IN THE PRESS

Decades before Kamala Harris broke barriers to become the first woman, first woman of color, and the first woman of south Asian heritage to become Vice President of the United States, there was Shirley Chisholm. Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968 and the first woman to seek the presidential nomination in 1972.

Shirley Chisholm, the first black congresswoman and a 1971 candidate for nominee for Presidency of United States in a historical political moment speaks at the Greenfield High School Auditorium in 1983. Introduction by Risky Case.

When Kamala Harris ascended to the vice presidency of the United States on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, becoming the first woman and also the first woman of colour to attain this high office, she paid tribute to Shirley Chisholm, the political trailblazer of Barbadian descent, who was the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress.

Robert Gottlieb was standing by the luggage carousel waiting for his baggage to arrive after he landed in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1972 when was met with shock.

As we stand on the historical precipice of Kamala Harris the first woman and Black woman as Vice President-elect of the United States, the remarkable legacy of politician and activist Shirley Chisholm has rightfully gained significant notice.

While Shirley Chisholm winning her bid for Congress may be old news now, when she ran in 1968 there was nothing inevitable about it.