That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, black, and a woman proves, I would think, that our society is not yet either just or free. — Shirley Chisholm Copy Share Image
I was the first American citizen to be elected to Congress in spite of the double drawbacks of being female and having skin darkened by melanin. When you put it that way, it sounds like a foolish reason for fame.… — Shirley Chisholm Copy Share Image
It is obvious that discrimination exists. Women do not have the opportunities that men do. And women that do not conform to the system,… — Shirley Chisholm Copy Share Image
Legal discrimination between the sexes is, in almost every instance, founded on outmoded views of society and the pre-scientific beliefs about psychology and physiology.… — Shirley Chisholm Copy Share Image
Tremendous amounts of talent are lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt. — Shirley Chisholm Copy Share Image
It is not heroin or cocaine that makes one an addict, it is the need to escape from a harsh reality. There are more… — Shirley Chisholm Copy Share Image
The liberals in the House strongly resemble liberals I have known through the last two decades in the civil rights conflict. When it comes… — Shirley Chisholm Copy Share Image
I am not antiwhite, because I understand that white people, like black ones, are victims of a racist society. They are products of their… — Shirley Chisholm Copy Share Image
The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says: It's a girl. — Shirley Chisholm Copy Share Image
I had met far more discrimination because I am a woman than because I am black. — Shirley Chisholm Copy Share Image
Some fine men are in Congress, too few, trying to do a responsible job. But they are surrounded and almost neutralized by a greater… — Shirley Chisholm Copy Share Image
“Following along the path of her role models, Shirley knew that if she waited for permission, she’d never receive her turn.” — Shirley Chisholm Copy Share Image
