Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm

Essay Two: The Life of Shirley Chisholm
“Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, New York, in November 1924, in the impoverished Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn” (Encyclopedia.). When Shirley was just three years old, she was transferred to stay with her grandmother on a farm in Barbados, which used to be a British colony in the West Indies. Shirley’s father was an emigrant from Guyana, and worked as an unskilled laborer. Her mother was from Barbados, and she was a dressmaker and a domestic worker. She was the first black congresswoman and a candid supporter of civil rights and women’s rights. Three personal characteristics that made Shirley Chisholm a successful leader are: her confidence, her courage, and her determination.
Shirley Chisholm was very successful because she was competent in her field. She received a well-rounded early education in the Barbadian school system in reading, writing, and history. Shirley excelled in academics at her prestigious Girls High School in Brooklyn. She graduated from that high school in 1942 with honors, and she was immediately offered scholarships to several distinguished colleges (“Shirley Chisholm” US History). She was unable to afford the room and board expenses which kept her closer to home. Those factors made her decide to attend Brooklyn College and earn a bachelor’s degree while living with her parents. While she was in college, her professors noticed her tremendously impressive speaking style, and they persuaded her to enter politics. Within her few months in Congress, Shirley showed her debating skills that she had acquired in college that made her a passionate speaker. It was hard for her to find a job because of the racial and gender discriminations that limited her professional options. She decided to teach, because a majority of the other African American women did the same. After all of the struggles trying to find herself a job because of her race, she started her professional career...

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