularity came quite a bit after as she barely got any votes. You are right though, even though we still have a long way to go, it is great to see that we have progressed.

      How do you believe she gained her respect?

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  5. If you look over the course of history, you'll find many people and inventions that had failed in some way because they were simply ahead of their time. A groundbreaking movement, action or theory that failed because the world had not been compatible with it yet. Alfred Wegener, a scientist who theorized Pangaea. Like Shirley, I found this man amazing because he broke the norm and proposed something that society quite literally, could not handle. Shirley and Alfred both did something amazing and that was making a shock to the system, exposing the world of something so that future attempts would hold a better response. In other words, they were social fuses to ignite the acceptance later down the road.

    In To Kill a Mockingbird, the father Atticus reminds me of Shirley in how they both acted. Atticus had seriously tried to defend a black man in a court against a white man's word and all-white jury. While he failed, Atticus had done something no one every seriously went for and got as far as he did, putting the court at a tough standstill. Shirley had done the same for her country, doing the impossible to inspire others that maybe it wasn't so impossible after all.

    After reading the article again, Shirley to me comes off as a martyr in a way. Primarily with the presidential campaign incident, she had no intention of it being a success yet done so nonetheless to leave a message and inspiration. When you were writing this, did you construct your article to be a work that depicted Shirley as someone who made direct achievements or rather a martyr that inspired many other people? Would you be able to argue both ways, and if going into this you had made a decision on which one, why did you pick that form to write about her?

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    1. Thanks for reading! You bring up a lot of amazing points. Atticus and her really do have a lot of similarities! I think I was going for depicting her as someone who made direct achievements. But looking at it, you are right, she really almost did act like a martyr. I'm not sure if I would be able to argue both ways.
      If you were to write a paper on her, what approach would you take? Describing her as a martyr or someone who made direct achievements.

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  6. After reading your article, I am shocked that I have not heard of Shirley Chisholm's story. She accomplished so many things despite her race and gender. Although she did not make it past the primaries, she still became an inspirational woman for many women, now including me. Her determination to become the first African American and woman president in America was moving and likely gave hope to everyone like her who suffered from the same discrimination. Her story reminds me of Malala Yousafzai's story, as told in her autobiography. She also faced discrimination for being a girl in Pakistan, but she, like Shirley, rose up and spoke on behalf of all the other girls denied an education. Both women took the adversity they were facing and used it to create a voice for themselves and all those like them. Would you have voted for her if she had run nowadays?

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    1. Thanks for reading!
      I've never read Yousafzai's story, but it sounds good and much like the struggles Chisholm faced.
      I would like to think I would have voted for her, but sadly we will never know!
      Would you have voted for her?

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  7. Your article was very well written and engaging. I liked that it wasn't long, as I don't have the best attention span. However, it stayed on topic and personally, I liked it :) I think it was my favorite of the three I was assigned to read.
    I was lured in by the fact that she was the first black candidate, and ran far before Hillary, while still being little-known. I commend you for bringing light to this truly hardworking woman, who stood up for what she believed in-equality.
    This theme of fighting for equality can be seen also in To Kill A Mockingbird, with the character Atticus. In the novel, he stands up for his own beliefs, despite being ostracized for this. He knowingly loses his case, but he is aware that this case would be a major stepping-stone towards equality- not unlike how Shirley Chisholm ran for president, knowing she'd lose. Both of these events shed light on inequality, but Shirley is taken less seriously as she is not only black, but also a woman. I very much liked your use of quotes in this article, it made me feel as if I was reflecting on a time when I had met her. However, I still have questions- how much attention did the media give her? Was she made fun of in the media? Was she respected by her family? How did she feel about herself?

    Thank you for writing this article, and I hope you can get back to me soon :)
    -Jack N.

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    1. Thanks for reading!
      I appreciate you commenting on the length. I also have an awful attention span, and when writing this I was trying to keep that in mind for others while keeping it as informative as possible.
      You asked a lot of great questions! I sadly cannot find the information easily enough to give you an answer now, but let me take a look and I'll get back to you on them within the next few days!
      You ask the great question of "how did she feel about herself", what do you believe her thoughts on herself were?

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  8. I quite enjoyed your article. I have heard of Shirley Chisholm before, however, I only knew the basics. I did not know that she was the first black candidate, if that paints the picture on how ignorant I was about her before this article. I quite enjoy the fact that you used many quotes, it gives the reader a one on one experience with the person in question. Also, I enjoy that you related Shirley Chisholm's running to Hillary Clinton's of today.
    Actually, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Shirley is very much like Atticus. They both stood up for their beliefs even though they were considered "lost causes." Shirley stood up for her beliefs on equality by running for president and Atticus fought for the Tom Robinson case. Even when they may have been told that it was useless, they continued.
    A question that I have is, how would life be different now if Shirley had won? Considering all of the drama surrounding Hillary Clinton almost winning and her being a woman. If Shirley had already knocked first black president and first woman president out of the ball park, how would America's views be different today?
    - Val

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    1. Thanks for reading!
      I think if she, or any woman, had won, we would have seen a lot more female candidates and presidents. It would be something that, today, we wouldn't even think twice about.

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    2. How do you believe America's views would have changed?

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    3. I agree with you, I believe that if she had won a female president/candidate would be viewed more as a social norm, rather than a radical. Considering, our beliefs are often primed on the beliefs around us, if this idea was thrown out of the ballpark early on then it wouldn’t be as much as a shocker now.

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