>> at some point their goal was to scare us and that this would end.

professor barbara winslow author of this book, who was she? >> she was among many things

the first african-american woman elected to congress from brooklyn in 1968 and after the inauguration of 116th congress many of the women who had just been elected were photographed under her portrait which hangs in the capital. >> what motivated her and why was she interested in politics and elected? >> she was interested in politics beginning in college at brooklyn college. she was active in the naacp, she founded a black woman's sorority, she supported a woman who was running for president at brooklyn college and she was active in the harriet tubman society. she began her political activism as a college student. she got a job working in a daycare center but politics was her passion. she got involved in brooklyn politics which at that time was all white and all mail male and

she worked with a number of local officials to transform the local democratic party so that it was led by african- americans . it was all mail male and that included the immigrant organizations, the church organizations, she knew central brooklyn like the back of her hand and have the support of the women. in 1960 she gets elected and goes to albany and she is very effective a very effective legislator. the legislation she is most proud of what's called the seek program seek education power and this provided resources for high school students going to the university of new york so they could attend college and get the resources needed to stay in college and graduate. that transformed the university

of new york including her alma mater brooklyn college from being all white to resembling more of the diversity of new york city. it was a fantastic accomplishment. >> did she grow up in brooklyn? >> she spent seven formative years on the island of barbados and barbados i think really was transformative for her in many ways even though she was a young girl. she was raised mainly by her aunt and her grandmother, two stern but very loving and capable women. she also was in barbados at a moment where the struggle for independence begins, the struggle for labor rights begins, one of her uncles wrote for the black newspaper and i am convinced she had her racial and consciousness raised by those seven years in barbados.

>> she took office 50 years ago in 1969 and was elected in 1968 . the civil rights movement was at its peak, the voting rights was signed into law, what did it mean for her to be elected? >> it was the front page of the new york times, prior to that they never mentioned her by name and it was as much of an earthquake and the only thing that comes close to it was the election of which was well how did this happen? no one thought it was going to happen except people in the borough of brooklyn. she became a superstar almost immediately thrust into the national spotlight. there are so many parallels to what has just happened recently. she challenged the white democratic leadership, she refused to sit on the

agriculture community because she said there is no agriculture in brooklyn. when they said there is a food stamp committee they would not put her on that. she said i will serve on this committee's and she ended up serving on the veterans committee. they had to change the rules legislation because you could not wear a hat in congress. she wore a hat when she was going to be sworn in so they had to change the rules. she was not going to take anything from these older white leaders. >> and they just changed the rules for this congress that you can wear religious garb. what was she like as a person? >> everyone who i have interviewed and i run a project called the shirley chisholm project they have said she is very funny , she loved to dance and when she wasn't on the floor of the house she was a real cut up. she was very generous and she also was a shopaholic. if there had been computers she

would have been online shopping 23 hours per day. everyone cited her wit, her intelligence, her debating skills and her incredible kindness and generosity. >> what about her personal life? >> she was married to a man named conrad, he was a jamaican immigrant and he was very protective of her. he did not mind being mr. shirley chisholm. they did divorce in the 80s and she remarries. her second husband who she does say was the love of her life was in a horrific car accident and died very young. she was totally brokenhearted after that. >> her legacy in congress, what was it? >> i think her legacy in congress was that she was outspoken against the war in vietnam and she refused to support any legislation for the military because she said more legislation should go to ending

poverty. she was an outspoken person for women's rights and abortion rights but because of her notoriety she was not as effective legislator as she had been in albany. she had bella absent worked on one of the most comprehensive pieces of childcare legislation and they were able to win the majority in the senate and in the house for this legislation only to have richard nixon the president then veto it and he did because he said it would soviet ties america's children. >> the democrats in control of the house and the speaker of the house at the time how did he view her? >> i think he viewed her as the biggest pain because she was always challenging them saying i'm not going to do this or that and i'm not sitting on that committee. after 1970 i think she decides, i want to be a more effective legislator. she was very

strategic and learned the skills of who you support and who you don't support and she made alliances with white southern legislators in order for them to appropriate money for her district. >> why did she run for president? >> i know she says she ran for president because she felt there was an opening and there was a tremendous youth revolt. there was opposition to the war in vietnam, there was the women's movement, there were veterans and there was no one speaking for them. do i think she had a realistic sense that she would win? no. she said what she wanted to do was get delegate votes so she could go to the convention and excuse me make an impact. she actually did. the only time the democratic party came out against capital punishment was in 1972 because the shirley chisholm delegation on the rules committee or the

