"Unbought and Unbossed" – The Story of Shirley Chisholm

“When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses.” – Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005), the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress.

She hired only women in her congressional office, 50% were white. She once said, “Tremendous amounts of talent are lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt.” In 1972, she became the first women to run for the Democratic presidential nomination against George McGovern. She had a diverse base, but knew she would most likely lose. She didn’t do it to win the presidential election. “Chisholm said she ran for the office “in spite of hopeless odds… to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.”‘

She wrote two books, “Unbought and Unbossed” and “The Good Fight.” She once said that being a women put more obstacles in her way than being black and in a Peabody Award winning documentary, Chisholm ’72 – Unbought & Unbossed chronicling her race for the White House she says, “When I die, I want to be remembered as a woman who lived in the twentieth century and who dared to be a catalyst for change. I don’t want be remembered as the first black women who went to congress, and I don’t even want to be remembered as the first women who happen to be black to make a bid for the presidency. I want to be remembered as a women who fought for change in the twentieth century. That’s what I want.”

I remember her. I wish I could have voted for her.