Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pays tribute to Shirley Chisholm
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pays tribute to Shirley Chisholm
Highlights from the Democratic National Convention
I can’t remember the last (or first) time I watched* the Democratic National Convention with this much excitement. There was one thing bothering me for awhile though.
I was getting pretty irritated by the opener of the 2024 Democratic National Convention solely giving credit to the second black person to mount a nationwide campaign for U.S. president.
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By Vice President Kamala Harris, a woman born from a Jamaican father and Indian mother, breaking yet another record in her current presidential run, I kept waiting for the moment that Shirley Chisholm would be mentioned. (VP Harris is the first female vice president, along with being the first woman and the first Black woman to be elected as the attorney general of California.)
Both Chisholm and Harris are impressive and fought for racial equality and women’s rights too — without grumbling about cutting a black man’s nuts off.
Yeah. I said it!
But to my delight, eventually, Chisholm did come up by none other than the woman who I wanted to be president in 2016: former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. She gave a short history lesson on Chisholm, as well as Geraldine Ferraro (the first woman to be nominated for vice president).
Check out her speech here.
I usually don’t comment on stuff like this, but it was hard to ignore that her hair, outfit, makeup and jewelry are stunning! Whatever she’s doing now that she’s taken a break from front-facing politics reminds me of when former President Barack Obama went kitesurfing. Love to see their refreshed look, but I loved to see them in the White House even more!
Shirley Chisholm: Facts** To Know
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was the first African-American woman in Congress. (1968)
Chisholm was the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for president of the United States from one of the two major political parties. (1972)
Chisholm has an autobiography “Unbought and Unbossed.” (1970)
Chisholm, a Brooklyn, New York native, was the oldest of four daughters with immigrant parents: Charles St. Hill, a factory worker from Guyana, and Ruby Seale St. Hill, a seamstress from Barbados.
Chisholm introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation and fought for racial and gender equality, the plight of the poor, and ending the Vietnam War.
As the co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971, she also became the first Black woman and second woman ever to serve on the powerful House Rules Committee in 1977.
* Journalist Roland Martin, the owner of Black Star Network, is doing a great job with his commentary during the DNC. I’m watching his live commentary on this YouTube channel. (I am using PBS links because I am a marketing affiliate of that organization. Sorry, Roland.)
** Source: National Women’s History Museum
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