platform committee excuse me changed the rules. i think the most effective legacy she had with the young people she inspired including barbara lee who has been in congress and started working for shirley chisholm when she was a member of the black panther party and the president of the student government at college and a single mother. she inspired a whole generation of women including me. i was in a women's group in seattle and we sent her campaign $15 and in 1972 $15 was a lot of money for us. >> if you could ask her a question today what would it be? >> i think it would be the question that everyone would ask her, how do you see your legacy? you are now getting the fame and the acclaim and acknowledgment that for a long time people did not know who she was. my guess is she would also answer as she did in her

wonderful interview that i want to be seen as a catalyst for change and she was. >> her portrait is in the u.s. capital and her statue is also in the capital, what does that represent? >> nancy pelosi made sure this wonderful portrait of shirley chisholm is in the capital building and it is situated in a place that for every inauguration the entire inauguration parade including the president elect, the congress, the joint chiefs, the supreme court all have to walk past her portrait. there is also a portrait of her in the brooklyn borough president's office and the mayor of new york city has just announced the first statue to a woman will be of shirley chisholm in prospect park in brooklyn. there is also a stamp that was inaugurated two years ago. >> how did she pass? >> she died of old age outside of orlando. she spent the last five years of her life acting in orlando. after she left congress she

taught at a number of places and she was going to be nominated the ambassador to jamaica by bill clinton but she was frail then so by the 90s she moved to florida. >> you talked about the obstacles and the old boy network she paced, what other obstacles did she have? >> she always said the biggest obstacle she faced was gender and it was not just white men, there were men in congress who would sneer at her, i think at that point she made $59,000 as a member of the house of representatives and these white men would say 59,000 to her in the elevator, one legislator every time she would leave a committee seat and stand up he would have the seat washed. talk about racist humiliation. she also did not get the

support from african-american men and when she ran for president most of the men in the black caucus did not support her and there is a phrase that is said about hillary clinton and it will soon be said about elizabeth warren, i want a woman for president just not this one and that is what they said. we want a woman for president just not this one. she faced opposition from many men, not all. she had the support of the black panther party and a young al sharpton when he was a teenager, he was her youth organizer in brooklyn and if you ever hear him speak about shirley chisholm it will bring tears to your eyes. she really was a mentor for him. >> it is apparent you are passionate about her, why? >> i think she was such an extraordinary woman and i also think my passion for her has to do with the fact that she is

alum of brooklyn college where i teach. when i talk about shirley chisholm whether it is at brooklyn college or in the brooklyn public schools young people are furious that they never knew anything about her. the fact that they now know about this woman who looks like their grandmothers that ran for president it is an extraordinary experience and the cspan project is now run by this woman equally passionate about shirley chisholm and we are bringing her story alive, especially to young people so they can realize that you may be a working class daughter of immigrants, a woman of color but look what you can do. >> when you put this book together what surprised you the most? >> the story of barbados to me was the most interesting. i did not know about the extraordinary connections between barbados and the united states, george washington, the

only other country he visited was barbados. they believed the first martyr of the revolution was from barbados, the sugar from barbados produced by slaves produced the wealth of new york city. the barbados u.s. history connection i did not know anything about so that was really exciting to learn. >> finally i admit this is a speculative question but if she were in the house of representatives with this new congress being sworn in what you think she would be thinking about? >> i think she would be so thrilled that this generation especially of young women, she would just be thrilled and she would also be happy that also got elected. given how repulsed she was at richard nixon i could only imagine how she

would be about the president of the united states. i think he represents everything she opposes. i think she would see him as an absolute white supremacist, the worst kind of misogynist, anti- immigrant and warmonger even though he pretends he is not. >> what about leader nancy pelosi who is now speaker once again? >> i think she would be very proud and they would work together. they have very similar political aims, shirley chisholm was left of the progressive wing of the democratic party as is speaker pelosi. >> barbara winslow thank you for your time. >> thank you. this was great.

approximately 25,000 people gathered at the lincoln memorial to demand an end to segregation and lobby for voting and civil rights for african-americans. the prayer pilgrimage fo