Fifty-six years ago, on November 5, 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman elected to Congress.

On Election Day 2024, when a Black woman is the Democratic presidential nominee, ESSENCE looks back on her historic campaign and political profession.

The New York native of Barbados and Guyana began her political profession in 1953, campaigning for Lewis Flagg Jr., who was in search of to change into the first black judge in Brooklyn. More than a decade later, she ran her own campaign, successfully securing a seat in the New York State Assembly.

Chisholm then took off running Congress “[u]sing the motto “unbought and disempowered,” which she later titled her 1970 autobiography.

Her opponent: James Farmer, a black civil rights leader running for the Republican Party. Newly assigned 12^vol The congressional district “consisted primarily of the community of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn and a few other parts of the borough. The residents of Bed-Stuy are predominantly African American and Puerto Rican.” NPR reports. It also gave Chisholm a house-court advantage, as that was where she called home.

Farmer Labeling, Manhattanite“outsider” Chisholm used her knowledge of Spanish to talk to voters and “took her campaign to the streets, literally, driving a truck with a loudspeaker. Making multiple stops, she commonly began her remarks with, “This is a Shirley Chisholm fight,” as NPR reported.

Chisholm soundly outplayed Farmer by over a “2 to 1 margin.” Having discovered about her victoryChisholm made remarks that evening by which he stated, “My dear friends, tonight is very important… not so much for me, but for you, the people of this community.”

She would go on to serve seven conditionsstarting together with her first in 1969. Additionally, she was one in all the founding members of the Congress of Black Caucuses that yr. Even as a freshman, Chisholm wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted. She made a splash by demanding that she be transferred from the House of Representatives Forestry Committee.

Then, “[s]was assigned to the Committee on Veterans Affairs, eventually ending up serving on the Committee on Education and Labor, now called the Committee on Veterans Affairs Education and Labor Committee.

In 1972 she crashed one other one glass ceilingbecoming “the first African American woman to run for President of the United States when she sought the Democratic nomination in 1972.”

Chisholm’s legacy won’t ever be forgotten. Since her victory in New York, she says, only twenty-two other states have also elected a black woman to Congress Pew Research Center. Virginia just elected its first black congresswoman this yr. A complete of 58 “Black women… have ever been elected to the national legislature, counting both voting and non-voting members of Congress.”

While the texts – sent before and after Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris on Tuesday – vary in language, lots of them indicate to recipients that they’ve been chosen to “pick cotton” on a plantation. Some messages include the recipients’ names and purport to be from the “Trump administration” or Trump supporters.

“Hello, you have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12:00 SHARP with your things,” we read in one of the text messages received by a Washington resident, reports a local TV station News4. “Our executive slaves will come pick you up in a black van. Be prepared to be searched upon entering (sic!) the plantation. You are in Plantation Group S.”

There are widespread reports on social media of racist text messages sent to black Americans that read: “You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.”https://t.co/cgS10XAYwX

— Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 7, 2024

Another text message sent to a Virginia resident said the recipient could be a “house slave” at Arlington’s Abingdon Plantation, which is now a historic site on land shared with John Paul II National Airport. Ronald Reagan in Washington.

According to USA todaysimilar racist text messages were reported in Alabama, Georgia, Detroit, Michigan, Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina and South Carolina. Plantation texts also targeted college campuses, including Clemson University, Ohio State University, the University of Alabama, and others. Other text messages are like that warned threats from white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson condemned the emergence of racist text messages and placed a few of the blame squarely on Donald Trump, the president-elect.

“The unfortunate reality of electing a president with a history of condoning and at times encouraging hatred is unfolding before our eyes,” Johnson said in an announcement. “These messages represent an alarming increase in vile and disgusting rhetoric from racist groups across the country who now feel emboldened to spread hate and fan the flames of fear that many of us feel in the wake of Tuesday’s election results.”

Johnson continued: “The threat – and the mention of slavery in 2024 – is not only deeply disturbing, but perpetuates a legacy of evil that dates back to pre-Jim Crow era and now seeks to prevent Black Americans from enjoying the same freedom to pursue life , freedom and happiness.”

The civil rights leader said the NAACP – the nation’s oldest civil rights organization – wouldn’t allow such racist messages to be “normalized.” The NAACP alerted the FBI and local law enforcement to take racist plantation text messages seriously and “respond appropriately.”

Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, condemned the messages geared toward Black Americans as “a public spectacle of hate and racism that makes a mockery of our civil rights history.”

Huang added: “Leaders in any respect levels must condemn anti-Black racism, in any form, every time we see it, and we must follow up our words with actions that advance racial justice and construct an inclusive democracy where every body feels protected and welcome community in your country.”

“This is something this president and vice chairman have done for the (last) three and a half years. We understand how vulnerable communities may feel, and it is important that we accomplish that,” Biden’s spokesman said.

Jean-Pierre said Biden wants to “set an example” in the ultimate 74 days of his term.

“That’s why we keep talking in regards to the peaceful transfer of power. That’s why we keep talking in regards to the importance of the electoral system and its results, because he thinks it is important,” she added.

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In the spirit of supporting our VP, below are our favourite office-ready looks from Harris.

No makeup Makeup