“You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.”
—Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005), the first ever African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress on Nov. 5, 1968. She represented New York’s 12th Congressional District for seven terms until 1983. In 1972, Chisholm became the first black candidate from a major party to run for U.S. president, and the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination.
