Shirley Chisholm
Encyclopedia
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm (November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American
politician, educator, and author. She was a Congresswoman
, representing New York's 12th Congressional District
for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1968, she became the first black
woman elected to Congress
. On January 25, 1972, she became the first major-party black candidate for President of the United States
and the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination (Margaret Chase Smith
had previously run for the Republican presidential nomination). She received 152 first-ballot votes at the 1972 Democratic National Convention
.
, New York
, of immigrant parents. Her father, Charles Christopher St. Hill, was born in British Guiana
and arrived in the United States via Antilla, Cuba, on April 10, 1923 aboard the S.S. Munamar in New York City. Her mother, Ruby Seale, was born in Christ Church, Barbados, and arrived in New York City aboard the S.S. Pocone on March 8, 1921. At age three, Chisholm was sent to Barbados to live with her maternal grandmother, Emaline Seale, in Christ Church. She did not return until roughly seven years later when she arrived in New York City on May 19, 1934 aboard the S.S. Narissa. In her 1970 autobiography Unbought and Unbossed, she wrote: "Years later I would know what an important gift my parents had given me by seeing to it that I had my early education in the strict, traditional, British
-style schools of Barbados. If I speak and write easily now, that early education is the main reason."
Chisholm is an alumna of Girls High School
, she earned her BA
from Brooklyn College
in 1946 and later earned her MA
from Columbia University
in elementary education in 1952. She was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta
Sorority.
From 1953 to 1959, she was director of the Hamilton-Madison Child Care Center. From 1959 to 1964, she was an educational consultant for the Division of Day Care.
In 1964, Chisholm ran for and was elected to the New York State Legislature. In 1968, she ran as the Democratic
candidate for New York's 12th District congressional seat and was elected to the House of Representatives
. Defeating Republican
candidate James Farmer
, Chisholm became the first black woman elected to Congress. Chisholm joined the Congressional Black Caucus
in 1971 as one of its founding members.
As a freshman, Chisholm was assigned to the House Agricultural Committee. Given her urban district, she felt the placement was irrelevant to her constituents and shocked many by asking for reassignment. She was then placed on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. Soon after, she voted for Hale Boggs
as House Majority Leader over John Conyers
. As a reward for her support, Boggs assigned her to the much-prized Education and Labor Committee, which was her preferred committee. She was the third highest-ranking member of this committee when she retired from Congress.
All those Chisholm hired for her office were women, half of them black. Chisholm said that during her New York legislative career, she had faced much more discrimination because she was a woman than because she was black.
In the 1972 U.S. presidential election
, she made a bid for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. She survived three assassination attempts during the campaign. George McGovern
won the nomination in a hotly contested set of primary election
s, with Chisholm campaigning in 12 states and winning 28 delegate
s during the primary process. At the 1972 Democratic National Convention
, as a symbolic gesture, McGovern opponent Hubert H. Humphrey released his black delegates to Chisholm, giving her a total of 152 first-ballot votes for the nomination. Chisholm's base of support was ethnically diverse and included the National Organization for Women
. Chisholm said she ran for the office "in spite of hopeless odds... to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo." Among the volunteers who were inspired by her campaign was Barbara Lee
, who continued to be politically active and was elected as a congresswoman 25 years later. Betty Friedan
and Gloria Steinem
attempted to run as Chisholm delegates in New York
.
Chisholm created controversy when she visited rival and ideological opposite George Wallace
in the hospital soon after his shooting in May 1972, during the 1972 presidential primary campaign. Several years later, when Chisholm worked on a bill to give domestic workers the right to a minimum wage
, Wallace helped gain votes of enough Southern congressmen to push the legislation through the House.
From 1977 to 1981, during the 95th Congress
and 96th Congress
, Chisholm was elected to a position in the House Democratic leadership, as Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus
.
Throughout her tenure in Congress, Chisholm worked to improve opportunities for inner-city
residents. She was a vocal opponent of the draft and supported spending increases for education, health care
and other social services, and reductions in military spending.
