”
“ I stand before you with great pride . This is a historic moment in American political life … For the first time in the history of this nation a political party has chosen a Negro woman for the second highest office in the land ”
CHARLOTTA BASS
PUNCHED HOLES IN THE GLASS CEILING
By BETTY BAYÉ
As soon as I became aware of Kamala Harris ’ unexpected presidential run , thoughts of Black women who paved the way for her – women like Fannie Lou Hamer , Shirley Chisholm , and Angela Davis – came to mind .
Hamer is best remembered for her passionate challenge to the seating of an all-White delegation from Mississippi at the 1964 Democratic Party Convention .
Chisholm , a New York Democrat , was the first Black woman elected to the U . S . House of Representatives in 1968 . In 1972 , she was the first Black woman to seek one of the two major political parties ’ presidential nominations . She made a respectable showing but failed to win the nomination .
Davis , a feminist scholar and political activist , ran for vice-president on the Communist Party USA ticket in 1980 and 1984 . She didn ’ t get many votes , but used the platform to raise her issues , especially those of mass incarcerations and economic injustice .
But years before Hamer , Chisholm , and Davis appeared on this nation ’ s political radar , a Black journalist plowed a path across the American electoral landscape that others would follow . Her name was Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass . continued on pg 18
17