February is Black History Month, the time of year to celebrate the influence Black figures have had not just on the country but also on the world.
Today, the Edison Public Library recognizes the first Black woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress, Shirley Chisholm.
Shirley Chisholm began her political career in 1953 by helping to elect Lewis Flagg Jr. as the first Black judge in Brooklyn. Helping to form the Bedford–Stuyvesant Political League, Chisholm worked with the group to elevate candidates that supported civil rights and fought against racial discrimination in housing.
In 1964, when Thomas R. Jones accepted a judicial appointment and vacated his seat on the assembly, Chisholm decided to run for elected office with the campaign slogan "Unbought and unbossed". Though she received criticism based on her gender, Chisholm appealed to female voters, winning the seat with over 18,000 votes while her opponents all received fewer than 1,900.
Chisholm ran for, and won, the U.S. House of Representatives in New York’s 12th congressional district in 1968 and was assigned to the House Agriculture committee. She then worked to expand the food stamp program and institute WIC, both of which aimed at helping to feed poor Americans and children.
Though she lost her 1972 bid for the presidency, Chisholm continued to work to improve racial tensions and to fight for inner-city residents. She opposed the Vietnam War while supporting spending increases for social services like health care and education.
She retired from office in 1983, and in 1984, Chisholm co-founded the National Black Women's Political Caucus to address the needs of African-American women. Chisholm continued to give speeches during her later years as well as lending her support to numerous influential Black politicians like Jesse Jackson. She passed away on January 1, 2005.
Much of Chisholm’s work was dedicated to supporting the unsupported in this country, such as women, the Black community, and the working class, and a lot of the social changes we’ve experienced in the past four decades stems from her work. That’s why, in 2015, Shirley Chisholm was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
