How Did Shirley Chisholm Influence The Civil Rights Movement

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Shirley Chisholm was one of the most influential women from the Civil Rights Movement. From looking at specific details, background information, the larger role she played in the Civil Rights Movement, and the great success she has accomplished for the movement; Chisholm became the first African American Congress-woman and four years later she became the first major- party black candidate to make a bid for the U.S. presidency and last but not least she fought for rights of African American women. Shirley Chisholm, also known as Shirley St. Hill, was born on November 30, 1924 in Brooklyn. She lived with her family in Barbados before returning to the United States (Palmer). When Chisholm was ten years old, she returned to New York during the …show more content…

In 1965 she ran a successful campaign for a seat in the the New York State Assembly. During her tenure she helped establish the search for education, equity, and knowledge (SEEK) program to assist low income students and also helped win a maternity leave policy for teachers. (Palmer). In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman to serve in the United States Congress (Tyle,463) and in 1969 she won a seat in the House of Representatives. She served on a number of committees, which included veterans’ affairs, education and labor, and house rules. Chisholm was an outspoken opponent of the war in Vietnam and continued to fight for economic justice and women’s rights. In January of 1972, Chisholm made an announcement that her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president and she was the first African American to ever do so (Smith,188). In 1982 Shirley Chisholm retired from congress and went on to teach at Mount Holyoke and Spelman Colleges (Palmer). However, she remained active in politics as the founder of the National Political Congress of Black Women and as its first president. In 2005 on January 1st, Chisholm passed away from suffering a series of strokes at the age of 80

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