In 1970, she authored a child care bill. The bill passed the House and the Senate, but was vetoed by President Richard Nixon
, who called it "the Sovietization of American children".
In the area of national security and foreign policy, Chisholm worked for the revocation of Internal Security Act of 1950. She opposed the American involvement in the Vietnam War
and the expansion of weapon developments. During the Jimmy Carter
administration, she called for better treatment of Haiti
an refugees.
Shirley had no children and moved to Florida when she retired.
, in 1983.
After retirement she resumed her career in education, teaching politics
and women's studies
and being named to the Purington Chair at Mount Holyoke College
from 1983 to 1987. In 1985 she was a visiting scholar at Spelman College
. In 1984 and 1988, she campaigned for Jesse Jackson
for the presidential elections. In 1993, then-President Bill Clinton
nominated her to the ambassadorship to Jamaica
, but she could not serve due to poor health. In the same year she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame
.
Chisholm retired to Florida
and died on January 1, 2005 in Ormond Beach near Daytona Beach. She was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York
.
was aired on the U.S public television
. It chronicles Chisholm's 1972 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. It was directed and produced by independent, African American filmmaker Shola Lynch. The film was featured at the Sundance Film Festival
in 2004. On April 9, 2006, the film was announced as a winner of a Peabody Award
.
In March 2011, the VOA Special English
service of the Voice of America broadcast a 15-minute biography of Shirley Chisholm. A transcript and MP3 of the program, intended for English learners, can be found at "Shirley Chisholm, 1924-2005: The First Black Woman Elected to the U.S. Congress"
song "Nobody Beats the Biz," Biz says, "Make you co-op-er-ate with the rhythm, that is what I give em/
Reagan
is the pres but I voted for Shirley Chisholm"
In the 1996 A Tribe Called Quest
song, "Baby Phife's Return," Phife Dawg
raps "I got a brave heart like the one named Shirley Chisholm."
In 1999, Redman and Method Man
released a track on the album, Black out called "Maaaad Crew", which contains the lyric, "Clinton
is the president I still voted for Shirley Chisholm." Later, in 2006, LL Cool J
echoed this sentiment on his album Todd Smith
, with the lyric "George Bush
is the Prez., but I voted for Shirley Chisholm."
In the 2003 song "Spread," Andre 3000
of Outkast
sang, "You're the prism / Shirley Chisholm / was the first," referencing her being the first black woman member of Congress and the first black presidential candidate for one of the major parties.
In the lyrics of the 2005 Nellie McKay
song "Mama and Me," McKay says, "There's a lotta things that I'm proud of in this world / I got a pinch of Shirley Chisholm / And a sprinkle of That Girl
."
}, Also available via the editor Scott Simpson's site.
.
In 1993, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame
.
In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante
listed Shirley Chisholm on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician, educator, and author. She was a Congresswoman
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, representing New York's 12th Congressional District
New York's 12th congressional district
New York's 12th Congressional District is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in New York City. It includes parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan...
for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1968, she became the first black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
woman elected to Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
. On January 25, 1972, she became the first major-party black candidate for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination (Margaret Chase Smith
Margaret Chase Smith
Margaret Chase Smith was a Republican Senator from Maine, and one of the most successful politicians in Maine history. She was the first woman to be elected to both the U.S. House and the Senate, and the first woman from Maine to serve in either. She was also the first woman to have her name...
had previously run for the Republican presidential nomination). She received 152 first-ballot votes at the 1972 Democratic National Convention
1972 Democratic National Convention
The 1972 Democratic National Convention was the presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party for the 1972 presidential election. It was held at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida on July 10–13, 1972....
.
