womeninamericanpolitics: Shirley Chisholm was a longtime Congresswoman from Brooklyn, New York. She
womeninamericanpolitics: Shirley Chisholm was a longtime Congresswoman from Brooklyn, New York. She was a woman who would never back down from anything that she believed in and would fight for everything that she believed to be necessary to fight for. In 1968, Chisholm made history by becoming the first African American woman to be elected into Congress. However, before that she was an elementary school teacher and also from 1959-1964, she was an educational consultant for New York City’s Bureau of Child Welfare. When she took office, she shocked Congress by demanding reassignment after being assigned to the House Forestry Committee. As a freshman Congresswoman, this was unheard of. She was granted the change and put on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee before eventually being put on the House Education and Labor Committee. In 1969, she was also a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. She was also one of the four founding women of the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971.Shirley Chisholm ran to become the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States. She was the first African American woman to run for the position, and many people viewed her candidacy as symbolic, rather than as a viable candidate, which hurt her numbers. Another major challenge she faced was money and endorsements. The Black Caucus, which she helped found, would not officially give her their full backing, and even some of her political friends would not officially endorse her. She was only on the ballot for 11 states, and received votes from 14 states in some capacity. Money prevented her from entering many of the primaries. When she entered the Democratic National Convention, she had 28 delegates. However, she would end up with 151 delegate votes. She became the first African American woman to get delegate votes at a convention and the first woman to get delegate votes at the convention. Overall, she spent about $300,000 throughout the campaign. She garnered most of her votes from young college voters, women, and minorities. She continued to serve as a Congresswoman until 1982. She continued to make major contributions to Congress. She introduced over 50 pieces of legislation throughout her career. She also was appointed to the House Rules Committee in 1977. After she retired, and during the Presidency of Bill Clinton, she was offered to become the ambassador to Jamaica, but declined due to poor health. She taught in college during her retirement, as well as created the National Political Congress of Black Women. She would pass away on January 1, 2005 due to complications from strokes she had during her later years. -- source link