Pictured Above: Shirley Chisholm with other candidates for the 1972 Democratic Presidential Nomination.
The selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as Vice-Presidential nominee was made possible by generations of Black women’s refusal to be erased and Shirley Chisholm’s lifetime of work—in schools, in the NY State Assembly, in Congress, on the presidential campaign trail, and as a veteran stateswoman— building political power for marginalized people.
As we celebrate this most recent milestone, we must also keep our eyes on the ultimate prize: substantively transforming U.S. society so that it actually serves the people. The fulfillment of that task still lies ahead of us, and we cannot stop until that ultimate prize is won.