Early life
Shirley Anita St. Hill was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, of immigrant parents. Her father, Charles Christopher St. Hill, was born in British Guiana
British Guiana
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
and arrived in the United States via Antilla, Cuba, on April 10, 1923 aboard the S.S. Munamar in New York City. Her mother, Ruby Seale, was born in Christ Church, Barbados, and arrived in New York City aboard the S.S. Pocone on March 8, 1921. At age three, Chisholm was sent to Barbados to live with her maternal grandmother, Emaline Seale, in Christ Church. She did not return until roughly seven years later when she arrived in New York City on May 19, 1934 aboard the S.S. Narissa. In her 1970 autobiography Unbought and Unbossed, she wrote: "Years later I would know what an important gift my parents had given me by seeing to it that I had my early education in the strict, traditional, British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
-style schools of Barbados. If I speak and write easily now, that early education is the main reason."
Chisholm is an alumna of Girls High School
Girls High School
Girls' High School is an historically and architecturally notable public secondary school building located at 475 Nostrand Avenue in the Bedford–Stuyvesant, neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. It was built in 1886 and is the oldest public high school building in New York City that is still...
, she earned her BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
in 1946 and later earned her MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in elementary education in 1952. She was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta is a non-profit Greek-lettered sorority of college-educated women who perform public service and place emphasis on the African American community. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was founded on January 13, 1913 by twenty-two collegiate women at Howard University...
Sorority.
From 1953 to 1959, she was director of the Hamilton-Madison Child Care Center. From 1959 to 1964, she was an educational consultant for the Division of Day Care.
Career
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
candidate for New York's 12th District congressional seat and was elected to the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. Defeating Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
candidate James Farmer
James L. Farmer, Jr.
James Leonard Farmer, Jr. was a civil rights activist and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement. He was the initiator and organizer of the 1961 Freedom Ride, which eventually led to the desegregation of inter-state transportation in the United States.In 1942, Farmer co-founded the Committee...
, Chisholm became the first black woman elected to Congress. Chisholm joined the Congressional Black Caucus
Congressional Black Caucus
The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks, and its chair in the 112th Congress is Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.-Aims:...
in 1971 as one of its founding members.
As a freshman, Chisholm was assigned to the House Agricultural Committee. Given her urban district, she felt the placement was irrelevant to her constituents and shocked many by asking for reassignment. She was then placed on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. Soon after, she voted for Hale Boggs
Hale Boggs
Thomas Hale Boggs Sr. , was an American Democratic politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Orleans, Louisiana...
as House Majority Leader over John Conyers
John Conyers
John Conyers, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1965 . He is a member of the Democratic Party...
. As a reward for her support, Boggs assigned her to the much-prized Education and Labor Committee, which was her preferred committee. She was the third highest-ranking member of this committee when she retired from Congress.
All those Chisholm hired for her office were women, half of them black. Chisholm said that during her New York legislative career, she had faced much more discrimination because she was a woman than because she was black.
In the 1972 U.S. presidential election
United States presidential election, 1972
The United States presidential election of 1972 was the 47th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 7, 1972. The Democratic Party's nomination was eventually won by Senator George McGovern, who ran an anti-war campaign against incumbent Republican President Richard...
, she made a bid for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. She survived three assassination attempts during the campaign. George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
won the nomination in a hotly contested set of primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
s, with Chisholm campaigning in 12 states and winning 28 delegate
Delegate
A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO, or a trade union) at a meeting or conference...
s during the primary process. At the 1972 Democratic National Convention
1972 Democratic National Convention
The 1972 Democratic National Convention was the presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party for the 1972 presidential election. It was held at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida on July 10–13, 1972....
, as a symbolic gesture, McGovern opponent Hubert H. Humphrey released his black delegates to Chisholm, giving her a total of 152 first-ballot votes for the nomination. Chisholm's base of support was ethnically diverse and included the National Organization for Women
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
. Chisholm said she ran for the office "in spite of hopeless odds... to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo." Among the volunteers who were inspired by her campaign was Barbara Lee
Barbara Lee
Barbara Jean Lee is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1998. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She is the first woman to represent that district. Lee was the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and was the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus...
