Articles

Thank you all for inviting me here today to discuss the state of black women in America in honor of my hero and inspiration, Ms. Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman to serve in Congress, the first major-party African-American candidate for President of the United States and the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination.

On June 17, 1974, Ms. Chisholm spoke to a crowd of her sisters at national conference on black women held at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. The topic of her speech was Black Women in Contemporary America.

Much of what Ms. Chisholm said nearly 40 years ago would still ring true today.

During her remarks, Shirley said that the state of Black women had become a most talked-about topic that caused a great deal of provocation, misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

As I stand here today, Shirley would still be right.

As far back as I can remember, and particularly since we have had one of the best role models of our time in the White House serving as the First Lady of the United States, everything about Black women has been questioned, criticized, ridiculed and judged.

One day we’re too black, the next day we’re not black enough. One day we’re too aggressive, the next day we’re too passive. One day we’re too successful which of course makes us too single, and the next day we’re too poor and promiscuous. The list goes on and on.

Though Black women have and continue to make great strides in this nation and around the world, we still confront a narrative that attempts to strip us of our intelligence, our femininity, our beauty and our strength.

It is a narrative that we have fought against for decades so that we can craft and tell a story of our own.  

This is not to say that the disparities we often hear about in regards to black women’s health, education, wealth and family structure are to go unacknowledged – there is still much work for us to do as a community and for ourselves.

But as Ms. Chisholm once said, “Of my two handicaps, being female put many more obstacles in my path than being black.”

The fact that black women still lives in a society that discriminates against her on two counts - being black and being female cannot be ignored.

As a woman of color, the first woman and African American mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio and now, as the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus – the 7^th woman to do so - I am no stranger to the situations these “handicaps” may have caused me to face.

However, as Ms. Chisholm also said, “You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.”

And that is exactly what I and many of you around this room have done and must continue to do.

The times when Black women have been successful in confronting and overcoming the structural and institutional sexism and racism that persists in our society, have been when we are thoughtful and strategic about speaking up. It’s when we’ve done what it takes to introduce and implement our ideas and our plans to make things better.

Whether it is in the boardroom, the courtroom, the committee hearing room or on the House floor where you’ll find me, Black women must have the courage to speak up for ourselves, for our families and for the communities we are a part of and represent.

We owe it to ourselves and we need our voices more now than ever.

Often we are the only ones in these rooms who can bring the unique perspectives and passion we have to the table.

But when we let fear overtake us, we miss an opportunity to honor ourselves and we forfeit the chance to move the dial in the right direction.

Back when Shirley gave her speech, she noted that while white women were fighting for access to cocktail lounges used by Wall Street bankers or for the rights to be called “Ms.” versus “Mrs.”, black women were fighting for mere survival in a society that continually relegated us, our children, brothers and husbands, to second class citizen status.

I argue that in many ways we still are.

As Shirley fought the civil rights battle of her day – we are now fighting our own.

Not sure how many of you have noticed, but just this year a key provision of the Voting Rights Act was reversed.

There has been an attack on affirmative action.

Our children are being murdered to no consequence of those who kill them.

Our economic, civil and constitutional rights are being challenged and frankly, they are being lost.

If we do not realize our responsibility in this moment, we risk allowing the work Ms. Shirley Chisholm, Ms. Mary McLeod Bethune, Ms. Mary Church Terrell, Ms. Daisy Bates, and Ms. Diane Nash, among so many others, to have been done in vain.

And I know you all don’t want that to happen.

I certainly don’t.

So when you all ask what we as individuals can do to prevent this, I have a few recommendations.

The first is to get and stay involved in your local communities.

One thing Shirley said over and over in her speech is that African American women must harness their political power. We did it once in 2008 and again in 2012, but we have to do it in every election – local, state, Congressional and Presidential.

There are people on every level of government making the decisions that affect our lives – like passing Stand Your Ground Laws or prosecuting individuals far beyond what can be proven in court.

All politics are indeed local and should be treated as such.

The second is, like Shirley said, give everything we have in ourselves to give, in terms of helping to make the future better for our little boys and our little girls, and to not leave it up to chance or to anybody else.

At present, our country needs women's idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else.

That is the charge I believe Shirley left to us in 1974 and it is the same one I leave with you today.

Thank you again for having me and I look forward to answering any questions you might have.