A Humble Queen is Mourned.
One of the true giants of the American civil rights movement has passed on to a more golden shore.
The Schmoo will always remember growing up in SleepyBurg, visiting the SchmooMom at work, and seeing a large, very prominent "Chisolm '72" poster signed by the lady herself. It still hangs in the SchmooMom's office to this day -- she is as proud of it as she is of the framed front page of the SleepyBurg Times featuring a five-year-old Schmoo enthusiastically kicking some guy in the head.
Shirley Chisolm was not only the first black woman elected to Congress, although that alone marks her as one of the greatest achievers of the American 20th century. She was tough as nails, and yet a vibrant, wonderful, intelligent, peaceful leader. More than any other person the Schmoo can identify, her career defines the sometimes-awkward bridge between the women's liberation and black civil rights movements. And then there was her revolutionary serious run for the Democratic nomination for President in 1972. (The genesis of the SchmooMom Poster.)
The article quotes the following:
"The next time a woman runs," she wrote in her 1973 autobiography, "The Good Fight," "or a black, a Jew or anyone from a group that the country is 'not ready' to elect to its highest office, I believe he or she will be taken seriously from the start. The door is not open yet, but it is ajar."
She was the first.
RIP, Shirley. You were one of those exceedingly rare individuals whose very existence makes us all better people for merely having shared a lifetime with you.
God Bless America. By giving us another Shirley Chisolm.
Replies: 1 comments
Maybe I'm cynical, but I don't think there will be a female president in my lifetime. It's not really on topic, I just wanted to spread the sunshine.
Posted by @ 01/11/05 5:42 a.m. ET