, who continued to be politically active and was elected as a congresswoman 25 years later. Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan was an American writer, activist, and feminist.A leading figure in the Women's Movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the "second wave" of American feminism in the twentieth century...
and Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
attempted to run as Chisholm delegates in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Chisholm created controversy when she visited rival and ideological opposite George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
in the hospital soon after his shooting in May 1972, during the 1972 presidential primary campaign. Several years later, when Chisholm worked on a bill to give domestic workers the right to a minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
, Wallace helped gain votes of enough Southern congressmen to push the legislation through the House.
From 1977 to 1981, during the 95th Congress
95th United States Congress
The Ninety-fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1977 to January 3, 1979, during the first two years...
and 96th Congress
96th United States Congress
The Ninety-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1979 to January 3, 1981, during the last two years...
, Chisholm was elected to a position in the House Democratic leadership, as Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus
Democratic Caucus Vice-Chairman of the United States House of Representatives
The Vice-Chair of the Democratic Caucus in the United States House of Representatives is a leadership position that ranks just below the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus. In addition to other duties, the Vice-Chair has a seat on the Steering and Policy Committee.The office of Secretary of the...
.
Throughout her tenure in Congress, Chisholm worked to improve opportunities for inner-city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
residents. She was a vocal opponent of the draft and supported spending increases for education, health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
and other social services, and reductions in military spending.
In 1970, she authored a child care bill. The bill passed the House and the Senate, but was vetoed by President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, who called it "the Sovietization of American children".
In the area of national security and foreign policy, Chisholm worked for the revocation of Internal Security Act of 1950. She opposed the American involvement in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and the expansion of weapon developments. During the Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
administration, she called for better treatment of Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an refugees.
Personal life
Chisholm was married to Conrad Chisholm, a Jamaican private investigator from 1949 to 1977. In 1978, she married Arthur Hardwick, Jr., a Buffalo businessman who died in 1986.Shirley had no children and moved to Florida when she retired.
Retirement and death
She announced her retirement from Congress in 1982. Her seat was won by a fellow Democrat, Major OwensMajor Owens
Major Robert Odell Owens is a New York politician and a prominent member of the Democratic Party. He is also a former Congressman, having represented the state's 11th Congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He retired at the end of his term in January 2007 and was...
, in 1983.
After retirement she resumed her career in education, teaching politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and women's studies
Women's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
and being named to the Purington Chair at Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
from 1983 to 1987. In 1985 she was a visiting scholar at Spelman College
Spelman College
Spelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...
. In 1984 and 1988, she campaigned for Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
for the presidential elections. In 1993, then-President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
nominated her to the ambassadorship to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, but she could not serve due to poor health. In the same year she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame
National Women's Hall of Fame
The National Women's Hall of Fame is an American institution. It was created in 1969 by a group of people in Seneca Falls, New York, the location of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention...
.
Chisholm retired to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and died on January 1, 2005 in Ormond Beach near Daytona Beach. She was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
.
Biographical documentaries
In February 2005, Shirley Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed, a documentary filmDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
was aired on the U.S public television
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
. It chronicles Chisholm's 1972 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. It was directed and produced by independent, African American filmmaker Shola Lynch. The film was featured at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in 2004. On April 9, 2006, the film was announced as a winner of a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
.
In March 2011, the VOA Special English
Special English
Special English is a controlled version of the English language first used on October 19, 1959, and still presented daily by the United States broadcasting service Voice of America. World news and other programs are read one-third slower than regular VOA English. Reporters avoid idioms and use a...
service of the Voice of America broadcast a 15-minute biography of Shirley Chisholm. A transcript and MP3 of the program, intended for English learners, can be found at "Shirley Chisholm, 1924-2005: The First Black Woman Elected to the U.S. Congress"
In popular culture
In the lyrics of the 1988 Biz MarkieBiz Markie
Marcel Theo Hall better known by his stage name, Biz Markie, is an American rapper, beatboxer, DJ, comedian, singer, reality television personality, and commercial spokesperson. He is best known for his single "Just a Friend", an American Top 10 hit in 1989...
