Following footsteps, breaking barriers

(Children’s Defense Fund) – Just as Fannie Lou Hamer’s historic appearance before the credentials committee at the 1964 Democratic National Convention paved the way for history being made right now, this moment has been infused by the groundbreaking legacy of the eternally unbought, unbossed U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm.Chisholm, the Brooklyn-born daughter of immigrants from Barbados and Guyana, was honored multiple times during this year’s Democratic National Convention for her roles as the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968. And in 1972, the first Black American to seek a major party presidential nomination and first woman to seek the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. She fearlessly blazed the trail for more than a half-century of leaders from both major parties who have come after her. This week many people celebrated the direct line of descent from Chisholm to Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman elected vice president of the United States, who has now officially become the first Black and South Asian woman named a major party presidential nominee.Related Stories In her January 1972 speech announcing her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president, Chisholm said, “I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and...