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Shirley Chisholm
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Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm (November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was a African-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).
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Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm (November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was a African-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.
Early life
Shirley Anita St. Hill was born in Brooklyn, 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 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.
Personal life
Chisholm was married to Conrad Chisholm, a Jamaican private investigator from 1949 to 1977. Upon their divorce, she married Arthur Hardwick Jr., a Buffalo businessman who died in 1986.
Writings
Chisholm wrote two books, Unbought and Unbossed (1970) and The Good Fight (1973).
Honors
In 1975, Chisholm was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Smith College.
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.
Retirement/Death
Chisholm retired in Florida and died on January 3, 2005 near Daytona Beach. She is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York.
Biographical documentary
In February 2005, Shirley Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed, a documentary film was aired on U.S. public television. It chronicles Chisholm's 1972 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. It was directed and produced by independent, black woman 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 popular culture
In the lyrics of the 1988 Biz Markie 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 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."
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.
See also
External links
- at The National Visionary Leadership Project
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- at VisionaryProject.org
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- , with writing from Gloria Steinem and video clips from Chisholm '72 Unbought & Unbossed, by the International Museum of Women.
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