song "Nobody Beats the Biz," Biz says, "Make you co-op-er-ate with the rhythm, that is what I give em/
Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
is the pres but I voted for Shirley Chisholm"
In the 1996 A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...
song, "Baby Phife's Return," Phife Dawg
Phife Dawg
Malik Isaac Taylor , better known by his stage name Phife Dawg, is an American rapper of Trinidadian descent, and a member of the acclaimed group A Tribe Called Quest with high school classmates Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad...
raps "I got a brave heart like the one named Shirley Chisholm."
In 1999, Redman and Method Man
Method Man
Clifford Smith , better known by his stage name Method Man is an American hip hop artist, record producer, actor and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer, also known as Method Man. He is one half of the rap duo Method Man...
released a track on the album, Black out called "Maaaad Crew", which contains the lyric, "Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
is the president I still voted for Shirley Chisholm." Later, in 2006, LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
echoed this sentiment on his album Todd Smith
Todd Smith
Todd Smith is LL Cool J's 11th studio album, released on April 11, 2006 by his label Def Jam Recordings. It includes collaborations with Jennifer Lopez, Pharrell, Juelz Santana, Teairra Mari, Ginuwine, Mary J...
, with the lyric "George Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
is the Prez., but I voted for Shirley Chisholm."
In the 2003 song "Spread," Andre 3000
André 3000
André Lauren Benjamin , better known by his stage name André 3000 is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor, best known for being part of American hip-hop duo OutKast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi...
of Outkast
OutKast
Outkast is an American hip hop duo based in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta native André "André 3000" Benjamin and Savannah, Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. They were originally known as Two Shades Deep but later changed the group's name to OutKast...
sang, "You're the prism / Shirley Chisholm / was the first," referencing her being the first black woman member of Congress and the first black presidential candidate for one of the major parties.
In the lyrics of the 2005 Nellie McKay
Nellie McKay
Nellie McKay , is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and former stand-up comedienne, noted for her critically acclaimed albums, and for her Broadway debut in The Threepenny Opera , for which she won a Theatre World Award...
song "Mama and Me," McKay says, "There's a lotta things that I'm proud of in this world / I got a pinch of Shirley Chisholm / And a sprinkle of That Girl
That Girl
That Girl is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York to make it big in New York City...
."
Writings
Chisholm wrote two autobiographical books.}, Also available via the editor Scott Simpson's site.
Honors
In 1975, Chisholm was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Smith CollegeSmith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
.
In 1993, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame
National Women's Hall of Fame
The National Women's Hall of Fame is an American institution. It was created in 1969 by a group of people in Seneca Falls, New York, the location of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention...
.
In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante
Molefi Kete Asante
Molefi Kete Asante is an African-American scholar, historian, and philosopher. He is a leading figure in the fields of African American studies, African Studies and Communication Studies...
listed Shirley Chisholm on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans
100 Greatest African Americans
100 Greatest African Americans is a biographical dictionary of the one hundred historically greatest African Americans , as assessed by Molefi Kete Asante in 2002.-Criteria:...
.
External links
- Shirley Chisholm's Unbought and Unbossed book web site by editor Scot Simpson
- Shirley Chisholm's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project
- Biography by Jone Johnson Lewis
- Chisholm speech on the Equal Rights Amendment
- Shirley Chisholm's 1972 Presidential Campaign
- Chisholm '72 - Unbought & Unbossed documentary by Shola Lynch
- Feature on Shirley Chisholm, with writing from Gloria Steinem and video clips from Chisholm '72 Unbought & Unbossed, by the International Museum of WomenInternational Museum of WomenThe International Museum of Women, , headquartered in San Francisco, California, is an online museum that covers women's issues world-wide.- Creation and expansion :I.M.O.W. was founded as the Women's Heritage Museum in 1985...
.