CONGRESSWOMAN ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON ON THE PASSING OF SHIRLEY CHISHOLM - January 3, 2006

Washington, DC—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today commented on the death of former New York Rep. Shirley Chisholm. Norton knew Chisholm when both lived in New York. Her statement follows.

“When Shirley Chisholm died on Saturday, she had fulfilled her life’s mission—to break barriers. After becoming the first black woman elected to Congress, it was natural for Shirley to go for broke and run for president. She believed that taking risks to remove obstacles came with who she was--a black woman who was proud of being both black and female. She was one of the country’s foremost feminists at a time when some blacks wondered whether the new women’s movement would compromise their own struggle. She led Americans in understanding that feminism was not for whites only. Shirley’s taste for feminism was drawn from the same well that nurtured her fight for underdogs of every variety.

“The most visible legacy of the first African American woman in Congress are the 14 of us who now serve, for whom she broke one of America’s toughest barriers.”