logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2020
10m 21s

Shirley Chisholm - the black woman who t...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

In January 1972 Shirley Chisholm became the first major-party black candidate to make a bid for the US Presidency. She was also the first black woman elected to Congress. In 2015, Farhana Haider spoke to former Congressman Charles Rangel who worked with Shirley Chisholm.

(Photo: Shirley Chisholm at the Democratic National Convention in 1972. Credit: Getty Images)

Up next
Today
Ni Una Menos women’s movement in Argentina
On 3 June 2015, tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital, Buenos Aires, and in dozens of cities and towns demanding an end to violence against women. There were demonstrations in Chile and Uruguay in solidarity too. Argentina was reporting a female murder rate of one e ... Show More
9m 31s
Yesterday
Argentina’s national genetics bank created to identify stolen babies
In 1982, Argentine geneticist Victor Penchaszadeh was living in exile in New York when he received a call that would change the course of his career. Two founding members of the campaign group, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, were asking for his help to find their kidnappe ... Show More
10m 41s
Jul 8
The mystery of Evita’s corpse
When Eva Peron, Argentina's most famous First Lady, died in 1952, her body was embalmed. Three years later, her widower, Juan Peron, was deposed in a coup. But military officers feared her corpse would become a rallying point of protest against the new government. So they stole i ... Show More
10m 34s
Recommended Episodes
May 2017
Peaches Golding on Shirley Chisholm
American-born Peaches Golding OBE - Bristol's former Lord Lieutenant and first black female High Sheriff - nominates African American politician Shirley Chisholm who ran unsuccessfully for US President in 1972. Fellow guest Dr Kate Dossett, Professor of American History at Leeds ... Show More
27m 40s
Oct 2020
Belva Lockwood and Shirley Chisholm, Revisited
We finish up our two-part series on women who ran for the US presidency in days gone by. Belva Lockwood ran in 1884 and 1888, and Shirley Chisholm threw her hat into the POTUS ring in the 1972 election. Neither candidate won the office, but they were both victorious at shattering ... Show More
1h 17m
Aug 2020
Kamala Harris makes history
Kamala Harris has become the first black woman to run for US Vice-President. 
11m 30s
May 2023
The Whiskey-Guzzling Womanizer in the White House
As the country went dry at the start of 1920, Americans were ready for a new leader. A stand-up guy, they thought, someone who reflects our morals–a man of the people. The elected Warren Harding, a handsome Ohioan who prided himself on his all-American principles. But behind clos ... Show More
45m 16s
Oct 2016
Episode 48: Men: 44, Women: 0
A century after women won the vote in the US, we still see very few of them in leadership roles. Researchers say women are trapped in a catch-22 known as "the double bind." Note: an early version of this episode incorrectly stated that Carol Moseley Braun was the first African-Am ... Show More
19m 53s
Apr 2021
The first woman in the US Supreme Court
Sandra Day O'Connor was appointed to America's top court in 1981. She'd been nominated by newly-elected Republican president Ronald Reagan. Also in the programme: an eye-witness on the beaches during the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba, the worm that unlocked secrets of genet ... Show More
49m 53s