Shirley Chisholm, paving the way to gender equality

By Rev. Norman Franklin Herald Contributor The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) tracks the progress of gender equality in government services. Women are evolving as a new power dynamic.  CAWP data reveals that women hold 30.5% of elected offices in municipal governments across the nation, 30.9% in state legislatures, and 26.5% in the U.S. Congress.  Although this data reveals significant improvements when contrasted with late twentieth-century data, current state-by-state data reveals women are underrepresented in municipal government, and state and federal elected offices.  Some forerunners cut swaths through Napier grass like isms impeding race and gender equality. Shirley Chisholm, an African American woman, resisted the status quo and sowed seeds of progress along the “Chisholm Trail.”  She opened pathways for others to travel.  Chisholm began her career in public service in 1960. She earned a master’s degree in early childhood education from Columbia University and became a recognized expert in early education and child welfare. New York City would benefit; she served as a consultant to the Division of Day Care.  Prolonged strivings in a milieu of injustice birth a desire for something better; desire cannot lay dormant, it fuels actions.  Shirley Chisholm joined the NAACP, the Urban...