Obama and “The Good Fight”: The Spirit of Shirley Chisholm Lives!

New politics needs new men and women. Increasing participation in the process does not mean much if the new participants still have to make the same old choices, between one white “liberal” upper-middle-class, college-educated, well-off middle-aged male and another. It is time we had a different options.
Shirley Chisholm, The Good Fight

This year’s race to the Democratic National Convention has been incredible. And it seems to get more amazingly engaging each week, if not, each day, as long as Senator Obama’s campaign continues to develop momentum. Because I continue to believe that we are connected to our past, I thought it pertinent to talk about a person who ran for President back in 1972, almost 36 years ago, the honorable former Congresswoman and Ms. Unbrought and Unbossed herself, Shirley Chisholm. Although she is no longer with us physically, she died January 1, 2005, she was both veracious and brilliant in her approach to the problems our country faced during her legacy as the first black woman elected to U.S. House where she served from January 3, 1969 to January 3, 1983. After reading a blog about her just recently and following both Barak Obama and Hilary Clinton’s campaigns, I began reading Ms. Chisholm’s book, The Good Fight. I also began to wonder, if she were alive, who Ms. Chisholm would choose as President when presented with the choice of a black man or a woman.

Shirley Chisholm set the tone for both black women and black men, and for that matter, people of all cultures who serve in public office. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I began to understand the magnitude of her personal story. Indeed, Ms. Chisholm exuded and implored an air of fierce integrity and tenacity as she declared and exemplified her belief in honest politics. She believed in serving the people and refused to be swayed by special interests when considering legislation. Thus far in the history of African American politics, her style and sage approach to working as a representative of the people has remained unmatched. She was exemplary of her own words and title of her book, Unbrought and Unbossed.

But it is in The Good Fight that she documents her motivation to run for President and the challenges she faced as a candidate in 1972. The book includes some of her speeches where she cites current issues of that time as poverty, housing, equality for women, national childcare reform, medical care for the uninsured and the war in Southeast Asia. Thirty-six years later, we struggle with poverty, gentrification, 7 million people living without health insurance, homelessness, a living wage and the war in Iraq. The volumes of people who have been turning up at the polls are galvanized by these issues. The Good Book provides the bases for understanding the true spirit of Shirley Chisholm that will always remain and has really informed how I feel about our upcoming election. I believe she is the zeitgeist of the movement behind Barak Obama’s success. There is a spirit that is swirling about us that suggests that Shirley Chisholm lives.

One of the reasons that Ms. Chisholm ran for President was young people. She was genuinely amazed and motivated by young peoples’ zeal and energy to effect change. She spoke of the college students who would take her out after a speaking engagement on campus to pick her brain about politics. Inevitably, after sensing her sincerity and her hard-hitting positions, students would often ask her to run for President. I see this same belief from young people who are voting in record numbers for Democratic candidates. At my voting precinct last week, I witnessed a mother and daughter exchange their difference of opinion about voting for a Republican versus a Democrat. The mother proudly proclaimed herself to be a life-long Republican, while the daughter proclaimed Democrat. Her mother said to the pollster, “She doesn’t count”. And while this young girl wasn’t of voting age, she feels what many young people feel about this election; they are motivated by choices for change. Shirley Chisholm said “jiving is instantly perceived by young audiences…whatever they think about my ideas, they can tell I’m not jiving”. She said, “kids keep hope alive”. And just as many young people wanted change and believed in her brand of honest politics then, young people today are recognizing that it is time to breakdown long-existing barriers to change. Both Democratic candidates are breaking barriers to change.

So here we are in 2008 and we have a black man and a woman running for President. And there are some skeptics who have asked the question, are we ready for a black man or woman to run this country? I cannot honestly believe that this is still an issue to discuss. I believe Shirley Chisholm would say now is always a good time, not tomorrow or another 36 years. I believe that while she was a firm supporter of equality rights for women, she would have chosen Senator Obama. Of course this is pure speculation, but I believe that she would take note of Senator Clinton’s voting record, her conservative roots, the Whitewater hearings as well as the healthcare debacle. She would look at the Clinton administration, the politically savvy Clintons and remind us who Maggie Williams is and expose Hilary’s change in campaign managers as a deliberate strategy to bolster support from black female voters. In her own words, “one has to deal in politics not with reality per se, but with reality as is perceived by voters, through clouds of distortion, simplification, prejudices and misinformation”. Ms. Chisholm would repeat what she said years ago about the need for a new breed of politics and politicians who represent more than the status quo and passionately inspire hope in young people and the previously disenfranchised. I’m quite sure she would see beyond race and gender. I think she would say, a woman yes, but we need a candidate that represents true change; someone who has a fresh perspective and will move groups who have been previously disinterested in politics because they felt their vote didn’t count. Ms. Chisholm would herald the choices we have. In her own words,

It is time we had different options. There ought to be more nontraditional candidates…Are all wisdom, all talent, all leadership, all intelligence, all ability, all creativity concentrated on one group?

2009 represents a choice for change. Diversity is refreshing. And while I recognize that by supporting Senator Obama, he, as all leaders who have left a carbon print before him, is now awaiting his moment to show who he is as leader, I truly believe that he is committed to doing the will of the people. As I often say, we haven’t nearly arrived at a verdict and the jury has not convened about the Senator. But my hope remains strong and my belief in change is steadfast. I think Ms. Chisholm would be following this election with a critical eye. She would also relish that we have both a black and a women in the Presidential race, but she would warn Senator Obama to be aware of the clever tricks of the political machine and the special interest groups who will seek to try to overtake him and will constantly challenge his honesty and integrity. I believe she would tell him to keep his eyes on the prize. And I project that once Senator Obama receives the nomination he will have very similar emotions as did Ms. Chisholm when she stood on that very same platform seeking the nomination,

… most people had thought I would never stand there in that place, but there I was. All the odds had been against it, right up to the end. I never blamed anyone for doubting. The Presidency is for white males. No one was ready to take a black woman seriously as a candidate. It was not time yet for a black to run, let alone a woman, and certainly not for someone who was both.

In the end, if Ms. Chisholm were alive, she would stand tall and proud along side Democratic Presidential Nominee Barak Obama at the Democratic National Convention and tell him to square his jaw and continue to keep up ‘the good fight’. I can hear her saying that it is time to break tradition and for the American people to have hope and belief that change is eminent. Yes We Can!