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Essay on Shirley Chisholm

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Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm, first African American woman to be elected to Congress was born in Brooklyn on November 30, 1924. She is one of the most profound and admired women that challenged society not only as a woman, but a woman of color. She made many contributions to the women's movement and society. Shirley began her interest in politics in the 1940's. She attended political clubs where community members met with the assemblyman and committee to discuss problems with the city. Shirley began to notice the differences in which the way white people and black people were treated. The room was divided by the color of skin. Blacks on one side and whites on the other. At the end of each meeting there was time for …show more content…

She temporarily stepped aside from politics and was more focused on the welfare of children in Brooklyn. She was promoted several times within the child care system. She entered the field as an aide and ending up being a director of several day care facilities. It was her experiences in the day care setting that opened her eyes to the many problems in health care. She began to notice the effects of poverty on women and children in her community (Chisholm 28). It must have difficult to work around families that did not have the means to better their lives. Perhaps observing the inequalities pushed Shirley to become involved with government and promote better health care.
Becoming involved in politics was not the initial goal that Shirley was striving for. It was not until she was in college in which she first became interested in the Bedford-Stuyvesant Political League. She was impressed with a man named Hodder, who represented the Bedford- Stuyvesant Political League, and his speeches that supported the black community. He sparked her interest in politics and from then on Shirley was in and out of the political spotlight (Metcalf 118). Even though many people doubted the abilities of Shirley she had a tremendous amount of political support from her husband Conrad. He was not jealous over the amount of attention that Shirley received nor did he interfere with her interest in politics (Chisholm 46). It

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