100 years ago today, Shirley Chisholm was born in Brooklyn to Caribbean immigrants Charles and Ruby St. Hill. For almost 20 years, the Shirley Chisholm on Brooklyn Women’s Activism has worked to keep her legacy alive through archival work, public programming, and annual celebrations of Shirley Chisholm Day at Brooklyn College. Last week, the New York City Council formally recognized November 30th as Shirley Chisholm Day. The SCP is proud to see the city officially join us in our celebration of the Congresswoman’s birthday. It is a culmination of our longstanding efforts to give Chisholm’s name the recognition and reverence it has long been due.
For many years, particularly in the decades after her retirement from Congress in the 1980s, Shirley Chisholm’s social and political impact was nearly forgotten in the annals of US political history. The Shirley Chisholm Project was founded in 2005 at the Congresswoman’s alma mater with a mission to reverse this trend (it would first establish an online presence a few years later in 2010). In that same year, the SCP hosted the first Shirley Chisholm Day celebration which was recognized by the New York State Legislature with a ceremonial signing by Governor George Pataki.
The following year, Assemblyman N. Nick Perry keynoted our second Chisholm Day celebration. Nearly every year since then, distinguished scholars, activists, and public officials have joined the SCP’s Chisholm Day celebrations. Some of our other early keynote guests included Gloria Steinem (2008), Donna Brazile (2010), Anita Hill (2011), and Rev. Al Sharpton (2014). More recently, Sonia Sanchez (2018), Maya Wiley (2020), and Regina and Reina King (2024) served as our Chisholm Day keynote guests. The King sisters were instrumental in bringing Chisholm’s pioneering presidential campaign to life on screen. They, along with Dr. Hazel Dukes (NAACP President, NYS Chapter), were the first recipients of our SCP Trailblazer and Legacy Awards.
Since its founding, the SCP has proudly stood at the vanguard of voices raising consciousness around Shirley Chisholm’s legacy. Its Director Dr. Zinga A. Fraser served as historical consultant to Shirley, which was released on Netflix this March with Regina King in the title role. This summer, Dr. Fraser co-curated the first major exhibit on Chisholm “Changing the Face of Democracy.” This fall, the University of California Press released the first collection of the Congresswoman’s intellectual contributions Shirley Chisholm in Her Own Words: Speeches and Writings, edited with an introduction by Dr. Fraser. NYC Council’s formal declaration of Chisholm Day last week emboldens us to continue our work. As this exciting centennial year comes to a close, the Chisholm Project looks forward to more initiatives that will elevate Shirley Chisholm’s name, accomplishments, ideas, and activism to the public consciousness.
On December 3rd, the SCP will cap off our centennial events with a virtual book talk “Shirley Chisholm in Her Own Words.” Like the book, the talk will emphasize the Congresswoman’s impact as a writer and public intellectual. This event will be held in collaboration with the Delta Research and Educational Foundation (DREF) And DREF’s Sister Scholars Advisory Council.
You can register to attend this event via Zoom at:
tinyurl.com/chisholminherownwords