Affirm Black Women Portrait Series: Shirley Chisholm
“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” - Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm, was the first Black congresswoman, first Black candidate for a major party’s presidential nomination, first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, as well as the first woman to appear in a US presidential debate.
In her presidential announcement she declared, “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 equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people and my presence before you symbolizes a new era in American political history.”
View the complete Affirm Black Women portrait series here
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“…I have dedicated my career to ensuring that the words engraved on the front of the Supreme Court building— ‘Equal Justice Under Law’—are a reality and not just an ideal.” — Ketanji Brown Jackson