Shirley Not

Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress, has died at the age of 80. She was elected to represent New York's Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn in 1968, and in her next seven terms, she proved to be a riveting speaker while championing the rights of women and minorities. In 1972, she became the first black to seek a major party presidential nomination. She later acknowledged her Kucinichian-like bid was symbolic rather than an actual bid; still, she made George McGovern’s candidacy seem a little less futile. Still, since Democrats tend to not understand the electoral process, she claimed 152 delegates before leaving the race. While campaigning, she visited George Wallace in the hospital following the assassination attempt on his life. While criticized at the time for the betrayal, Wallace later secured votes that helped her pass legislation extending the minimum wage to domestic workers. Chisholm’s legacy as a pioneer and tireless challenger of the status quo lives on today. California Representative Barbara Lee, who was a campaign worker with “Chisholm for President,” was the lone House member to dissent when George W. Bush demanded virtually unchecked war powers in the days following the 2001 terrorist attacks.