Black Feminism on Capitol Hill (original) (raw)

Pushing the Glass Ceiling: Shirley Chisholm & the Democratic Party

2018

In 1972 US Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm decided to run for president, becoming the first African American woman to do so. Beyond the symbolic significance of her campaign, Shirley Chisholm paved the way for other minority leaders such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton by having the tenacity to challenge societal expectations and persevere in the face of adversity. A liberal and outspoken politician from working class Brooklyn, Chisholm based her presidential campaign on serving the country's marginalized populations. She was popular with college students, women, ethnic minorities, and seemed to be the people's candidate. However, the primaries were an uphill battle for Chisholm; her opponents were significantly more experienced with better resources and influential connections. In addition, due to the grassroots nature of her campaign, Chisholm was plagued with internal issues such as underfunding and understaffing, as well as external issues like racism and misogyny. Thus, she would have to maximize her use of limited resources and devote herself to key primaries, opting to have rallies and an active campaign presence only in certain states. In March of 1972, Chisholm would have to choose between campaigning in two crucial states: Florida and New Hampshire, with hopes of winning enough delegates to secure her party's nomination and become the Democratic Party's candidate. Taking up the Mantle The year was 1972. America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were in the middle of a tense Cold War that had manifested in the Vietnam War. Richard Nixon was seeking re-election. He had won the 1968 presidential election in a landslide and because the Republican Party had successfully rallied behind him again, this year looked to be more of the same. The Democratic Party needed a nominee that could challenge Nixon and get the Democrats back in the White House. On January 25, 1972, Shirley Chisholm, an African-American Congresswoman from Brooklyn, stood in the auditorium of a Baptist church and publicly announced her candidacy for the Democratic Party's nomination. At that moment, Congress's first African American woman reached another milestone by becoming the first black woman to run for presidential candidacy for the Democratic Party 1 (Fitzpatrick 2016). The first and lasting reaction to Chisholm's campaign was incredulity. Many people, especially in her own party, did not believe that she could win the nomination and either supported other candidates or stayed silent about her campaign. Undeterred, Chisholm began her campaign.

Shirley Chisholm Had Guts

The Journal of Women in Educational Leadership, 2005

She served in the New York General Assembly from 1964-1968. "During her tenure in the legislature, she proposed a bill to provide state aid to day-care centers and voted to increase funding for schools on a per-pupil basis. In her 1968 campaign, her slogan was "Fighting Shirley Chisholm-Unbought and Unbossed." She won the election and became the first African American woman elected to Congress (PageWise, 2002). "During her first term in Congress, Chisholm hired an all-female staff and spoke out for civil rights, women's rights, the poor and against the Vietnam War." A cofounder of the National Organization for Women (NOW), she said, "women in this country must become revolutionaries. We must refuse to accept the old, the traditional roles and stereotypes." (pageWise, 2002) She ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. She said in her book The Good Fight, "I ran for the Presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo" (Chisholm, 1973). She was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. She said, "My greatest political asset, which professional politicians fear, is my mouth, out of which come all kinds of things one shouldn't always discuss for reasons of political expediency" (CNN.com, 2005). Chisholm was described as a passionate and effective advocate for the needs of minorities, women and children who changed the nation's perception about the capabilities of women and African-Americans. In 1970

Fighting to be Heard: Shirley Chisholm and the Makings of a Womanist Rhetorical Framework

Gender, Race, and Social Identity in American Politics: The Past and Future of Political Access, edited by Lori Montalbano, 2019

In this chapter, we examine the presidential candidacy of Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm. We argue Shirley Chisholm’s political campaign discourse is one example in a small sample of Black female public [and private] figures who make up what we call a womanist rhetorical genre. We focus our analysis on Chisholm’s words through her campaign announcement speech and her text Unbought and Unbossed. We also examine other texts, journals, and reports to augment our claims and fully explore the rhetorical legacy of political communication of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm.

“Glass half full: cautious optimism and the future of Black women political elites in America”

The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, 2020

In this essay, we place Black women's electoral challenges and opportunities in context. We situate this year of “Black Women Candidates” as an anomaly, but one that has been a long in the making. We also point to the appeal of Black women lawmakers among voters to mirror Alberder Gillespie's claims in this epigraph. We note that Black women have long been the backbone of the Democratic Party and are willing to use their clout for their own political means. Furthermore, given the unique ways that Black women represent their constituents, an influx of Black women into governing bodies may have a substantial, lasting impact on policy-making. We conclude with insights from our own research and that of other scholars on Black women to demonstrate future avenues of scholarly research.

Political Advocacy For Justice: Mary McLeod Bethune & the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)

***Description of this Reading***: This is chapter six of my dissertation with only eleven pages available for preview here on Academia.edu. It chronicles the beginning of Bethune's NCNW. Readers gain a sense of her organizing principles, why she felt it was necessary to "pool" Black feminine political energy at this time, in the mid 1930s. You will also get a sense of the friction she encountered from other Black activist women--an aspect of her political career that has not been properly examined. In my narrative, archival/primary source research takes precedence. Pulling particularly from newspapers of that era lend a more complete picture of the dynamics between these particular Black women activists. ***Near Future Plans for this Chapter***: I am in the process of redeveloping this chapter to self-publish as part of a three-book series, "A Passion For Social Equality," covering Bethune's political activism during the 1930s and 1940s. POLITICAL ADVOCACY FOR JUSTICE is the title of the third book, forthcoming. POLITICAL ADVOCACY FOR JUSTICE will include an expanded narrative, interpretation, and analysis of Bethune's activism during the prewar period, from 1940-1941, and material regarding her activism during WWII. (Some of the former material has already been published in my chapter two of THE ECONOMIC CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT; see http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415537360/.) ***On Book Series: "A Passion For Social Equality"*** The first book of this series has been published, entitled PUSHING THE LIMITS OF THE COLOR LINE: MARY McLEOD BETHUNE AND THE NEW DEAL. It can be viewed at: https://www.createspace.com/4283303 or the Amazon link on this page.

The State of Black Women in Politics Under the First Black President

Springer eBooks, 2018

History was made in November 2008. Record-breaking numbers of voters lined up to vote the first African-American President into office, with Barack Obama handily beating Arizona Republican Senator John McCain and winning 52% of the electoral vote, a clear mandate for change. 1 African-Americans made up 13% of the electorate, a two percent increase from the 2006 elections, 2 and approximately 95% of black voters cast their ballots in favor of Obama. 3 Within that 13%, black women had the highest voter turnout rate among all racial, gender, and ethnic groups. 4 As the election results were posted, the media and the president-elect himself made grand proclamations about the significance of the election, as well as what it portended for the country's future. New York Times writer Adam Nagourney described voters' election of Obama as "sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics," continuing with a quote from Obama's victory speech in Grant Park, Chicago: CHAPTER 6

African American Women: Intersectionality in Politics

Oxford Handbooks Online, 2012

Political participation has been a fundamental constant in the lives of African American people. Whether it is voting, membership in social/political community organizations, or participation in social movements for causes ranging from abolition to civil rights, black Americans have consistently leveraged politics and civic engagement as vehicles for freedom and justice. This article focuses on the history of political activism among African American women, reviewing the manifold ways they have participated while traversing the often perilous American political landscape. It highlights significant trends and provides a broader context for understanding those trends. To that end, the article begins with a broad discussion of the intersectional positioning of African American women. Subsequently, it discusses the patterns of black women's participation between Reconstruction and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Finally, it rounds out the historical account by addressing black women's traditional forms of participation since the Voting Rights Act.