From Chisholm's Trail to Harris's Run: The Evolution of Black Women in U.S. Presidential Politics

In 1972, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm became the first woman to run on a major party ticket and first woman of color to run for President of the United States. Fifty-two years later, on the 100th anniversary of Chisholm’s birth, Vice President Kamala Harris is pursuing the office that eluded Chisholm. 

Join the Museum of the City of New York for a panel discussion about the ways Chisholm’s run set the stage for Harris and the role of black women in shaping our democracy. Featuring guest speakers, Dr. Jelani Cobb, Dean of Journalism at Columbia University and Writer at The New Yorker Magazine, Dr. Zinga Fraser, Director of the Shirley Chisholm Project at Brooklyn College, and Dr. Keisha Blain, Professor of Africana Studies and History at Brown University. The panel will be moderated by ABC News's Sandra Bookman. 

 

About the Speakers: 
Dr. Keisha N. Blain is one of the most innovative and influential young historians of her generation. Her research and writing examine the dynamics of race, gender and politics in both national and global perspectives. She completed a Ph.D. in History from Princeton University in 2014. She is a Professor of Africana Studies and History at Brown University, a columnist for MSNBC, and former president of the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS). She is the 2022 recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2022 Andrew Carnegie Fellow. Dr. Blain is also the author of Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom (2018 ) and Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America (2021).  

Sandra Bookman (moderator) currently co-anchors Eyewitness News at noon. She joined Eyewitness News in 1998 as Weekend Anchor.  Since then, she has covered some of the biggest stories of the last two decades: the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, the Northeast Blackout in August of 2003, the Presidential Campaigns in 2008, 2012 and 2016, and the Covid pandemic. In 2011, Sandra became the host of the WABC-TV public affair's show "Here and Now", which covers issues important to the African American community.  Sandra has received numerous awards and honors, including 9 Emmys. Sandra is a native of Texas and is a proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Journalism Degree. But she calls living and working in New York a career highlight.  

Dr. Jelani Cobb joined the Columbia Journalism School faculty in 2016 and became Dean in 2022. He has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2015 and was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Commentary. Dr. Cobb has a B.A. in English from Howard University and completed his M.A. and doctorate in American History at Rutgers University in 2003. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Journalism Project and the Board of Trustees of the New York Public Library. In 2023, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.  

Dr. Zinga A. Fraser is an author, lecturer, historical consultant and philanthropist.  She is the Director of the Shirley Chisholm Project on Brooklyn Women’s Activism. Dr. Fraser is currently an Assistant Professor in the Africana Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at Brooklyn College.  Dr. Fraser is a foremost expert on Shirley Chisholm and Black Congressional Women and Black feminist politics . Her book Shirley Chisholm in Her Own Words: Speeches and Writings (2024) was published by the University of California Press and she is currently completing her book manuscript titled, Sister Insider/ Sister Outsider: Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan, Black Women’s Politics in the Post- Civil Rights Era.  

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