Unbought and Unbossed: The Legacy of Shirley Chisholm

Houstonians, particularly those of the 18th Congressional District, having been represented by powerhouses Barbara Jordan and Sheila Jackson Lee, might strain to remember a time when there was a first black woman—from any district—in the United States Congress. Such was the case when Shirley Chisholm was elected to represent New York’s 12th Congressional District in 1968. Breaking ground wasn’t new to Chisholm. Four years previously, she became the first Black woman elected to the New York State legislature. Both times, she represented Brooklyn, where she was born in 1924 to immigrant parents.

Chisholm’s name is intoned in matthew paul olmos’s that drive thru monterey as Lydia proclaims the Brooklynite’s importance. The play largely takes place in 1971. Soon thereafter, Chisholm broke ground again: she was the first Black candidate to run for a major party’s nomination and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s nomination. Campaigning with the slogan “Unbought and Unbossed,” Chisholm inspired many Americans, particularly women of color—like Lydia—during the fervor of political activism defined by the era’s civil rights, women’s liberation, gay rights, and peace movements. Appropriate for the time (and, hopefully, all times) Chisholm famously said, “I’m against all discrimination…anti-woman or anti-black. All discrimination. It’s anti-human.” A gifted orator and political tactician, Chisholm’s leadership had already earned a national reputation before undertaking her historic presidential run, inspiring many Lydias (including this writer’s mother) by the audacity of pursuing the highest office in the U.S.

Before retiring from Congress in 1983, Chisholm served on many key congressional committees, including the Education and Labor and Veterans’ Affairs Committees. Importantly, she was a leader in establishing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Among her leadership roles was serving as the Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus; Chisholm was succeeded in that role by fellow New Yorker, Geraldine Ferraro, who would go on to be the first woman nominated by a major party for Vice President.

Chisholm was many firsts, and firsts are still being made: for the first time, two African American women are simultaneously serving as U.S. Senators. And, there are still firsts to be made: 26 states—more than half—have never elected a Black woman to congress. Since Shirley Chisholm’s historic presidential run, nearly a score of Black Democrats and Republicans and nearly a dozen women have launched campaigns for president. And 64 African American women have served in congress, with half of those women being elected in the last twelve years. All 64 have been elected since Shirley Chisholm first started representing her Brooklyn Congressional district 57 years ago.

After a long post-congressional career as a college lecturer, Chisholm died in 2005. In 2015, President Obama posthumously awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Asked how she’d like to be remembered, the trailblazer said, “I’d like them to say Shirley Chisholm had guts.”