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‘Unbought and Unbossed,’ Shirley Chisholm First Black Woman to Run for President

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Shirley Chisholm. Public domain photo.

A Brooklyn native and the oldest of four daughters, Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm graduated from Brooklyn Girls’ High (1942), Brooklyn College (1946), and Columbia University (1951). A prize-winning debater, her career began as a nursery school teacher. But this daughter of Barbadian immigrants, filled with passion and determination, wanted to stand for something.

Despite encouragement to channel her energy and passion for equality into pursuing a career in politics, Chisholm (1924–2005) felt that being a Black woman presented a “double handicap.” Still, she would find the courage to fuel her 1964 run for the New York State Legislature and represent the 12th Congressional District of New York for seven terms (1968–1982), earning a reputation for diligent work on minority, women’s, and peace issues.

And this was just the beginning.

Chisholm later became the first woman and African American to run for the Democratic nomination for president (1972). When taking the podium to announce her plans, she said: “I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud. I am not the candidate of the woman’s movement of this country, although I am a woman and I am equally proud of that.”

Robert Gottlieb, who at the time was hired as the student coordinator for Chisholm’s campaign, told Smithsonian Magazine: “[Chisholm] was unafraid of anybody … Her slogan was ‘unbought and unbossed.’ She was really unbossed.”

The campaign, according to Gottlieb, got off to a bumpy start.

Gottlieb had taken a flight to Raleigh, N.C. With him were two boxes of campaign materials, brochures and bumper stickers. “And I go to pick up my bags and the brochures and bumper stickers from the luggage carousel. And scrawled all over it was ‘go home n––.’ That’s how the campaign began.”

Discrimination didn’t stop there. Chisholm was blocked from participating in televised primary debates. This led her to take legal action; she was then allowed only one speech. Despite her campaign being severely underfunded and having to endure negative arguments from members of the predominantly male Congressional Black Caucus, Chisholm continued.

Although she persevered, Chisholm was unable to garner support from the groups that might have carried her to Washington: women and minorities. Black male voters did not rally in her company, and feminists were split. Still, she forged ahead.

Co-founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus (1971), Chisholm stood up for racial and gender equality, the plight of the poor, and ending the Vietnam War. She became the first Black woman and second woman ever to serve on the House Rules Committee (1977). She retired from Congress (1983), helped form the National Political Congress of Black Women (1984), taught politics and women’s studies (1983–1987), and served as the ambassador to Jamaica during Pres. Bill Clinton’s first term.

One of Chisholm’s quotes, “Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth,” serves as a reminder of her lifelong determination. She died in 2005.

Sourceshttps://history.house.gov/People/Listing/C/CHISHOLM,-Shirley-Anita-(C000371)/

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/shirley-chisholm

https://www.biography.com/political-figure/shirley-chisholm

Image: Shirley Chisholm – Wiki Commons – By Thomas J. O'Halloran, U.S. News & World Reports. Light restoration by Adam Cuerden – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ds.07135.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons: Licensing for more information., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1675018

Michelle Snider

Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.
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Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

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Who are the Alameda County District 4 Supervisor Candidates’ Top Campaign Contributors?

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

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Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).
Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).

By Zack Haber

Nate Miley, who has served on Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors since 2000, is running for reelection to the District 4 supervisor seat.

Jennifer Esteen, a nurse and activist, is seeking to unseat him and become one of the five members of the powerful board that sets the county’s budget, governs its unincorporated areas, and oversees the sheriff, Alameda Health System, and mental health system.

District 4 includes most of East Oakland’s hills and flatlands beyond Fruitvale, part of Pleasanton and unincorporated areas south of San Leandro like Ashland and Castro Valley.

Voting is open and will remain open until March 5.

In California, campaign donations of $100 or more are public record. The records show that Miley has received about $550,000 in total campaign donations since he won the previous District 4 election in March 2020. Esteen has raised about $255,000 in total campaign donations since she started collecting them last July. All figures are accurate through Feb. 20.

While Miley has raised more money, Esteen has received donations from more sources. Miley received donations of $100 or more from 439 different sources. Esteen received such donations from 507 different sources.

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

Nate Miley’s top campaign contributors:

The California Apartment Association, a trade group representing landlords and investors in California’s rental housing business, has spent about $129,500 supporting Miley’s election bid through about $59,500 in ads against Esteen$55,000 in ads supporting Miley, and $15,000 in campaign donations.

The independent expenditure committee Preserve Agriculture in Alameda County has spent about $46,025 supporting Miley through about $27,200 in their own ads, and $18,825 in donations to his campaign. Preserve Agriculture has supported reelection efforts for former Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley, and Sheriff Greg Ahern, a republican. It’s received funding from ChevronPG&E, and a the California Apartment Association.

Organizations associated with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, or LiUNA, have donated about $35,000 in total. Construction and General Laborers Local 304, a local chapter of the union representing which represents over 4,000 workers, donated $20,000.

Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition, which represents 70,000 LiUNA members in Arizona, California, Hawaii and New Mexico, donated $15,000.

William ‘Bill’ Crotinger and the East Oakland-based company Argent Materials have donated $26,000. Crotinger is the president and founder of Argent, a concrete and asphalt recycling yard. Argent’s website says it is an eco-friendly company that diverts materials from landfills. In 2018, Argent paid the EPA $27,000 under a settlement for committing Clean Water Act violations.

Michael Morgan of Hayward, owner of We Are Hemp, a marijuana dispensary in Ashland, has donated $21,500.

Alameda County District 1 Supervisor David Haubert has donated $21,250 from his 2024 reelection campaign. He’s running unopposed for the District 1 seat.

SEIU 1021which represents over 60,000 workers in local governments, non-profit agencies, healthcare programs, and schools in Northern California, has donated $20,000.

UA Local 342, which represents around 4,000 pipe trades industry workers in Contra Costa and Alameda counties, donated $20,000.

The union representing the county’s deputy sheriffs, Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Alameda County, has donated $17,000.

Becton Healthcare Resources and its managers have donated $14,625. Becton’s mission statement says it provides “behavioral health management services to organizations and groups that serve the serious and persistent mentally ill population.”

Jennifer Esteen’s top campaign contributors:

Mary Quinn Delaney of Piedmont, founder of Akonadi Foundation, has donated $20,000. Akonadi Foundation gives grants to nonprofit organizations, especially focusing on racial justice organizing,

Bridget Galli of Castro Valley has donated $7,000. Galli is a yoga instructor and a co-owner of Castro Valley Yoga.

Rachel Gelman of Oakland has donated $5,000. Gelman is an activist who has vowed to redistribute her inherited wealth to working class, Indigenous and Black communities.

California Worker Families Party has donated $5,000. The organization’s website describes itself as a “grassroots party for the multiracial working class.”

David Stern of Albany has donated $5,000. Stern is a retired UC Berkeley Professor of Education.

Oakland Rising Committee—a collaborative of racial, economic, and environmental justice organizations—has donated about $3,050.

Fredeke Von Bothmer-Goodyear, an unemployed resident of San Francisco, has donated $2,600.

Robert Britton of Castro Valley has donated $2,500. Britton is retired and worked in the labor movement for decades.

Progressive Era PAC has donated about $2,400. Its mission statement says it “exists to elect governing majorities of leaders in California committed to building a progressive era for people of color.”

East Bay Stonewall Democrats Club has donated $2,250. The club was founded in 1982 to give voice to the East Bay LGBTQIA+ communities.

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