However, she was appointed to the Agriculture Committee.
She later took a seat on the Rules Committee, shown here during the 95th Congress. House of RepresentativesĪbout this object After protesting her first committee appointment, Shirley Chisholm served on the Education and Labor Committee. As a freshman, she had little say in her appointments, but as a former educator felt that she could best serve her constituents, and African Americans in general, on the Education and Labor Committee. In an Ebony interview, Chisholm speculated about which committee assignments she might get when she entered the House. A photograph taken around 1969 captures her triumphant smile, as she stands tall, by herself, posing in front of the Capitol. Chisholm, in a bright red suit with black velvet lapels and white blouse, make history as the first Negro woman seated in Congress,” the Washington Post reported. Instead, “A few reported happily that they had been able to get into the gallery to see Mrs. They also planned to attend her swearing-in and a ceremonial oath ceremony, conducted by Speaker John McCormack, but their buses arrived too late. On Opening Day, busloads of Brooklyn supporters and campaign workers followed Chisholm to Washington, throwing a party to celebrate her. When she took her seat in the 91st Congress in January 1969, Chisholm became the first African-American woman in Congress. Seated in her living room, amid plastic-covered couches and decorative African and Chinese art, she told an interviewer, “My power comes from the people.” She gave voice to women, African Americans, Latinos, and the poor. this is fighting Shirley Chisholm coming through.”Īfter her victory, Chisholm became a Representative who often blazed her own trail rather than build bridges with other politicians. She projected strength, confidence, and outspokenness, an image reflected in a later campaign slogan: “ Unbought and Unbossed.” She crisscrossed the district in a campaign truck, her voice carrying over the loudspeaker: “Ladies and Gentlemen. House of Representatives With a beaming smile, Shirley Chisholm posed outside the East Front of the Capitol.Ĭhisholm ran in New York’s 12th district, a newly reapportioned district centered in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhood.
0 kommentar(er)
