Shirley Chisholm: Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics
By Juan Moreno Haines
The recently elected women in the United States House of Representatives, called “The Squad,” are beneficiaries of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the House.
Ayanna Pressley, a Boston city council member, won her seat by beating the Democratic incumbent; Ilhan Omar from Minneapolis emigrated from Somalia as a child; Rashida Tlaib, who won John Conyers’ Detroit seat after his retirement in 2017 due to allegations of sexual misconduct; and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won an upset victory over the incumbent in the Bronx.
Kamala Harris, who ran for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2020, gained the Vice-Presidency.
These accomplishments follow Chisholm’s fearless and audacious legislative history of fighting for increased funding for healthcare, education, housing of the poor, as well as higher wages for working-class people.
The women who make up “The Squad” echo Chisholm’s legislative agenda.
Nevertheless, on January 3, when 535 lawmakers went to Washington, D.C., for the 118th Congress, women held only 149 seats, so gender equality fell short.
A historical turning point for women in politics came on a hot and humid night in Miami, Florida.
On July 12, 1972, at the Democratic National Convention, Chisholm became the first Black person and first woman to run for the nomination for President of the United States by a major political party.
But historians have ignored Chisholm’s life story. The only written accounts of her life are in her memoirs, Unbought and Unbossed and The Good Fight.
For that reason, Anastasia C. Curwood, University of Kentucky associate professor of history, spent 15 years investigating and researching the life of a Black feminist whose signature slogan, “Unbought and Unbossed,” implies she’s an “independent, principled, fearless warrior.”
“I first encountered Shirley Chisholm as a child in my own family’s collection of photos. There, in black-and-white with younger versions of my parents, was an elegant, dark-skinned woman with an infectiously broad smile. Mistaking her for my father’s sister, he corrected me: ‘That’s Shirley Chisholm. She ran for president, and when you grow up you can, too,’” Curwood acknowledges in Shirley Chisholm: Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics, (2023).
Curwood chronicles the daughter of immigrant parents who matured into a Black feminist and advocate for equality.
While in high school, Chisholm joined The Harriet Tubman Society. The members held forums to discuss race and politics.
As she navigated life, she realized that, “racism is so universal in this country, so widespread and deep-seated, that it is invisible because it is so normal.”
Still, her political career reflects a passion for fairness, with savvy, grit and a defiance to the male dominated political landscape.
Early in life, she learned that more clout comes with building coalitions of diverse communities and religions.
While growing up in Brooklyn, she sat with her mother and Jewish neighbors in parks, “sometimes laughing over shared jokes.” As she rose in politics, being fluent in Spanish gave her the ability to connect with Latinx communities.
When Chisholm became the first woman in the Congressional Black Caucus, she received a lukewarm welcome.
Chisholm’s CBC colleagues saw her as a woman out of place, complaining that she “wants to know everything,” and that she had “too much woman’s lib support and not enough focus on Black issues.”
Nevertheless, Parren Mitchell, Ron Dellums and, at times, John Conyers warmed up to her. Curwood’s research shows that Dellums did his best to get other congress members to understand what was at stake. Chisholm, however, found that patriarchy hindered her, so Dellums’ support made little difference.
“It’s something I’ll never forget as long as I live: how this question of being a woman got in the way of everything. They used so many strategies to stop me but nothing stopped me,” Chisholm would later explain.
Chisholm credits her inclination to challenge the powers-to-be on two quotes. “Power concedes nothing without a demand,” she takes from Frederick Douglass’ writings. And she’s cited for saying, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”
Juan Moreno Haines is a journalist incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison; senior editor at the award-winning San Quentin News; and member of the Society of Professional Journalists, where he was awarded its Silver Heart Award in 2017 for being “a voice for the voiceless.”