Shirley Chisholm

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Gwen Outen.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson with People in America in VOA Special
English. Today we tell about Shirley Chisholm. She was an educator,
activist and politician.

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VOICE ONE:

Shirley Chisholm is best known as the first black woman elected
to United States Congress and the first black woman to run for
president of the United States. However, her life was filled with
much more than being the first black woman to do important things.
She believed in being a person to fight for change. All her life,
she worked to improve the lives of others.

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VOICE TWO:

Shirley Anita Saint Hill was born in Brooklyn, New York in
nineteen twenty-four. She was the oldest of four daughters. Her
father was a factory worker from Guyana. He loved to read. Her
mother was from the British West Indies island of Barbados. She made
clothes and cleaned other people's houses.

Shirley's parents had very little money. They wanted their
daughters to get a good education and to have a better life. When
Shirley was three years old her parents sent her and her sisters to
live with their grandmother in Barbados.

Shirley received a good education from the British school system.
She enjoyed the years she lived with her grandmother. Her family in
Barbados was a strong, organized group that believed in education.
Shirley always remembered the words her grandmother spoke.

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"When I was reared in the British West Indies my grandmother used
to always tell me, you may not be loved by certain forces in a
society and you have to understand why. But always speak the truth."

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen thirty-four Shirley moved back to Brooklyn. She was
ten years old. She continued to do very well in school. She later
graduated from Brooklyn College with honors. In nineteen forty-nine,
she married Conrad Chisholm who worked as a private investigator.
Together they took part in local politics. Their marriage ended
almost thirty years later.

As a young woman, Shirley decided to become a teacher. She
believed she could improve society by helping children. She worked
for seven years at a child-care center in the Harlem area of New
York City. She attended Columbia University at night and received an
advanced degree in early childhood education in nineteen fifty-two.
She became known as an expert in children and early education. From
nineteen fifty-nine to nineteen sixty-four Shirley Chisholm was an
education official in the day care division of the city's office of
child welfare.

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VOICE TWO:

In ninety sixty-four Shirley Chisholm's political career began.
She was elected to the New York State Assembly. She served for four
years.

In nineteen sixty-eight she announced she would run for the
United States Congress. She was elected from the newly created
Twelfth District of New York City. She became the first black woman
elected to Congress. She represented a poor area of Brooklyn called
Bedford-Stuyvesant.

In Congress, Miz Chisholm was assigned to the House Agriculture
Committee. She protested this assignment. She felt it was not
important to the poor people of the city that she represented. She
was moved to the Veterans Affairs Committee. She later served on the
Education and Labor Committee, the position she wanted. In nineteen
seventy-seven she joined the important House Rules Committee.

VOICE ONE:

Shirley Chisholm was very different from other members of
Congress. She looked different. Her hair was a big cloud of curls.
She wore very large eyeglasses. And she had dark skin.

She also spoke differently. She had developed a minor Caribbean
accent while living with her grandmother in Barbados. Her voice was
strong. She spoke with power. She said her greatest tool was her
mouth. She was not afraid to say the things others would not say
before Congress and the public.

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"But, my friends, I might be strong for some persons in this
audience, but I believe in telling it like it is." ((applause))

VOICE TWO:

Shirley Chisholm spoke strongly for the poor and for women. She
worked for civil rights for African Americans. She opposed the
Vietnam War. In nineteen sixty-nine she helped form the
Congressional Black Caucus. She also was a member of the National
Organization for Women. Miz Chisholm was an activist for people of
color, including Native Americans and Spanish-speaking immigrants.
She often spoke about cultural and social issues.

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"Increasing immigration to the United States suggests that we do
face( -- and we better own up to – we do face) new social and
cultural problems as these new Americans are integrated into our
society. And because most of the new immigrants are people of color,
cultural adjustments must be made by all groups in America if we are
to learn to live together as one nation."

VOICE ONE:

Miz Chisholm wrote a book about her life in nineteen seventy
called "Unbought and Unbossed." She refused to be defined by party
politics or racial comparisons. Sometimes this worked against her.

In nineteen seventy-two Shirley
Chisholm announced that she would run for president of the United
States. Many people thought it was a strange thing to do. Miz
Chisholm said during her life in politics she faced more
discrimination as a woman than as a black person.

Shirley Chisholm became the first woman and the first black
person to carry out a presidential campaign within one of the major
parties. When she announced her candidacy for the Democratic Party
nomination for president this is what she said: "I am not the
candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not
the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am
a woman and I am equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of
any political bosses or special interests. I am the candidate of the
people."

Miz Chisholm did not win the Democratic primaries or the
nomination. She said she did not run for president because she
expected to win. She ran to make a point.

In nineteen seventy-three Shirley Chisholm wrote another book,
"The Good Fight." In that book she told of her reasons for running
for president even though she did not expect to win. She said: "The
next time a woman runs, or a black, or a Jew or anyone from a group
that the country is 'not ready' to elect to the highest office, I
believe he or she will be taken seriously from the start."

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VOICE TWO:

Shirley Chisholm left Congress in nineteen eighty-two after
fourteen years. She said many voters did not understand her. She
said her influence as a truthful, tough politician was decreasing in
conservative times. Also, she wanted to spend more time with her
second husband, Arthur Hardwick.

Miz Chisholm went on to teach at Mount Holyoke College in South
Hadley, Massachusetts. Years after leaving Congress, she continued
to be invited to speak before many groups and organizations.

A reporter once asked Miz Chisholm how she wanted to be
remembered. She said she did not want to be remembered as the
nation's first black congresswoman. She wanted to be remembered as a
brave person, a person who created change.

VOICE ONE:

Shirley Chisholm died January first, two thousand five. She
suffered a series of strokes. She was eighty years old.

Shirley Chisholm loved her country. She wanted to serve all
America, not just African Americans and women. Her work for the
community of Bedford-Stuyvesant, the state of New York and the
nation continues through the changes she helped make in American
society.

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"America is a wonderful land. It's no question about it. That is
why every group from across the waters tries to come to America. I
am hopeful. Oh God am I hopeful that before I die that I will see
that America will move toward a period of real enlightenment (not
rhetorical enlightenment, real enlightenment) and that when we are
finally faced with the choice of exclusion or inclusion we will
choose inclusion because that's what America is suppose to be all
about."

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VOICE TWO:

This program was written and produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Doug
Johnson.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Gwen Outen. Join us again next week for People in America
in VOA Special English.

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