Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm (November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician, educator, and author. She was a Congresswoman, representing New York’s 12th Congressional District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1968, she became the first black woman elected to Congress. On January 25, 1972, she became the first major-party black candidate for President of the United States and the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination (Margaret Chase Smith had previously run for the Republican presidential nomination). She received 152 first-ballot votes at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. [Wikipedia]

Throughout her political career she worked on behalf of the underdogs—blacks, women, children, inner city dwellers, and domestic workers. Education, day care, youth programs, and women’s rights were her favorite issues. She was, as she put it, “unbought and unbossed.” However, she suffered a series of betrayals that left her furious: “I love a good fight and people know [it]… But what hurst me more than anything else… is the brothers in politics…they won’t get off my back.” [Remember the Ladies, Kirsten Olsen]