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"Fighting Shirley Chisholm":
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"Our representative democracy is not working because the Congress that is supposed to represent the voters does not respond to their needs. I believe the chief reason for this is that it is ruled by a small group of old men."
~ Shirley Chisholm
After a redistricting in the Brooklyn area, Chisholm decided to run for Congress, naming her campaign “Fighting Shirley Chisholm- Unbought and Unbossed,” running primarily to be a voice for minorities and women. She traveled by caravan, going to churches, parks, even street corners in many different neighborhoods talking to people from many different backgrounds and beliefs. She openly listened and enthusiastically answered questions. While Chisholm was dedicating herself to the people, her opponent, James Farmer, was vacationing and had his supporters work for him. With her perseverance, she became the first African-American Congresswoman in 1968.
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Courtesy Of www.history.house.gov
"For the first two to three months, I was miserable. The gentlemen did not pay me any mind at all, when I would go to the lunchroom to eat they would not sit at the same table as I did because I'm a black woman... it was horrible."
~ Shirley Chisholm
After taking office, she was assigned to the Forestry Committee and was furious. Chisholm approached Speaker John McCormick and demanded a more relevant committee to her constituents. Eventually, Chisholm was reassigned to the Veterans’ Committee and later was appointed to the Education and Labor Committee.
"All my forty-three years I've been a good soldier, the time is growing late and I can't be a good soldier any longer. It does not make sense to put a black women representative on a subcommittee dealing with forestry. If you do not assist me, I will have to do my own thing"
~ Shirley Chisholm
Courtesy Of www.newyorktimes.com
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As a Congresswoman she advocated for minorities, women, and the poor. She worked to expand the Food Stamp program and for federal funds for child care services. She also co-founded the Black Caucus and the National Women’s Political Caucus. She was against the U.S. involvement in Vietnam and for The Equal Rights Amendments.
"Women do not have the opportunities that men do. And women that do not conform to the system, who try to break with the accepted patterns, are stigmatized as ''odd'' and "unfeminine." The fact is that a woman who aspires to be chairman of the board, or a Member of the House, does so for exactly the same reasons as any man. Basically, these are that she thinks she can do the job and she wants to try."
~ Shirley Chisholm Equal Rights Speech 1969
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